Amazon has issued warnings to its employees regarding the use of third-party generative AI tools for work-related activities, emphasizing the importance of safeguarding confidential information. Employees received an email stating, “While we may find ourselves using GenAI tools, especially when it seems to make life easier, we should be sure not to use it for confidential Amazon work. Don’t share any confidential Amazon, customer, or employee data when you’re using 3rd party GenAI tools. Generally, confidential data would be data that is not publicly available.“
The company’s policy on third-party generative AI use highlights the potential risks associated with these services, noting, “This means that any outputs such as email, PRFAQs, internal wiki pages, code, confidential information, documentation, pre-launch and strategy materials may be extracted, reviewed, used, and distributed by the owners of the generative AI.” It further mandates that “all Amazonians must abide by our standard Amazon policies for confidential information and security for any inputs to generative AI.“
Previously, concerns were voiced by an Amazon corporate lawyer about the dangers of inputting sensitive Amazon information into generative AI platforms like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The lawyer cautioned, “There had been instances of ChatGPT responses looking similar to internal Amazon data.” Despite these warnings, internal messages indicated that employees were using the AI tool as a “coding assistant.“
The ongoing debate regarding the management of confidential information by generative AI companies and the ownership rights over the data inputted and outputted by these models continues as these tools gain popularity. Amazon’s cautious stance is partly due to its competitive relationship with Microsoft, which has made significant investments in OpenAI, though Amazon has recently shown a willingness to engage with Microsoft products through a substantial licensing agreement.
Amazon allows the use of third-party generative AI models for work, with the stipulation that employees must “obtain director and legal approval and comply with any applicable security reviews.” The company also provides an internal tool named Bedrock, described as “a more secure alternative” for employees.
Adam Montgomery, an Amazon spokesperson, emphasized the company’s proactive approach to generative AI, stating, “We have been developing generative AI and large machine learning models for a long time and employees use our AI models every day.” He reassured that Amazon has “safeguards in place for employee use of these technologies, including guidance on accessing third-party generative AI services and protecting confidential information.“
