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It has been reported that the popular blogging platforms Tumblr and WordPress will be selling user data in order to train artificial intelligence models from companies like OpenAI and Midjourney.
This comes after a similar incident in 19 February 2024 where Reddit announced plans to sell user data to an undisclosed AI Company. Users swiftly voiced their disapproval on social media about the privacy implications. It was later revealed that the company buying Reddit's user data was Google.
Now according to a report from media outlet 404Media, Tumblr and WordPress' parent company Automattic appears to be pursuing deals with OpenAI and Midjourney. 404Media claims to have spoken with insider sources who have seen confidential documents related to these partnerships.
While the exact types of user data involved are unclear, the goal would presumably be to use real examples from Tumblr and WordPress to improve the training of AI text generator models and image generator models developed by OpenAI (ChatGPT) and Midjourney respectively.
Automattic is described as being close to finalizing agreements with these two prominent AI companies. However, no official announcement has been made yet regarding launch dates for integrating user data into their AI models.
In a positive step, 404Media also mentions that Automattic intends to give users a settings option to opt out of sharing their personal content with OpenAI and Midjourney for model development. But the lack of transparency so far has understandably raised privacy concerns among bloggers.
It remains to be seen how Tumblr, WordPress and their parent company will address these issues and ensure user consent is properly obtained before any customer data is transferred to outside parties for commercial AI projects. This continuing trend warrants close monitoring from privacy advocates.