OpenAI, the company behind the popular ChatGPT artificial intelligence software, announced on Monday it would pay the legal fees of any business customer who was sued over copyright claims. The pledge does not apply to anyone using the free version of ChatGPT.
“This applies to generally available features of ChatGPT Enterprise and our developer platform,” the company continued, making clear that anyone using ChatGPT’s free offering would not be covered. A number of class action suits have already been filed over OpenAI’s alleged infringement of copyright, including big name authors like George R.R. Martin, the creator of theseries of books. The complaints allege that training data was used inappropriately, but AI companies like OpenAI counter by saying their use of all that data is protected under the “fair use” exemption of U.S. copyright law.