Zoom can use certain customer data for its artificial intelligence (AI) efforts after making alterations to its terms of service (TOS).

Under the video communications company’s TOS, Zoom receives consent to use their customers’ “service generated data” for many things. The TOS identified “training and tuning of algorithms and models” for AI as one of the permitted uses.

The changes to Zoom’s TOS happened in March, according to recent reports. 

“Zoom customers decide whether to enable generative AI features, and separately whether to share customer content with Zoom for product improvement purposes,” a Zoom spokesperson told FOX Business on Monday. “We’ve updated our terms of service to confirm that we will not use audio, video, or chat customer content to train our artificial intelligence models without your consent.” 

ZOOM ASKS EMPLOYEES TO RETURN TO OFFICE FOR FIRST TIME SINCE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Zoom said in the TOS that “telemetry data, product usage data, diagnostic data, similar content or data that Zoom collects or generates in connection with your or your End Users’ use of the Services or Software” fell under the “service generated data” category.

The document also has a section in which Zoom customers grant the video communications company “perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license” on customer content for AI, product development and quality assurance, among other things. 

The TOS does state, however, that Zoom “will not use audio, video or chat Customer Content” in the training of its AI models “without your consent,” something the company also emphasized in a Monday post from Chief Product Officer Smita Hashim.

ZOOM REDUCING HEADCOUNT BY 1,300

In the post on its website, the company said it updated its TOS for transparency purposes around use and ownership of content on Zoom. For “service generated data,” Zoom said it “consider[s] this to be our data” so the company can use it “to make the user experience better for everyone on our platform.”

For AI training, Zoom also said “education records or protected health information” were off-limits without consent.

The company said users have the option to give consent to AI model training when two of its recently-launched AI features get turned on. In those instances, the user’s data only goes toward boosting the “performance and accuracy” of the features and not for third-party models, according to Zoom. 

The AI-powered Zoom IQ Meeting Summary and Team Chat Compose features have been available for roughly two months.

Zoom has previously said it has its own AI models, in addition to utilizing ones from companies like OpenAI and Anthropic and those of certain customers. OpenAI is the Microsoft-backed firm behind ChatGPT, an AI chatbot that has garnered significant attention and popularity since its debut late last year.

AI HAS ALREADY SURPASSED HUMAN CAPABILITIES IN SEVERAL DOMAINS; WHICH JOBS ARE NEXT?

The value of Zoom’s stock has experienced a roughly 3.3% increase from where it hovered at the beginning of the year. In the past 12 months, it has fallen almost 40%.

Read More 

Americans are drowning in credit card debt as stubborn inflation makes the cost of everyday necessities more expensive. 

The New York Federal Reserve Bank’s Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, slated for release on Tuesday morning, is expected to show that credit card debt soared to a historic $1 trillion in the three-month period from April through June, according to LendingTree. 

That will smash the previous high of $986 billion.

The $1 trillion figure would mark a major reversal from just three years ago when households were rapidly paying off credit card debt with the stimulus payments they received during the COVID-19 pandemic.

CREDIT CARD DEBT RISING IN DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD FOR THE ECONOMY

“I think it’s fairly clear that what we’re seeing now is becoming more and more about people struggling in the face of ongoing inflation and seemingly constant rising interest rates,” Matt Schulz, the chief LendingTree credit analyst, previously told FOX Business. “It’s a tough time.”

The rise in credit card usage and debt is particularly concerning because interest rates are astronomically high right now. The average credit card annual percentage rate, or APR, hit a new record of 20.53% last week, according to a Bankrate database that goes back to 1985. The previous record was 19% in July 1991. 

If people are carrying debt to compensate for steeper prices, they could end up paying more for items in the long run. For instance, if you owe $5,000 in debt — which the average American does — current APR levels would mean it would take about 309 months and $21,537 in interest to pay off the debt making the minimum payments. 

A FED PAUSE LIKELY WON’T HELP STRUGGLING CONSUMERS

“It’s been a really rough year for credit card holders,” Schulz said. “Even though the Fed seems to be taking their foot off the gas with interest rates, the unfortunate reality is credit card holders shouldn’t expect things to get a ton better anytime terribly soon, just because interest rates aren’t going down anytime soon.”

The inflation spike has created severe financial pressures for most U.S. households, which are forced to pay more for everyday necessities like food and rent. The burden is disproportionately borne by low-income Americans, whose already-stretched paychecks are heavily affected by price fluctuations. 

Inflation has fallen from a peak of 9.1% hit in June 2022, but it remains about double the pre-pandemic average. The Labor Department reported last month that the consumer price index, a broad measure of the price for everyday goods including gasoline, groceries and rents, rose just 3% in June from the previous month. However, core prices remain well above the Fed’s 2% target.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

Schulz encouraged credit card holders with debt to explore their options, including calling and asking for a lower credit card APR, getting a 0% balance transfer credit card, reassessing their budget in order to better tackle the debt, exploring a high-yield savings account to take advantage of high interest rates and focusing on improving their credit score. 

“The truth is that you cannot make a meaningful plan to tackle debt if you don’t know exactly how much money is coming in and going out of your household each month, so take the time to check out your budget and see what needs to be tweaked,” he said. “You may not like what you see, but it is better to deal with the reality of the situation than to bury your head in the sand.”

Read More