In response to the rising concerns surrounding potential intellectual property infringement claims around the use of generative artificial intelligence, Google has unveiled plans to defend users of its generative AI systems operating on Google Cloud and Workspace platforms.
Google’s “two-pronged, industry-first approach” announced Thursday (October 12), covers both the use of copyrighted materials for AI training and the output generated by the foundation models.
“If you are challenged on copyright grounds, we will assume responsibility for the potential legal risks involved,” Google said in a blog post.
Google explained that the IP indemnity that it is offering “means that you can use content generated with a range of our products knowing Google will indemnify you for third-party IP claims, including copyright — assuming your company is following responsible AI practices.”
“If you are challenged on copyright grounds, we will assume responsibility for the potential legal risks involved.”
The newly introduced policy will cover software such as the Vertex AI development platform and Duet AI system, which are used in generating text and images within Google Workspace and Cloud programs.
The announcement, however, did not mention Bard, Google’s widely recognized generative AI chatbot, nor its ‘experimental AI’ tool Music.LM, which generates high-fidelity music from text prompts and humming.
The company said it will shoulder potential legal liabilities arising from claims that the use of training data in its generative models infringes on third-party IP rights.
“We hope this gives you confidence that your company is protected against third parties claiming copyright infringement as a result of Google’s use of training data. Put simply, regardless of the training data underlying all our services, Google indemnifies you,” the tech giant said.
Google’s second approach is focused on the output generated by these AI systems. Google says it will provide indemnity to users against claims asserting that content created by the AI systems, in response to user inputs, infringes on third-party intellectual property rights.
“It means that you can expect Google Cloud to cover claims, like copyright infringement, made against your company, regardless of whether they stem from the generated output or Google’s use of training data to create our generative AI models.”
“It means that you can expect Google Cloud to cover claims, like copyright infringement, made against your company, regardless of whether they stem from the generated output or Google’s use of training data to create our generative AI models,” Google said.
However, this indemnification will not apply if users deliberately create or employ generated output with the intention of infringing on the rights of others.
Google says its pledge to provide indemnification “is just the first step” in the evolving landscape of generative AI. Its new measure comes as companies like Google are being targeted by lawsuits over generative AI.
The widespread use of this technology has led to numerous legal challenges from writers, artists and other copyright holders, arguing that the output generated by AI systems infringe upon their copyrights.
Last month, a group of US writers, including Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon, sued OpenAI in federal court in San Francisco, accusing the company backed by Microsoft of misusing their writing to train its AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT.
In August, a federal judge upheld a previous ruling from the US Copyright Office that a piece of art created by AI is not copyrightable.
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