Emerging Technology
After Investigating OpenAI, FTC Wants To Bring The GenAI Industry Under Scrutiny!
By TechDogs Bureau
Updated on Tue, Sep 12, 2023
It’s OpenAI again!
Let's not waste any more time and start investigating the latest in the world of AI.
A data breach at OpenAI occurred in March 2022. The FTC immediately moved to probe the company's security practices. For starters, the hack only exposed the information of approximately 1.2% of active ChatGPT Plus members (the company's premium service). Moreover, the full credit card numbers were not compromised in the incident.
Second, the vulnerability that allowed the data breach to occur was included in a widely used open-source library that was not actively maintained by OpenAI. However, the problem was fixed the same day it was discovered thanks to OpenAI's prompt identification and patch of the defect, which improved security for any business utilizing this open-source code. Ultimately, OpenAI seemed to be honest about the scope of the breach and the underlying specifics. In addition, the AI-based corporation has chosen to start a “bug bounty” program to find security flaws in its applications in the future.
FTC's new inquiry into OpenAI, however, appears to be driven by anti-tech ideology rather than a examination of the evidence. The FTC's heavy-handed response isn't just out of context; it also appears to misunderstand the fundamental nature of generative AI and is trying to apply consumer protection rules beyond their reach in a way that would likely hinder progress at one of America's most promising digital firms.
Since data breaches are sadly prevalent but rarely result in FTC investigations, the agency's decision to focus solely on OpenAI is seen as harsh and inconsistent within the AI industry.
So, what exactly is it about OpenAI that has driven the FTC to investigate it?
The Federal Trade Commission's jurisdiction and role in supervising AI technologies have been called into question following the inquiry into OpenAI's practices. The FTC does not have the proper legal jurisdiction to regulate AI.
Lina Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission, responded that the agency was not concerned with the aforementioned concerns but rather with whether the improper use of personal data in the context of AI training constituted fraud or deception under the FTC Act. Khan emphasized a broad definition of "injury" to consumers. The FTC's approach to artificial intelligence is unclear and may be overreaching, as demonstrated by this action.
Concerns have been raised that the FTC is abusing its ability to pursue lawsuits against AI businesses due to its open antipathy against tech companies and its decision to enter into areas traditionally handled by state laws, such as libel and defamation.
Furthermore, the FTC's examination of OpenAI seems more like a broad fishing expedition for potential wrongdoing than a specific inquiry of alleged law infractions. The startup has been served with a 20-page civil investigation demand letter, which is essentially an administrative subpoena.
The FTC is demanding OpenAI to reveal everything from the raw data it used to train its AI models to the names and credentials of everyone who has worked on the company's AI models since 2017, as well as any contracts involving AI models and public remarks the company has made about them since 2017. It would take a lot of work for the company to comply with the FTC's demands, such as its request to "describe in detail the process of retraining a large language model in order to create a substantially new version of the model."
As a result, the current actions of the FTC is making waves in the AI industry. Business leaders have been in talks with attorneys and AI programmers, expecting more clarity in its workflows if FTC turns to them after OpenAI.
What's next in store as the FTC locks onto OpenAI? Will OpenAI emerge from this digital showdown unscathed to win a major point for the GenAI industry? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
First published on Tue, Sep 12, 2023
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