According to a story from Bloomberg News on Friday, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O) has threatened to revoke access to its internet search data, which it licenses to other search engines, if they continue to use it as the foundation for their own artificial intelligence chat products.
According to the news agency, which also cited sources involved with the matter, the business has informed at least two customers that utilizing its Bing search index to feed its AI conversation tools breaches their contract. Bing’s search index is a live, searchable map of the internet.
Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, has the right to revoke any licenses granting users access to its search index, according to Bloomberg.
“We’ve been in touch with partners who are out of compliance as we continue to consistently enforce our terms across the board,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Reuters, adding that the company will continue to work with them directly and give information needed to find a path forward.
The creator of the Windows operating system had said in February that Microsoft was updating its Edge Web browser and Bing search engine with artificial intelligence, indicating its goal to recover the lead in consumer technology industries where it had slipped behind.
Users began receiving the updated Bing search engine at the end of the previous month.
