The 157-page lawsuit against OpenAI was filed anonymously in federal court in San Francisco on June 28. The plaintiffs’ names are abbreviated for fear of retaliation, Bloomberg reported, citing a statement from the Clarkson law firm representing the plaintiffs.
OpenAI and ChatGPT logos
OpenAI allegedly violated privacy laws by secretly scraping 300 billion words from the internet, using information from books, websites, and online posts containing personal information without the consent of the authors. Hundreds of millions of internet users, including children, are said to have had their information stolen without their consent. The company accessed the private information of individuals who interacted with OpenAI products and applications connected to ChatGPT.
The lawsuit says the defendants “stole” information despite having established rules for purchasing and using personal information. The plaintiffs accuse OpenAI of threatening “the collapse of civilization” and say the company has caused $3 billion in damages.
This massive theft and use of personal data is believed to help OpenAI win the AI race. OpenAI's chat app ChatGPT and other products are trained on that personal information.
The plaintiffs allege that in their pursuit of profit, OpenAI has abandoned the fundamental principle of developing AI, which is to maximize the benefit of all humanity. The lawsuit estimates OpenAI’s revenue in 2023 at $200 million.
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The plaintiffs are asking the court to award damages to those whose information was stolen, as well as temporarily freeze the use of OpenAI's products and prevent the company from further development.
Microsoft, which is expected to invest $13 billion in OpenAI, is also named as a defendant. Microsoft and OpenAI did not immediately comment on the lawsuit.
OpenAI launched ChatGPT in late 2022 and the application quickly took the world by storm with its ability to chat, solve math problems, write essays, and write theses. ChatGPT's success has fueled the AI race in the technology world , as companies large and small are rushing to develop and deploy AI tools.
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