Former Evening Standard editor George Osborne has taken on a job with an artificial intelligence firm accused of plundering the work of creatives.
ChatGPT owner OpenAI has hired the former Conservative chancellor to lead its expansion of ‘democratic’ AI – echoing the move of former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg to Facebook at the end of his political career.
But Mr Osborne’s role – which takes his tally of jobs to six – raises concerns at a time when Big Tech companies are locked in a battle with creative content producers over copyright.
Last month, in what was seen as a landmark ruling, a court in Munich ruled that ChatGPT violated German copyright laws by training its language models on the work of top-selling musicians.
OpenAI is also locked in a legal battle with The New York Times and other US news outlets over the use of copyrighted content.
It comes after Labour’s plans to allow AI companies to freely use copyrighted material were overwhelmingly rejected by the public in a consultation.
Former Chancellor George Osborne has taken a new role with Open AI which owns ChatGPT
OpenAI is also locked in a legal battle with The New York Times and other US news outlets over the use of copyrighted content
The Daily Mail is campaigning for authors, publishers and musicians to be paid fairly for their work and to have their copyright respected.
Mr Osborne will begin his new job at OpenAI in January and be based in London. He is chairman of the British Museum and co-presenter of the Political Currency podcast.
He is also a lecturer in management at Stanford University in the US, an adviser to the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and chairman of Italian investment firm Lingotto.