LinkedIn hit with lawsuit over AI model training allegations

LinkedIn has been hit with a lawsuit over claims it is enabling third parties to access private InMail messages for AI model training.

This relates to Premium customers in the United States after the Microsoft subsidiary opted out users in Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Hong Kong, and mainland China. 

Unlike these jurisdictions where exemptions were granted to prevent user data from being used “to train content-generating AI models,” no such provision has been in place in the States.  

Due to the absence of applicable federal law, American users are instead offered a default setting, labeled as “Data for Generative AI Improvement.” 

LinkedIn detailed how “This setting controls the training of generative AI models used to create content. When this setting is on LinkedIn and its affiliates may use your personal data and content you create on LinkedIn for that purpose.”

In related news, a study revealed late last year that over half of long-form posts on LinkedIn are AI-generated.

Microsoft's LinkedIn has been sued by Premium customers who said the business-focused social media platform disclosed their private messages to third parties without permission to train generative artificial intelligence models https://t.co/kLqxY5FWpj pic.twitter.com/G4WUkDUS5Q

— Reuters Legal (@ReutersLegal) January 22, 2025

The lawsuit has been brought on behalf of Alessandro De La Torre, and presented in a California federal court. 

The legal action asserts that InMail message content has been provided to neural networks, based on communications from LinkedIn last year, which set out the company’s intentions and policy changes regarding user material and personal data to train AI models.

The lawsuit alleges that “LinkedIn breached its contractual promises by disclosing its Premium customers’ private messages to third parties to train generative artificial intelligence (‘AI’) models.” 

“Given its role as a professional social media network, these communications include incredibly sensitive and potentially life-altering information about employment, intellectual property, compensation, and other personal matters,” it continued.

The focus is on accounts belonging to Premium customers as they are required to sign up to specific terms, the LinkedIn Subscription Agreement (LSA), which differ from what is communicated to non-paying users of the platform.

Interestingly, the complaint appears to provide no proof that InMail contents have been shared, with the premise based on the assumption that the content is passed through the AI training process and hidden through inconsistent and unannounced policy changes.

Image credit: Via Midjourney

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