U.S. Senators have formally requested the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to look into generative AI products for possible antitrust violations. The senators, led by Amy Klobuchar, argue that AI tools, deployed by platforms like Google and Meta, endanger the work of content creators, particularly reporters, by abusing human-created content without compensation.
In a letter addressed to FTC Chair Lina Khan and Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, the Senators highlight concerns that these AI tools always reproduce online content, keeping users on the platform instead of directing them to the original sources. This, in turn, enables leading platforms to reap benefits through advertisements whilst stripping creators of any revenue and recognition for their creative efforts.
U.S. senators claim generative AI is misusing third-party content without compensation
According to the lawmakers, The AI-based tools employed by the dominant tech platforms are putting content creators, and most importantly, journalists, out of work. In their letter, they mentioned that lately, several dominant websites have added generative AI features that answer users’ questions by summarizing or in some cases, reproducing content from other sources. They argued that such features could be considered anti-competitive as they could lessen competition and innovation in the creation of digital content.
The Senators claim that instead of taking users to publishers’ sites, AI-generated summaries keep users on the search platform and deny any compensation to journalists and other content creators. Some of these AI features are claimed to steal third-party content, claiming it as newly generated content, which further aggravates the problem.
U.S local news outlets face growing threat from AI content misuse
The letter also highlights the troubles facing the local news outlets, that are already in a risky position. As shown by recent research, the US has lost about 2900 newspapers in the past years. A third of the newspapers that existed in 2005 will likely cease to exist by the end of this year. The increase in the usage of generative AI tools is bound to worsen matters, in that, it allows the platforms to exploit the news content without investing in the sustenance of local journalism.
The risks extend to even the recognized media houses. Last year, The New York Times took legal action against both OpenAI and Microsoft claiming that AI technologies like ChatGPT ignored the policy and used their articles as training materials. The concern emphasized the “free ride” issue, where news media houses expend huge resources on journalism, only for the content to be exploited by AI systems without compensating creators.
The Senators are calling on the DOJ Antitrust Division and the FTC to look into whether these generative AI features involve exclusionary conduct and unfair competition in violation of U.S. antitrust laws.
