The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has initiated an investigation into OpenAI Inc., the creator of the popular ChatGPT conversational AI bot. The probe aims to determine if the AI bot poses risks to consumers’ reputations and data. This marks the first official inquiry into a technology that has the potential to revolutionize various aspects of people’s lives.
Chair of the FTC, Lina Khan, has previously expressed concerns about artificial intelligence and emphasized the need for vigilance with transformative tools like AI. Microsoft and OpenAI declined to comment on the investigation.
San Francisco-based OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, is a leader in generative AI technology. Its ChatGPT app has sparked a race among companies across multiple industries to develop their own competing chatbots. ChatGPT utilizes a large language model trained on extensive textual data from the internet, enabling it to generate responses that are reminiscent of human conversation.
The rapid advancement of this technology in the past eight months has prompted calls for regulation and a temporary halt in the training of advanced AI systems. Figures like OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman and Elon Musk have been vocal advocates for regulation and have warned about the potential consequences of mainstreaming AI.
A notable tech ethics group filed a complaint in March urging the FTC to halt further commercial deployment of the technology powering ChatGPT. The Center for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Policy, led by privacy advocate Marc Rotenberg, called for an investigation to establish essential guidelines that protect consumers, businesses, and the industry as a whole.
The FTC, responsible for enforcing antitrust and consumer protection laws, is also examining the competitive landscape in the AI field. Chair Lina Khan has stated that the agency is closely monitoring the use of AI tools by scammers and will enforce the law not only against fraudulent actors but also against the companies enabling them.
In a recent 20-page letter, the FTC requested OpenAI to provide detailed descriptions of any complaints concerning its products making false, misleading, disparaging, or harmful statements about individuals. The agency is investigating whether the company engaged in unfair or deceptive practices that led to reputational harm for consumers. The FTC also requested information related to a security incident disclosed by OpenAI in March, which involved a bug allowing some users to access payment-related information and certain chat history data of other users.
FTC Chair Lina Khan recently faced questioning from the House Judiciary Committee, where she received criticism from Republican lawmakers regarding ethics laws, aggressive antitrust enforcement, and her leadership.
The investigation into OpenAI by the FTC represents a significant regulatory action, shedding light on potential risks associated with AI technology and highlighting the importance of responsible and secure deployment in the future.
