OpenAI Sued for Allegedly Building Models Out of Children’s “Fears, Hopes, and Secrets”

A new lawsuit alleges that OpenAI is manipulating minor users into sharing sensitive data without valid parental consent in a plot to train its models. The proposed class action lawsuit, filed this week in San Francisco federal court on behalf of two unnamed minors aged 12 and 16, argues that OpenAI used this data from kids — including personal secrets and health information, according to the complaint — to unjustly enrich itself. OpenAI “had no right to take this information, but it took it anyway,” the complaint reads. “It then used that priceless trove of children’s information to train large language models, build detailed profiles of children, and enrich itself. All of this was illegal.” OpenAI didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.