Meta initiates artificial intelligence education in Germany
Meta receives court approval to train AI with German user data
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, can now utilize user data from Germany on a large scale to train its artificial intelligence systems. The American tech giant intends to analyze all posts made by users on Facebook and Instagram to enhance its AI models. However, users who wish to object to this use of their data have missed the deadline for opting out.
While WhatsApp, another Meta-owned platform, cannot use encrypted chat content, interactions with the AI assistant "Meta AI" are considered public and can be utilized for training.
The Higher Regional Court of Cologne granted Meta this authority following a lawsuit filed by consumer protection organizations in Germany. They had sought to ban the use of data for AI training, citing breaches of European data protection law.
Meta has contended that its AI training procedure does not infringe upon any data protection regulations. In response to the verdict, a Meta spokesperson stated, "We aim to bring AI trained in Germany to the European population, ensuring that everyone has equal access to the full benefits of generative AI."
Meta lags behind its competitors in the AI race, according to a survey by the German digital industry association Bitkom. The US firms OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google outpaced Meta's AI language model Llama, which did not even make the list of popular AI applications.
First introduced in 2023 as an open-source system, Llama caused a stir in the expert community. However, several experts now argue that Meta can no longer match the pace of the three US market leaders, with Chinese challengers like DeepSeek showing greater dynamics.
The use of German user data for AI training under the "legitimate interest" legal basis remains a contentious issue under European data protection law. Critics, including consumer protection agencies and data protection authorities, argue that an opt-in consent would be more appropriate for sensitive personal data like health information.
As the debates continue, potential future actions, such as European class actions and continued scrutiny from data protection authorities, could shape the compliance landscape for Meta. The European Data Protection Board's involvement in the proceedings aims to achieve harmonization across the EU.
Meta, with the approval granted by the Higher Regional Court of Cologne, will leverage German user data to advance its artificial intelligence systems, particularly its AI models trained on Facebook and Instagram posts. The company intends to accelerate in the AI race, aiming to match the pace of US market leaders like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google.
