Microsoft refutes accusations of training AI on customer data

Microsoft has denied allegations that it uses customer data from its Microsoft 365 applications, such as Word and Excel, to train artificial intelligence models, Reuters reported.

The company’s statement, issued on Wednesday, came in response to social media posts where users claimed that the “connected experiences” feature—enabled by default—was being used to train AI models.

A Microsoft spokesperson clarified in an emailed statement to Reuters: "These claims are untrue. Microsoft does not use customer data from Microsoft 365 consumer and commercial applications to train foundational large language models."

The spokesperson further explained that the "connected experiences" feature is responsible for functions like co-authoring and cloud storage, and is unrelated to how Microsoft trains its AI models.

Despite this clarification, concerns about data privacy persist on social media, with some users expressing unease over their data being potentially used for AI training without explicit consent.

Additionally, Microsoft told BleepingComputer that the "connected experiences" feature has been on by default since its introduction in April 2019. 

The feature enables tools such as real-time grammar suggestions and web-based resources, and Microsoft emphasised that users have full control over their settings and can opt out at any time.