ChatGPT in Danger: Uncertainty Looms over the Future of OpenAI Project in Europe
The advent of ChatGPT has revolutionized numerous sectors worldwide with its impressive potential and capabilities. However, its mammoth maintenance cost is a downside that cannot be ignored. Nonetheless, the future of this OpenAI project seems bleak in Europe. Unfortunately, this is not a mere rumor or conjecture as the CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, himself has indicated that the company might close ChatGPT in Europe due to the impending AI regulation that the EU is developing.
According to The Verge, during a chat with journalists held in London, Sam Altman expressed “a lot of concerns” about the EU’s AI Law that lawmakers are presently finalizing. This new law contains new obligations for the manufacturers of the “basic models” which refers to the large-scale artificial intelligence systems that power services such as ChatGPT and OpenAI’s DALL-E. These developments are critical, and OpenAI intends to adopt the compliance measures imposed by the EU.
However, if the regulations impede smooth operations, in that case, ChatGPT might cease its services in Europe. Altman is concerned that ChatGPT will be deemed a high-risk AI owing to the new EU legislation. This will result in a series of transparency and security requirements that the OpenAI CEO is not sure the company can meet due to technical constraints.
Furthermore, the current draft of the AI Law mandates that the creators of basic models such as ChatGPT reveal their entire system design. This includes details such as “required computing power, training time, and other relevant information related to the size and power of the model.” A summary of copyrighted data is also required to be disclosed. This clause is a highly contentious issue because obligating OpenAI to identity copyrighted content could lead to potential lawsuits.
Revealing such data sources opens the door for legal challenges that OpenAI wishes to avoid. Its rival, Stability AI, is already embroiled in a lawsuit with Getty Images for using its copyrighted data to train their AI image. Sharing information publicly would result in millions of losses for OpenAI.
At first, OpenAI used to offer a share of this information, but its commercial value grew as the project expanded. Therefore, they ceased collection and sharing of data to prevent their rivals from copying their work. Although it is too early to say if ChatGPT will leave Europe, its future is shrouded in uncertainty until the European Union publishes its new AI Law.