The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has put major artificial intelligence (AI) companies, including OpenAI, on the crosshairs for potential antitrust violations.
NBC News reports that the warning was issued by Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, who heads the DOJ's antitrust division, during a conference at Stanford University on Thursday, May 30.
This move signals increased regulatory scrutiny over how AI firms operate and compensate creators whose works are used to train AI models.
DOJ Eyes Regulatory Action If AI Companies Don't Pay Artists
Jonathan Kanter, the DOJ's chief antitrust enforcer, warned AI companies about possible regulatory actions if they fail to fairly compensate artists, entertainers, and other creators.
Speaking at a conference attended by AI researchers, executives, and government officials, Kanter emphasized the importance of ensuring that creators are appropriately compensated for their contributions.
The warning was issued on Thursday at Stanford University, during a conference focused on the economic impact of generative AI systems like ChatGPT and the application of antitrust laws to these technologies.
Kanter's statements were driven by concerns about the potential exploitation of creative works by AI companies. He questioned the future incentives for creators if AI technologies can extract and use their work without proper compensation.
"What incentive will tomorrow's writers, creators, journalists, thinkers, and artists have if AI has the ability to extract their ingenuity without appropriate compensation?" Kanter asked.
Kanter highlighted that the DOJ is now actively scrutinizing the AI ecosystem. He stressed the department's potential authority under the antitrust principle of monopsony, where a powerful buyer can push down prices, reducing incentives for production.
"Absent competition to adequately compensate creators for their works, AI companies could exploit monopsony power on levels that we have never seen before, with devastating consequences," Kanter said.
A photo taken on November 23, 2023 shows the logo of the ChatGPT application developed by US artificial intelligence research organization OpenAI on a smartphone screen (L) and the letters AI on a laptop screen in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images
Copyright Lawsuits Against AI Companies
The warning comes amid escalating tensions between AI companies and creators. Recently, actress Scarlett Johansson accused OpenAI of using a voice eerily similar to hers for their new GPT-4o chatbot after she declined to provide her voice.
This issue is part of a broader conflict involving AI-generated voices and imagery in entertainment, which has been a contentious point in previous labor negotiations like the SAG-AFTRA writers strikes in Hollywood.
AI companies, including OpenAI and investor Microsoft, have also faced numerous lawsuits from authors and media outlets like The New York Times, alleging copyright infringement. These legal challenges highlight the ongoing disputes over the use of creative works to train AI models.
Joining Kanter in expressing concerns about competition in the AI industry was Věra Jourová, a vice president of the European Commission, who also spoke at the conference. She warned about the high barriers to entry in AI, such as computing costs, which may favor large companies over startups.
The DOJ's scrutiny is not new to OpenAI. In July 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) began investigating OpenAI for potential consumer protection law violations, focusing on data handling, misinformation risks, and potential consumer harm.
