OpenAI Alters Mission, Faces Canadian Data Probe
OpenAI has quietly revised its mission statement, removing the word "safely" amid ongoing lawsuits and efforts to secure new government partnerships. Concurrently, Canada's privacy commissioner has launched an investigation into the company over allegations of collecting and using personal data without consent.
- The revised mission statement, "to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity," also removes the long-standing phrase "unconstrained by a need to generate financial return," a change reflected in the company's 2024 IRS filing. - The Canadian probe is a joint investigation that includes the federal Privacy Commissioner and provincial authorities in Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec. It will determine if OpenAI received valid consent for collecting personal information and whether its purposes for using the data were appropriate under Canadian law. - A U.S. class-action lawsuit alleges OpenAI scraped 300 billion words from the internet, including personal data from platforms like Twitter and Reddit, without consent for training models. The suit lists 15 counts against the company, including privacy violations, negligence, and larceny. - OpenAI's government partnerships include a strategic agreement with the UK to help transform its public services and a pilot program with the U.S. Department of Defense, under a contract with a $200 million ceiling, to explore AI for administrative operations and cyber defense. - The company's push into regulated sectors coincides with an industry-
