Microsoft, one of the largest investors in OpenAI, temporarily restricted employee access to OpenAI’s ChatGPT on Thursday, November 9, 2023, citing “security and data concerns”. The restriction was quickly reversed, and access to ChatGPT was restored after the company identified its error.
Background
ChatGPT is a popular AI chatbot created by OpenAI that composes human-like responses to people’s chat messages. The service has over 100 million users and has been trained on extensive internet data. Microsoft has invested over $13 billion in OpenAI. However, a CNBC report reveals that Microsoft staff were temporarily banned from accessing ChatGPT. At the time of the ban, there were claims that Microsoft restricted access to ChatGPT for some staff due to security and privacy concerns.
Microsoft’s Response
A Microsoft spokesperson said that the temporary access ban occurred when the company was testing the Large Language Model (LLM). He said that there was an error during the LLM terminal control system testing. However, it recommended employees use Bing Chat Enterprise and ChatGPT Enterprise. The staff claims that the above products have better security and Privacy. The spokesperson made it clear that the ban was a mistake and not intentional.
Gizchina News of the week
Microsoft CEO, Nadella said
We were testing LLM’s terminal control system and inadvertently turned on this option for all users, and shortly after discovering the error, we restored service…
Reactions and Implications
The temporary block on ChatGPT access by Microsoft employees has raised concerns about the use of AI services such as ChatGPT. Many large brands have restricted access to ChatGPT, often to prevent the sharing of confidential data. The incident highlights the need for companies to be cautious when using third-party AI services.
Microsoft temporarily restricted employee access to OpenAI’s ChatGPT due to security and data concerns. However, the restriction was quickly reversed after the company identified its error. The incident highlights the need for companies to exercise caution when using third-party AI services. Brands also have to ensure that user data remains secure.