Microsoft has filed suit against 10 unnamed people (“Does”), who are apparently operating overseas, for misuse of its Azure OpenAI platform, asking the Eastern District of Virginia federal court for damages and injunctive relief.
The suit was filed in late December but was not made public until last Friday, when the initial sealed filings were revealed. The complaint makes numerous claims, of which the most prominent are violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, as well as the Racketeering and Organized Corruption Act.
Microsoft, according to its main complaint, is accusing the 10 “Does” of illicitly accessing its Azure OpenAI service and using it to provide a “hacking-as-a-service” offering to other unnamed bad actors. The nameless defendants, who, according to Microsoft, make up a foreign-based consortium, used the OpenAI access to provide generative AI services to criminals, while simultaneously circumventing the “guard rails” that Microsoft has put in place in order to prevent its AI from being used for nefarious purposes.
