The popular filesharing service WeTransfer has said user content will not be used to train artificial intelligence after a change in its service terms had triggered a public backlash. The company, which is regularly used by creative professionals to transfer their work online, had suggested in new terms that uploaded files could be used to "improve machine learning models". The clause had previously said the service had a right to "reproduce, modify, distribute and publicly display" content, and the updated version caused confusion among users. A WeTransfer spokesperson said user content had never been used, even internally, to test or develop AI models and that "no specific kind of AI" was being considered for use by the Dutch company. The firm said: "There's no change in how WeTransfer handles your content in practice."

WeTransfer said the clause was initially added to "include the possibility of using AI to improve content moderation" and to identify harmful content. The terms had said WeTransfer could use content for purposes "including to improve performance of machine learning models that enhance our content moderation process". It also included the right for WeTransfer to "reproduce, distribute, modify," or "publicly display" files uploaded to the service. Some users on social media interpreted this as WeTransfer giving itself the right to share or sell the files uploaded by users to AI companies. People working in the creative industries, including an illustrator and an actor, posted on X to say they used the service to send work and were considering changing to alternative providers.

File-transfer service WeTransfer BV opened its virtual space on May 1, almost seven weeks after closing its physical offices in New York, Los Angeles and Amsterdam as part of the global effort to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. Graphics reminiscent of early "Tomb Raider" videogames depict a version of the company's Dutch headquarters, adapted to include pool tables, techno music and in-jokes such as a "memorial" library named for the very- much-alive chief creative officer. Staff roam around in the form of avatars such as robots and panda bears. Gordon Willoughby, the chief executive of WeTransfer, said the platform helps provide the social experience of office life in the way that Zoom calls and Slack have replaced business meetings and desk-side chats. That is particularly valuable for recent hires, he said.

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