Polish Regulators Investigate Microsoft-Backed OpenAI Over GDPR Violations

Poland’s Personal Data Protection Office (UODO) has launched an investigation into OpenAI, a company supported by Microsoft (MSFT.O), following a complaint alleging violations of European Union data protection laws, commonly known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

OpenAI is already facing its second class action lawsuit in the San Francisco federal court for alleged privacy breaches, according to reports. The company has remained tight-lipped about the lawsuit, declining to comment when it was initially reported earlier this month.

Jan Nowak, President of UODO, commented on the investigation, stating, “The case concerns the violation of many provisions on the protection of personal data, so we will ask OpenAI to answer a number of questions.”

Read more: Microsoft To Invest More In OpenAI, As It Looks To Compete With Google In AI

The complaint at the center of the investigation alleges that OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot failed to rectify false information generated by the AI system about the complainant. Additionally, the complainant claims that they were unable to ascertain which of their personal data was being processed by OpenAI and received responses to their queries that were evasive and misleading.

Apart from the privacy-related cases, several technology companies, including Microsoft, OpenAI, Google, and Stability AI, have recently been hit with lawsuits concerning the “scraping” of copyrighted materials and personal data from across the internet to train their generative AI systems.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT made headlines earlier this year by becoming the fastest-growing consumer application in history. In January, just two months after its launch, it had already amassed 100 million active users. Microsoft’s significant investments in OpenAI have underscored the technology giant’s commitment to advancing AI technology.

OpenAI has yet to issue an official statement regarding the investigation by Polish regulators.

Source: Reuters