AI companies have all kinds of arguments against paying for copyrighted content

Nov 5, 2023 ·

Generative AI and copyright law have been thrust into the spotlight as training datasets become more valuable intellectual property. OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google have all recently partnered with MetaStabilityAI to explore how they can protect their valuable datasets from theft and misuse.

The core of these efforts revolves around finding new ways of protecting data from unauthorized use and repurposing. Companies like OpenAI hope to find methods that will allow them to securely monitor, track, and share access to their proprietary datasets. In addition, companies like Microsoft are interested in creating laws that could protect their generated training data from competing companies or malicious actors.

In order to do this, these companies are looking at various technologies, such as blockchain, digital watermarking, and digital rights management technology. These approaches would allow companies to add layers of security to their datasets, making it difficult or impossible for an unauthorized user to access the data.

Additionally, MetaStabilityAI’s mission is to bring together experts from different fields (e.g. computer science, economics, law) to discuss and develop best practices for the protection of data-driven intellectual property. Their goal is to create a framework that gives companies the power to choose when and who should be able to access their datasets.

Ultimately, the success of these efforts depends on how well we as a society understand the implications of training datasets as intellectual property. As training datasets grow in complexity and volume, so too does the need to protect them from theft and misappropriation. By understanding the complexities of copyright law and developing new technologies, companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google are hoping to ensure that their valuable datasets remain secure.