OpenAI may yet again be in hot water as it seems that the tech giant may be reneging on its earlier assurances. Reportedly, in May, OpenAI said it was developing a tool to let creators specify how they want their works to be included in—or excluded from—its AI training data. But seven months later, this feature has yet to see the light of day.
Called Media Manager, the tool would “identify copyrighted text, images, audio, and video,” OpenAI said at the time, to reflect creators’ preferences “across multiple sources.” It was intended to stave off some of the company’s fiercest critics, and potentially shield OpenAI from IP-related legal challenges.
READ: OpenAI concludes holiday campaign “Shipmas”: Here’s what you missed (December 23, 2024)
Recently, TechCrunch reported that Media Manager was rarely viewed as an important launch internally. “I don’t think it was a priority,” a former OpenAI employee said. “To be honest, I don’t remember anyone working on it.”
A non-employee who coordinates work with OpenAI told TechCrunch in December that they had discussed the tool with the company in the past, but that there haven’t been any recent updates.
OpenAI has faced various legal challenges related to its AI technologies and operations. One major issue involves the privacy and data usage of its language models, which are trained on large datasets that may include publicly available or copyrighted material. This raises concerns over privacy violations and intellectual property rights, especially regarding whether the data used for training was obtained with proper consent.
Additionally, there are questions about the ownership of content generated by OpenAI’s models. If an AI produces a work based on copyrighted data, it is tricky to determine who owns the rights—whether it’s OpenAI, the user who prompted the AI, or the creators of the original data.
Another concern is the liability for harmful content produced by AI. If an AI generates misleading or defamatory information, legal responsibility could fall on OpenAI.
READ: OpenAI unveils Sora, an AI tool that transforms text Into video (December 11, 2024)
Moreover, as governments begin regulating AI technologies more strictly, OpenAI may face legal issues related to compliance with data protection laws, like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and other AI-specific regulations concerning fairness, transparency, and societal impact.
These legal challenges will likely continue as OpenAI and other big tech firms navigate the complex ethical and legal landscapes of AI development.
OpenAI is yet to give an update on Media Manager’s progress. The company missed a self-imposed deadline to have the tool in place “by 2025,” which could have meant the entirety of the year 2025 or up to Jan. 1, 2025.