Italy’s temporary ban on ChatGPT has prompted other European countries to explore the need for stricter regulations on chatbots and whether to coordinate such measures.
Although European legislators disagree on the scope and content of the EU AI Act. Some regulators are discovering that current tools. Like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which gives users control over their personal information. They can be applied to the rapidly developing class of generative AI companies.
Generative AI, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, utilizes algorithms to analyze huge amounts of data. It may include data owned by internet users, to generate text responses.
The Microsoft Corp.-backed (MSFT.O) OpenAI was accused by the Italian agency Garante of failing to verify the users of ChatGPT’s age. And of having “no legal basis that justifies the vast gathering and storage of personal data” in order to “train” the chatbot.
According to a person familiar with the situation, the Italian authority’s action last week was not intended to outright ban ChatGPT. But rather to open a dialogue with the company to address the concerns made regarding the tool’s compliance with EU data protection laws.
The insider claimed that OpenAI did not reply to regulators over the weekend. On Friday, ChatGPT was taken offline in Italy by OpenAI. Questions regarding other European regulators investigating into possible violations in their nations’ borders went unanswered. It doesn’t have any offices in the EU.
Dessislava Savova, partner at law firm Clifford Chance, said, “The points they make are significant. And illustrate that GDPR does offer tools for the regulators to be informed and engaged in influencing the future of AI.”
The nine-hour cyber security breach that occurred last month resulted in people seeing snippets of other users’ ChatGPT discussions. And their financial information is what sparked the Italian probe into OpenAI.
The first Western nation to pursue legal action against an AI-powered chatbot is Italy.
Although the Italian authority has so far solely singled out ChatGPT due to its popularity. Other AI platforms like Google Inc.’s (GOOGL.O) Bard may also come under scrutiny, according to various experts.
Savova suggests that Google is more experienced in Europe. So it is more likely to have considered the matter than ChatGPT.
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