Observed Signal · Sep 23, 2024 · Policy Update · Source: Trending Topics · Impact: 4/5 · Sentiment: Negative
LinkedIn to Train AI on User Data Using OpenAI Models
LinkedIn, the Microsoft-owned professional network, confirmed in an updated terms of service that it will use data from hundreds of millions of users to train its own AI models and those of partner companies. The changes take effect on November 20, 2024. Due to stricter privacy regulations, member data from the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom is excluded. Users in other regions, such as the US, Japan, and India, can opt out via a new setting called 'Data for Improving Generative AI', but data use is enabled by default. LinkedIn said the AI features include writing suggestions and suggested posts, which may use personal data. Some of LinkedIn's generative AI models are provided by Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service; inputs, outputs, embeddings, and training data used there are not passed to OpenAI, in which Microsoft has invested more than $10 billion.
Major platform policy update: LinkedIn, with hundreds of millions of users, will train AI models on user data by default with opt-out, excluding only EU/EEA, Switzerland and UK data. This sets a precedent for generative AI data use on social platforms and raises significant privacy implications for the AdTech/MarTech ecosystem.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- LinkedIn's updated terms of service, effective November 20, 2024, allow the platform to use user data to train its own AI models and partner AI models.
- Member data from the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom is excluded from AI training due to stricter privacy rules.
- LinkedIn introduced an opt-out setting called 'Data for Improving Generative AI'; users outside the excluded regions are opted in by default.
- Generative AI features such as writing suggestions and suggested posts may use personal data.
- Some LinkedIn AI models are provided by Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service; Microsoft has invested more than $10 billion in OpenAI, and Azure-hosted data is not shared with OpenAI.
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Ontology Mapping & Concepts
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