Leading Tech Companies, Including Google, Have Made Significant Investments in Generative AI
Google has made a commitment to safeguard users of its generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems on the Google Cloud and Workspace platforms against allegations of intellectual property infringements. This decision aligns Google with other tech industry giants such as Microsoft and Adobe, which have undertaken similar pledges.
Generative AI has emerged as a substantial area of investment for leading technology companies, with Google at the forefront. These AI systems are trained using a variety of works contributed by authors, artists, and other copyright holders. Nonetheless, this practice has led to a spate of lawsuits, with plaintiffs contending that their rights are violated both by the use of their work for AI training and by the content generated by these systems. Google’s recent announcement is designed to offer users peace of mind, with certain conditions to be met in order to qualify for Google’s support in copyright matters.
Google has clarified that this protection does not extend to cases where users deliberately generate or employ output with the intent of infringing upon the rights of others. The surge in lawsuits relating to generative AI has predominantly targeted the companies responsible for these systems, including Google, rather than individual end users.
According to a Reuters report, Google’s spokesperson indicated that the company is the first in the industry to introduce a comprehensive indemnity approach that encompasses both types of claims. This new policy covers software such as the Vertex AI development platform and the Duet AI system, which generate text and images within Google Workspace and Cloud applications. However, the press release did not mention Google’s popular generative AI chatbot program, Bard.
In a similar vein, another prominent AI company, Microsoft, has extended a parallel assurance to users of its AI tools. The software giant recently announced that it will assume legal responsibility for damages on behalf of customers using its AI products. Comparable to the conditions set forth by Google, any content failing to comply with Microsoft’s “guardrails and content filters” will not qualify for this protection.
