The federal privacy regulator of Canada, along with the regulators of Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta, are investigating AI giant OpenAI to determine if it has violated any laws regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information of consumers. This decision to probe OpenAI’s compliance was recently announced by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. OpenAI is a private company that is backed by Microsoft and it released the ChatGPT chatbot to the public in late November, to the great excitement of the tech community and sparking a fierce AI race with giants like Alphabet and Meta.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comments from Reuters. The regulator seeks to establish whether OpenAI’s operations have adhered to the required standards of openness, transparency, accuracy, and accountability. The investigation will also focus on whether the company got proper consent from individuals when collecting their sensitive data. As the investigation is still ongoing, no further details have been shared by the office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
OpenAI is a San Francisco-based AI research laboratory that was co-founded by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. The lab, established in 2015, seeks to create advanced AI technologies in order to benefit humankind. It is now a major player in the world of AI, and its prominence has only been boosted by the availability of its ChatGPT chatbot, which has left world governments in a pickle and scrambling to set laws to govern the use of such ridiculously new technology.
The investigations of OpenAI by the Privacy Commissioner of Canada seek to establish if the company has managed personal data responsibly, truly seeking to understand how such new technologies are altering the landscape and presenting governments with new legal challenges. The results of this investigation, once available, will be made public by the office of the Privacy Commissioner.
