Samsung Electronics Co. has banned the use of generative AI tools like ChatGPT by its employees after discovering that sensitive code was uploaded to the platform, causing a setback to the proliferation of such technology in the workplace. The South Korean company sent a memo to employees at one of its biggest divisions on Monday to notify them of the new policy, stating that it is concerned that data transmitted to AI platforms such as Google Bard and Bing is stored on external servers, making it difficult to retrieve and delete, and could potentially be disclosed to other users.
Last month, Samsung conducted a survey on the use of AI tools internally, and 65% of respondents expressed concerns that such services pose a security risk. According to the memo, Samsung engineers accidentally leaked internal source code by uploading it to ChatGPT in April, although it remains unclear what information was involved. Samsung declined to comment on the matter.
Samsung told its staff that while interest in generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT has been growing both internally and externally, there are also increasing concerns about the security risks associated with such technology. The company’s move follows similar actions taken by some Wall Street banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., and Citigroup Inc., who either banned or restricted the use of OpenAI’s chatbot service earlier this year. Italy also previously barred the use of ChatGPT due to privacy concerns, although it has since reversed its stance.
The new Samsung rules prohibit the use of generative AI systems on company-owned computers, tablets, and phones, as well as on its internal networks. However, they do not apply to the company’s consumer devices such as Android smartphones and Windows laptops.
