OpenAI is fighting lawsuits from artists, writers, and publishers who allege it inappropriately used their work to train the algorithms behind ChatGPT and other AI systems. On Tuesday the company announced a tool apparently designed to appease creatives and rights holders, by granting them some control over how OpenAI uses their work. The company says it will launch a tool in 2025 called Media Manager that allows content creators to opt out their work from the company’s AI development.
“If not, it will just add further complexity to an already complex opt-out environment,” says Newton-Rex, who was formerly an executive at Stability AI, developer of the Stable Diffusion image generator. OpenAI is not the first to look for ways for artists and other content creators to signal their preferences about use of their work and personal data for AI projects. Other tech companies, from Adobe to Tumblr, also offer opt-out tools regarding data collection and machine learning.