Lawyer sues ChatGPT maker for three billion dollars in damages: “Theft on an unprecedented scale”

The Californian startup OpenAI benefited from the use of huge amounts of data when developing the chatbot ChatGPT. US attorney Ryan Clarkson says that not everything went right. Clarkson spoke to the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” of a “theft on an unprecedented scale”.

His law firm, Clarkson Law Firm, based in Malibu, California, filed a class action lawsuit against OpenAI and its partner Microsoft two weeks ago. She is demanding $3 billion in damages. On Tuesday, Clarkson filed another lawsuit against the Internet company Google, which was responsible for the co-development of OpenAl.

“Google needs to understand once and for all: They don’t own the internet”

Among other things, it says: “Google has secretly stolen everything that has ever been created and shared by hundreds of millions of Americans on the Internet.” Another paragraph emphasizes: “Google needs to understand once and for all: You do not own the Internet.”

According to Clarkson, internet users were not asked for their consent, nor were they given an opportunity to “opt out” of having their data collected. The accusation is that OpenAl “stole” 300 billion words from the Internet. The lawsuit against Google even mentions more than 1.5 trillion words. In addition, attention is drawn to a change in Google’s data protection guidelines that was made just a few days ago.

Elon Musk had already made similar allegations. The tech billionaire was once involved in the creation of OpenAI, which among other things developed the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT. Later, however, he fell out with the other co-founders and became a harsh critic.

Musk founds his own artificial intelligence startup

Musk officially presented his own AI company on Wednesday. She should “understand the true nature of the universe,” Musk said the goal when presenting xAI. The founding of the company had become known months ago – while Musk, with reference to possibly uncontrollable security risks, pleaded for a six-month break in AI development. Musk has repeatedly warned of the dangers of AI, even calling it “our greatest existential threat.”

The development has generated both excitement and concerns about the potential of AI. AI tools can now write essays, create realistic images, imitate voices and much more. Observers warn that this could be used to spread disinformation, for fraud purposes or for mass surveillance.

According to media reports, the American consumer protection authority FTC is also targeting the chatbot ChatGPT. The Washington Post and the New York Times wrote on Thursday that she had sent the developer company OpenAI a detailed catalog of questions about dangers for consumers. The FTC focuses on the handling of user data and cases in which ChatGPT gives false information about people.

So far, Google in Europe has been slowed down by the data protection authority in Ireland in its AI race to catch up with its competitor ChatGPT. But now the way is clear – also for a start of the chatbot Bard in Germany and in German.

With Bard, Google is countering the success of the text robot ChatGPT from the start-up OpenAI. The competition in this segment is particularly relevant for Google, also because OpenAI is supported by Microsoft with billions. The major Google competitor is trying to break into markets like internet search and online advertising with the help of ChatGPT. In addition, the AI ​​functions are intended to secure Microsoft’s supremacy in the software market.