The launch of ChatGPT 3.5 in November 2022 set up 2023 as a year for rapid growth and early adoption of this transformative technology. It reached 100 million users within 2 months of launch – setting a record for the fastest growing user base of a technology tool. As of November 2023, the platform boasted an estimated 100 million weekly active users and roughly 1.7 billion users. Notably, ChatGPT is just one of the growing number of generative AI tools on the market. The pace of technical development and user adoption is unprecedented.

This rapid growth also brought to light many legal and regulatory issues and societal concerns with this nascent technology. Many lawsuits have been filed, regulatory actions are increasing, states are passing AI legislation to protect consumers and the White House issued a sweeping executive order to promote safe, secure, and trustworthy development and use of AI. Governments around the world are taking action as well. From a legal perspective, 2023 saw more legal questions than answers. Hopefully, 2024 will bring greater legal clarity on some key issues.