Microsoft's Engineer Accuses Copilot Of Producing Disturbing Content: CNBC

(RTTNews) - According to a CNBC report, Engineer Shane Jones, who has been with Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) for six years has raised safety concerns with the Federal Trade Commission or FTC regarding Microsoft's AI image generator and its refusal to remove Copilot Designer despite warnings of its potential to create harmful images.

Jones informed CNBC that he had repeatedly alerted Microsoft to the disturbing content generated by the tool after he took it upon himself to test the tool's vulnerabilities and was troubled by the disturbing images it produced.

Despite his warnings, Microsoft did not take down the tool, implement safeguards, or update its rating to mature in the Android store. Instead, Microsoft directed him to report the issue to OpenAI, the creator of the DALL-E model used in Copilot Designer's outputs.

After receiving no response from OpenAI, Jones publicly called out OpenAI on LinkedIn and, following instructions from Microsoft's legal team to remove the post, he reached out to lawmakers and other stakeholders, including the FTC and Microsoft's board of directors, as reported by CNBC.

In his letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan, Jones stated that Microsoft and OpenAI have been aware of these issues since at least October and will "continue to market the product to 'Anyone. Anywhere. Any Device'" unless the FTC intervenes.

Expressing concerns about Microsoft's approach to responsible AI, Jones highlighted the harmful content generated by Copilot Designer, including images depicting sex, violence, underage drinking, drug use, political bias, misuse of trademarks, and conspiracy theories.

Jones expressed his dismay to CNBC about the lack of mechanisms to report and combat the global spread of harmful images, stressing the need for Microsoft to invest in its safety team to implement essential protections.

He disclosed that the Copilot team is overwhelmed by complaints, receiving "over 1,000 product feedback messages every day." Due to this purported understaffing, Microsoft is presently only addressing "the most blatant issues," Jones informed CNBC.