Who owns the AI-generated code? The question of ownership when ChatGPT’s AI is involved in app development.

Determining ownership of AI-generated code is a complex and uncertain legal issue, according to legal experts. Questions have arisen over who owns resulting code generated by OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology and whether the inclusion of that code invalidates ownership claims of the overall application. As a starting point, attorney Collen Clark of law firm Schmidt & Clark has said that the legal implications of using AI-generated code remain complex and uncertain. While OpenAI does not claim ownership of generated content in their terms of service, most companies producing AI-generated code will seek to deem their materials as their property from a contractual point of view. Ownership of AI-generated code is an unsettled area of the law, and the issue is complicated further by distinguishing between ownership and copyright. There are also licensing issues to consider, with questions over whether code written by AI can be owned or copyrighted in a way that provides legal protections. As there is a lack of precedent in this area, legal experts advise seeking an attorney for guidance.