OpenAI, the creator of the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, has been slapped with a class-action lawsuit for violating the privacy of millions of people by using “stolen” data scraped from the web to train its chatbot.
The complaint, filed by California-based Clarkson Law Firm, P.C. on Wednesday, said OpenAI harvested huge amounts of data from the web, including private messages, medical information, and children’s data.
“They systematically scraped 300 billion words from the internet, “books, articles, websites and posts – including personal information obtained without consent.” OpenAI did so in secret, and without registering as a data broker as it was required to do under applicable law,” the complaint reads.
Among other things, the plaintiffs and class members are requesting that OpenAI stops this invasive data collection, give “everyday internet users” the option to opt-out, and delete any “ill-gotten data, or the algorithms” created with stolen data or compensate users.
The complaint also seeks to bar the commercial deployment of ChatGPT until it meets ethical and safety standards.
Private Information Stolen From Hundreds of Millions of Users
According to the lawsuit, OpenAI’s products leverage stolen information, including personally identifiable information, taken from hundreds of millions of internet users without consent. This illegally acquired information includes data from children of all ages.
The complaint argues that this constitutes a gross violation of privacy rights. The plaintiffs are demanding that OpenAI ceases further commercial use of their personal data.
“Each new user and dollar earned represents another victim financially damaged by the ongoing commercial misappropriation of their personal information,” Ryan J. Clarkson, managing partner at Clarkson Law Firm, said in a blog post.
Clarkson likened artificial intelligence (AI) with nuclear power, describing it as “the most powerful and dangerous” technology humanity has created.
Besides privacy violations, the lawsuit highlights the threat of AI to society, explaining that it can contribute to misinformation, deepfakes, scams, blackmail, child pornography, malware attacks, and warfare.
“Experts agree that unless safeguards are implemented, AI poses immediate risks to civilization,” Clarkson said.
The plaintiffs are seeking a pause on OpenAI’s deployment of AI technology unless it can implement safeguards to ensure transparency, accountability, and control.
“This is our chance to learn from our mistakes, to see the opportunity and risks clearly, to balance the hunger for innovation with the need for individual protections, privacy, and security,” Clarkson noted.
Meanwhile, over 33,000 people have signed an open letter calling for a halt in the deployment of AI systems with human-competitive intelligence, citing risks to humanity.
Unresolved Questions
With an estimated 100 million users, ChatGPT has grown rapidly since its launch in November 2022, but it has also been hounded by privacy concerns. In April, Italy’s privacy watchdog banned ChatGPT temporarily, citing several concerns including, the unlawful use of personal data to train the chatbot.
The question of whether it’s legal to use publicly available data to train chatbots remains unanswered. Some argue it falls under “fair use.” However, the plaintiffs say OpenAI has prioritized profit over its mission to advance AI for humanity’s benefit.
OpenAI and Microsoft are yet to respond publicly to the lawsuit.
Read our article on the privacy risks of ChatGPT for more information about privacy concerns surrounding AI chatbots.
Note: Individuals in the European Union can put in a request to have their data removed from OpenAI’s databases by filling out this removal request form.
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