It has been seven months since OpenAI announced its plans to develop a tool called Media Manager, which would allow creators to specify how they want their works to be included in or excluded from its AI training data. However, the tool has yet to see the light of day, leaving many to wonder if it was ever a priority for the company.

According to people familiar with the matter, the tool was rarely viewed as an important launch internally. One former OpenAI employee stated that they didn't think it was a priority, and another non-employee who coordinates work with the company mentioned that they hadn't received any recent updates on the tool's development. Additionally, a member of OpenAI's legal team who was working on Media Manager transitioned to a part-time consultant role in October, further casting doubt on the tool's progress.

The lack of progress on Media Manager is particularly concerning given the ongoing legal challenges OpenAI is facing. The company is fighting class-action lawsuits filed by artists, writers, YouTubers, computer scientists, and news organizations, all of whom claim that OpenAI trained on their works illegally. Plaintiffs include authors Sarah Silverman and Ta-Nehisi Coates, visual artists, and media conglomerates like The New York Times and Radio-Canada.

The issue at the heart of these lawsuits is the way AI models like OpenAI's learn patterns in sets of data to make predictions. This allows models to learn how the world works, but it also raises concerns about intellectual property (IP) usage. When prompted in a certain way, models can produce near-copies of that data, which, despite being "publicly available," are not meant to be used in this way.

OpenAI has attempted to address these concerns by offering creators ad hoc ways to "opt out" of its AI training. For example, the company launched a submission form last September to allow artists to flag their work for removal from its future training sets. However, creators have criticized these methods as haphazard and inadequate, and Media Manager was pitched as a complete revamp and expansion of OpenAI's opt-out solutions.

Experts are skeptical that Media Manager, even if it is eventually released, will allay creators' concerns or resolve the legal questions surrounding AI and IP usage. Adrian Cyhan, an IP attorney at Stubbs Alderton & Markiles, noted that Media Manager as described is an ambitious undertaking, and even platforms as large as YouTube and TikTok struggle with content ID at scale.

Ed Newton-Rex, the founder of Fairly Trained, a nonprofit that certifies AI companies are respecting creators' rights, believes that Media Manager would unfairly shift the burden of controlling AI training onto creators. Mike Borella, co-chair of MBHB's AI practice group, pointed out that opt-out systems don't always account for transformations that might be made to a work, like an image that's been downsampled.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding Media Manager, OpenAI continues to claim fair use protections, asserting that its models create transformative, not plagiaristic, works. The company may ultimately prevail in its copyright disputes, but the lack of progress on Media Manager raises questions about its commitment to addressing IP issues and respecting creators' rights.

In the absence of Media Manager, OpenAI has implemented filters to prevent its models from regurgitating training examples. However, these filters are imperfect, and the company's approach to IP usage remains a subject of controversy. As the legal battles continue, it remains to be seen whether OpenAI will reconsider its opt-out strategy and prioritize the development of Media Manager.