Microsoft, along with other companies, is facing a class-action lawsuit filed by ChatGPT users who allege the illegal use of private information for their AI technology. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses OpenAI LP, OpenAI Startup fund, Microsoft, and others of violating the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, negligence, and other claims.
The plaintiffs claim that the defendants scrape internet data and steal personal information from millions of Americans for their AI tools. They allege that without owners’ or users’ notice or permission, the defendants use private information, conversations, medical data, information about children, and other internet data.
The plaintiffs specifically argue that the defendants utilize the stolen data to train large language models and deep language algorithms that generate human-like language. This language is then used in chatbots, translation and text generation tools to facilitate human-like conversations that answer questions, provide information, generate text and art on demand, and even emotionally connect with people.
The lawsuit asserts that the defendants have released the AI technology without sufficient consideration for the catastrophic risk to humanity. The plaintiffs fear that without legal intervention, AI will start to act against human interest and values.
The plaintiffs, joined by a class of individuals, are seeking monetary relief, interest, a trial by jury, and any other appropriate relief. The lawyers representing the plaintiffs and the class are Ryan Clarkson, Yana Hart, Tiara Avaness, and Valter Malkhasyan from The Clarkson Law Firm PC in Malibu, California, Tracey Cowan from The Clarkson Law Firm PC in San Francisco, and Timothy Giordano from The Clarkson Law Firm PC in New York City.
