In a groundbreaking move, the Japanese government announced that copyrighted materials used in artificial intelligence (A.I.) training would not be protected under intellectual property laws, according to local media reports.

The Minister for Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Keiko Nagaoka, confirmed this decision. Nagoka stated that it was applicable to A.I. datasets regardless of their purpose or source.

The policy shift was a response to the increasing significance of A.I. across various industries, including robotics, machine learning, and natural language processing. 

Japan aims to foster an open and collaborative environment by exempting A.I. training data from copyright restrictions to stimulate innovation and progress.

This move has sparked a global conversation about the evolving relationship between artificial intelligence and intellectual property rights, raising important questions about balancing innovation and copyright protection. 

A.I. training, copyright laws, and fair use policy

Japan’s decision to exempt A.I. training data from copyright laws has sparked global discussions on the delicate balance between intellectual property protection and A.I. advancements.

The Japanese copyright strategy is similar to the United States Fair Use Policy. The Fair use policy promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances. Most European countries also have an open policy toward using copyrighted materials in A.I. training.

Over the past months, several high-profile cases have involved A.I. training and copyright law. The U.S. House Judiciary Committee recently held a hearing examining the intersection of generative A.I. and copyright law.

Speaking at the committee hearing, Sy Damle, a former General Counsel of the U.S. Copyright Office, argued in support of the fair use policy, describing the use of copyrighted works to learn new facts as “quintessential fair use.”

How does this impact the A.I. industry?

Several experts have aligned with Japan’s notion that removing copyright barriers in A.I. training will expedite the development of innovative solutions, ultimately driving economic growth in AI-dependent sectors.

Additionally, the move could prompt a reassessment of copyright laws in other nations as governments grapple with the challenges presented by A.I. technology.

While its long-term impact remains uncertain, Japan’s bold step signifies a significant milestone in the global conversation surrounding A.I., copyright, and the necessary legal frameworks to support these emerging technologies reshaping our world.

Japan warns OpenAI about collecting sensitive data

Reuters reported that Japanese regulators had warned OpenAI against collecting sensitive information without people’s consent.

Japan’s Personal Information Protection Commission told the ChatGPT-creator to minimize its collection of sensitive data for machine learning, adding that it may take action against the firm if its concerns persist.

The warning is coming amid reports that over half of Japan’s population wants more stringent control of the A.I. sector. According to the report, there is widespread concern among the people about the general use of such tools.

Meanwhile, Japan is not the only country concerned about OpenAI’s data collection methods. Earlier in the year, Italy temporarily banned ChatGPT over privacy concerns.

The success of the metaverse depends on the ability of developers to build quality experiences that “millions or billions” want to have. To do that the sector must attract, find, and financially incentivize the very top talent from related industries. 

This is the verdict of Neal Stephenson, the man credited with coining the word metaverse in his 1992 novel Snow Crash.

Source the best developers

Famed author and futurist Neal Stephenson says the metaverse must find and attract the most talented people to make the sector a success. Stephenson’s comments came during an appearance at AWE USA 2023 convention on Wednesday. 

“If we’re going to have a metaverse that’s being used all the time by millions or billions of people, then there have to be experiences in the metaverse that are worth having,” Stephenson said.

“That seems like an obvious statement but for me, there’s a glaring and frustrating lack of support for the kinds of people who make those experiences,” added the author. “Right now the skill set that is needed to create the metaverse is basically what you see in the game industry. People who know how to use game engines and how to create the assets that feed into those game engines. Those people by and large have jobs and other things they could be doing. 

“We need to create the economic basis for [developers] to get rewarded if they succeed in creating metaverse experiences that a lot of people enjoy.”

Stephenson cited a number of ways that developers may be rewarded, but his personal vision is for a tokenized metaverse owned and controlled by its citizens.

In June last year, Stephenson announced Lamina1, a layer 1 blockchain infrastructure and open metaverse company. Stephenson co-founded the “batteries-included blockchain” with Peter Vessenes, reflecting their vision for an incentivized metaverse that, according to its website, could “empower a new generation of interconnected, immersive experiences across gaming, entertainment, fashion, music, and beyond.”

Seeing double: Ori Inbar and Ori Inbar introduce Neal Stephenson

A tale of two metaverses

Ori Inbar, the CEO of AWE, hosted the conversation with Stephenson on what marked the opening of the 14th annual AWE convention. The latest event is running from May 31 to June 2 in Santa Clara, California. Those who can’t attend in person are invited to participate online.

In an entertaining introduction, a virtual facsimile of Inbar initially addressed conference attendees, only for the real Inbar to interrupt and reveal the entire monologue was written by ChatGPT. 

Inbar then asserted that AI makes “original voices… even more valuable than before.”

Once Inbar sat down with Stephenson the pair discussed just how far technology is developing across multiple fields. Inbar asked Stephenson where he believed the metaverse was headed; to something dystopian or something utopian.

“I think it would be very early and premature to make announcements today about whether it is going in one particular direction,” said Stephenson.

To Stephenson, both the positives and the negatives of the metaverse can co-exist within just one reality – something he explored in his 1992 novel.

“Our initial exposure to the metaverse is a kind of very vast market, a lowest common denominator to include … the worst of television,” said Stephenson said as he described the surface level of the metaverse. “But later on, as we get farther into the book, we see that people have used it to make beautiful works of art. There are some people … who lavished a lot of time and attention on making homes in the metaverse that are exquisite works of art, both visually and in this sonic environment.”

That ambition of a deeper metaverse is worth striving for, especially as a driver of its long-term success.

Chinese tech giant Baidu is setting up a venture capital fund of $145 million or 1 billion yuan to back AI-focused startups. Baidu co-founder and CEO Robin Li announced the launch of the fund at a JP Morgan summit in China this week.

The move could signal China’s push towards self-reliance in the cut-throat generative AI sector. The fund will support the development and innovation of AI-based content creation, such as chatbots, video and audio synthesis, and natural language processing.

The fund is targeting early-stage AI applications, an area which Chinese generative AI startups have so far struggled to reach widespread adoption.

Also read: AI Code of Conduct Coming ‘Within Weeks’ Says US and Europe

Tailing the US’s OpenAI

OpenAI recently created an investment fund valued at more than $175 million, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. the company has been investing in startups, with its OpenAI Startup Fund to back companies “pushing the boundaries of how powerful AI can positively impact the world.”

Baidu is also planning to launch competition for developers to build applications using its Ernie large language model (LLM) or integrate the model into their existing products, in a similar fashion other tech firms are using OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology.

Ernie bot is Baidu’s own AI-powered LLM that can generate natural and coherent texts based on user inputs.

“American developers are building new applications based on ChatGPT or other language models. In China, there will be an increasing number of developers building AI applications using Ernie as their foundation,” said Li.

Baidu unveiled the chatbot in March this year and claimed that it outperformed other LLMs in several benchmarks.

Battle for AI supremacy

The success of ChatGPT has put Chinese tech companies under pressure to fast-track the release of their own LLMs and bring them to market.

According to Reuters there are over 75 Chinese companies that have already released their own LLMs since 2020. Baidu and e-commerce giant Alibaba are among these companies.

A report by a state-run research firm says over 79 LLMs have been launched in the past 3 years.

And the Baidu boss predicts that in the generative AI age, Chinese companies will catch up, and even lead the way in discovering commercial applications for AI.

“I am very bullish on China AI development. Over the past few decades, China has warmly embraced new technologies,” said Li.

“Even though we didn’t invent Android, iOS or Windows, we developed a host of very innovative applications like WeChat, Douyin and Didi. Many of them are popular and useful. The same trend is playing out in the AI age. Technology ushers in a myriad of possibilities and we are good at capturing them to build applications,” explained Li.

LLMs, a vital tech

Since they can produce realistic and varied material across a range of subjects and forms, LLMs are seen as a vital technology for expanding AI applications and services. They do, however, also present ethical and legal difficulties, such as possible abuse, plagiarism, and bias. China released draft regulations on the use of generative AI in April in response to the spike in LLMs, requiring developers to acquire approval and explicitly label such products.

The growth and adoption of AI-based content production in China and elsewhere are anticipated to be accelerated by Baidu’s venture capital fund and competition.