Every Monday I peruse the legal press to see what’s new, interesting, important. Sometimes it is M&A or capital markets. But this Monday’s mailbox was full of interesting stuff.
Posts are supposed to be short revelations, not long rambles– SO let me take these one at a time and let me start with AI. (Posts in the next day or two will reach taxation, cannabis, SEC climate disclosure and government ratings of banking institutions.)
The State of Florida has today instituted litigation against Open AI and Sam Atman, in Florida State court. The claim is that Chat GPT is harmful to users and that the company ignored safety warnings. Accusations, according to the State Attorney General, include violation of product liability laws, negligence, deceptive and unfair trade practices. The State seeks civil recovery and a ban on collecting data from children under 13 without parental consent.
This follows a pending criminal investigation by the State exploring the use of Chat GPT in the Florida Sate University mass shooting. And, the daily press often contains reports of claims of risk from AI generally, proposed litigation to prevent misuse in spoofing posts (some relating to sexually explicit usage), theft of literary and artistic and musical works, etc.
Whether the current administration has the intent to step into an AI regulatory role, given the sweep of litigation and general fearfulness of AI, not to mention the recent Papal announcement concerning who “owns” AI, remains to be seen. It is no secret that, generally speaking, the present US government is not inclined to regulate industries in most regards so– stay tuned.
Sardonic aside: I just used Chat GPT to inquire about the status of the widely rumored proposed public offering of Altman’s company, wondering what the prospectus might say about the risks involved, and the liabilities arising, from the dissemination of an AI platform such as Chat. FYI: it is still a rumor, no formal public action towards going public having been taken. If and when it does happen, the disclosures in the prospectus will make remarkable reading.