Samsung Electronics Co. has prohibited its employees from utilizing generative AI tools, including ChatGPT, Google Bard, and Bing AI, among others.
Due to worries about the security of crucial code, the tech giant informed personnel at one of its largest divisions about the new policy on Monday, according to media sources with access to the company’s internal memo.
“Interest in generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT has been growing internally and externally,” Samsung wrote to its staff in the memo.
“While this interest focuses on the usefulness and efficiency of these platforms, there are also growing concerns about security risks presented by generative AI.”
Since the data supplied to these AI platforms are stored on external servers, it is challenging to recover and delete.
The South Korean company found that employees had uploaded sensitive code to the platforms, raising fears that the data may be made available to other users.
Samsung engineers unintentionally uploaded internal source code to ChatGPT earlier in April. A corporate official acknowledged that a message prohibiting the use of generative AI services had been sent last week, according to a Bloomberg report.
“HQ is reviewing security measures to create a secure environment for safely using generative AI to enhance employees’ productivity and efficiency,” further read the memo.
“However, until these measures are prepared, we are temporarily restricting the use of generative AI.”
Samsung isn’t the only one banning generative AI
In a poll on AI tools performed by Samsung last month, it was discovered that 65% of participants thought that using such services could be dangerous for security.
The new regulations forbid the use of generative AI systems on the company’s internal networks, as well as on the company’s laptops, tablets, and phones.
Consumer electronics from the corporation, such as Windows laptops and Android smartphones, are unaffected. Samsung issued a warning that violating the new rules could result in termination.
The use of generative AI has drawn criticism from many sources, including Samsung. Some Wall Street financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., and Citigroup Inc., either outlawed or restricted its use in February.
Meanwhile, Samsung is developing its own internal AI tools for software development, translation, and document summarization. The business is also attempting to prevent critical company data from being uploaded to outside services.
Earlier, an “incognito” mode was added by OpenAI to ChatGPT that enables users to prevent their chats from being used to train AI models, addressing privacy concerns.
Samsung warns employees of termination
The security procedures at Samsung HQ are being reviewed in order to establish a safe atmosphere where generative AI can be used to increase employee productivity and efficiency.
The business is temporarily limiting the usage of generative AI, nevertheless, until these measures are ready, noted the Bloomberg report.
“We ask that you diligently adhere to our security guideline, and failure to do so may result in a breach or compromise of company information resulting in disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment,” the memo warned employees.
