Chinese TikTok Owner Accused of Unauthorized Use of UK News Sites for Chatbot Training

The Chinese owner of TikTok has come under fire for allegedly scraping UK news sites to train its rival to ChatGPT, without obtaining permission or providing fair compensation. Popular publishers such as The Guardian, Daily Mail, and The Telegraph are said to have been targeted by a bot operated by Bytedance, the Beijing-based tech giant. While Bytedance claims that its bot, known as Bytespider, is deployed for search optimization purposes, news organizations are concerned that their articles are being used without consent for chatbot training, potentially infringing on copyrights. Publishers have also expressed concerns regarding a lack of transparency surrounding the operation of Bytedance’s bot, making it difficult for them to block it. Several media outlets, including the BBC, Guardian, New York Times, and CNN, have already blocked ChatGPT-maker OpenAI from accessing their sites due to copyright concerns. Bytedance is reportedly preparing to venture into artificial intelligence (AI) and is developing an open platform for users to create their own chatbots. The Guardian, in its submission to a House of Lords inquiry on AI, stressed the importance of publishers being able to opt-in to web scraping instead of being forced to opt-out. Similar suspicious bot activity has also been reported by other publications, including the Independent, National World, and Tindle. The rise of AI has raised concerns among news outlets and creative organizations, who worry that tech giants are utilizing their intellectual property without permission. The Daily Mail is currently embroiled in a legal battle with Google, accusing the company of using hundreds of thousands of its online news stories to train the Bard chatbot. Tech companies argue that their use of copyrighted material falls under fair use clauses, but creative organizations contest this stance, asserting that their intellectual property is being exploited for commercial gain. The ongoing dispute intensified after Google executives implied that they had the right to use content as long as it was not behind a paywall. Publishers like The Guardian emphasize that this approach jeopardizes the principles of an open web. Bytedance declined to comment on the allegations.