· Judiciary Insight · Senate · 1 min read
Bernie Sanders Says Big Tech “Stole” Creative Work for AI
Full context
Sen. Bernie Sanders argued during a Senate floor speech that artificial intelligence is built on generations of collective human knowledge and creative work.
Sanders listed books, music, artwork, journalism, computer code, scientific research, videos, social media posts, and online comments among the material underlying AI systems. He also cited OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s description of models being trained on humanity’s collective experience, knowledge, and learning.
Sanders said major technology companies had incorporated that work into AI models without permission, acknowledgment, or compensation. He characterized the creative work of millions of people as having been stolen by some of the world’s wealthiest people.
The argument is central to Sanders’s proposal that the public should receive an ownership stake in major AI companies and share in the wealth the technology generates.
Read Sanders’s public-ownership proposal.
