On January 9, the Staff in the Office of Technology of the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") posted a reminder to AI companies, enumerating the ways that they can run afoul of the laws enforced by the FTC. In particular, FTC Staff called out Model-as-a-Service companies, and impressed the importance of safeguarding individual and proprietary data involved in creating the models. FTC Staff indicated that there could be both consumer protection and competition concerns associated with a failure to do so. Further, FTC Staff warned that AI companies need to be forthcoming in how data is being used, and companies that omit material facts that would affect whether customers buy a particular product or service may run afoul of competition laws.
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