Figma sued for using customer data to train AI without consent
Figma was hit with a proposed class action lawsuit in California federal court alleging the company used customers' designs and intellectual property to train generative AI models without permission, despite prior promises not to use customer data for its own purposes.
What happened
A proposed class action was filed in US District Court for the Northern District of California on Friday alleging that Figma trained its generative AI models on proprietary data that its millions of users uploaded to the platform.
According to the lawsuit, Figma automatically opted users into allowing the company to use their data to train its AI software without informing them or receiving permission.
The lawsuit alleged that Figma contradicted prior promises made over the years not to use consumer data for its own purposes, including to train AI models.
Reported impact
The lawsuit alleged that the value of Figma users' intellectual property is "reasonably measured in the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars."
Figma's use of customer data reportedly led to San Francisco-based Figma's "sky-high valuation" in a $1.2 billion initial public offering earlier this year.
Index analysis
The lawsuit alleged the company stole customer trade secrets and illegally accessed their data, focusing on claims different from typical copyright infringement cases brought against tech companies over use of content to train AI systems.
Figma stated it does not use any customer data to train models without explicit authorization, and that even with authorization, it takes additional steps to de-identify data and protect customer privacy.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
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