Microsoft denies training AI models on user data from Word and Excel

Microsoft on Wednesday denied claims that it uses customer data from its Microsoft 365 applications, including Word and Excel, to train artificial intelligence models.

The backlash came after some users pointed out on social media that the company is requiring users to opt out of its “connected experiences” feature, which they said was used to train AI models.

“These claims are untrue. Microsoft does not use customer data from Microsoft 365 consumer and commercial applications to train fundamental large language models,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

The spokesperson added that the “connected experiences” enable features such as co-authoring and cloud storage, and are not related to how the company trains its large language models.

Conversations on social media show that people remain concerned about their data being used without consent to train AI models.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

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