The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched a comprehensive scrutiny of OpenAI, the San Francisco company that created the popular AI chatbot, ChatGPT. The Washington Post reported on July 13, 2023 that this check is to see if OpenAI has gone against laws that keep clients safe, possibly putting their personal reputation and data at risk.

The FTC has issued a 20-page records demand to OpenAI, seeking to learn more about how the company handles potential problems related to its AI models. This government agency is particularly checking whether OpenAI has been unfair or misleading, causing damage to people’s reputations.

The FTC’s investigation extends to a security incident that OpenAI disclosed in March 2023. A bug in OpenAI’s systems had allowed some users to view payment-related information and some chat history data from other users. The FTC is investigating whether OpenAI’s data security practices in this incident violated consumer protection laws.

The FTC is also seeking information on any research, tests, or surveys conducted by OpenAI that assesses how well consumers understand the “accuracy or reliability of the results” generated by its AI tools. Additionally, the FTC has requested details about how OpenAI licenses its models to other companies.

This investigation comes in the wake of previous concerns raised about OpenAI practices. In March 2023, the Center for AI and Digital Policy (CAIDP) asked the FTC to investigate OpenAI for alleged violations of consumer protection rules, citing that the implementation of text-generating tools from AI has been “biased, misleading, and a risk to public safety.” ”, as reported by The Verge.

The CAIDP had noted potential threats from OpenAI’s GPT-4 generative text model, including the production of malicious code, highly personalized propaganda, and the potential for skewed training data to result in unfair race and gender preferences in areas such as the hiring.

The FTC’s investigation into OpenAI represents a significant step in the agency’s continued interest in regulating AI tools. He previously warned that biased AI systems could lead to enforcement actions. An investigation by OpenAI, one of the major players in the field of generative AI, marks a major escalation in the FTC’s efforts.