Samsung bans staff’s AI use after spotting ChatGPT data leak
- A company survey last month about the use of AI tools internally found that 65 per cent of respondents believe that such services pose a security risk
- In February, some Wall Street banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America and Citigroup either banned or restricted use of ChatGPT
Samsung Electronics is banning employee use of popular generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT after discovering staff uploaded sensitive code to the platform, dealing a setback to the spread of such technology in the workplace.
The Suwon, South Korea-based company notified staff at one of its biggest divisions on Monday about the new policy via a memo reviewed by Bloomberg News. The company is concerned that data transmitted to AI platforms, including Google Bard and Bing, is stored on external servers, making it difficult to retrieve and delete, and could end up being disclosed to other users, according to the document.
The company conducted a survey last month about the use of AI tools internally and said that 65 per cent of respondents believe that such services pose a security risk. Earlier in April, Samsung engineers accidentally leaked internal source code by uploading it to ChatGPT, according to the memo. It is unclear what the information encompassed, and a Samsung representative declined to comment.
“Interest in generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT has been growing internally and externally,” Samsung told its employees. “While this interest focuses on the usefulness and efficiency of these platforms, there are also growing concerns about security risks presented by generative AI.”
Samsung is just the latest big company to express concern about the technology. In February, only a couple of months after OpenAI’s chatbot service stirred up a storm of interest in the technology, some Wall Street banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America and Citigroup either banned or restricted its use. Italy also barred the use of ChatGPT over privacy fears, though it reversed its stance in recent days.
The new Samsung rules ban the use of generative AI systems on company-owned computers, tablets and phones, as well as on its internal networks. They do not affect the company’s devices sold to consumers, such as Android smartphones and Windows laptops.
Samsung asked employees who use ChatGPT and other tools on personal devices to not submit any company-related information or personal data that could reveal its intellectual property. It warned that breaking the new policies could result in being fired.