Italy announces ban on ChatGPT chatbot and will investigate OpenAI privacy protection issues

News on April 2, according to Italian news agency ANSA, Italy has become the first Western country to ban the chatbot ChatGPT. Italy's data protection agency said there were privacy concerns with the model, which was created by U.S. startup OpenAI and backed by Microsoft.

Italy’s data protection agency said the ban and investigation into OpenAI took “immediate effect” on March 31. OpenAI told the British broadcaster BBC that it complied with Italian privacy laws and had taken ChatGPT offline in Italy.

There have been concerns about the potential risks of artificial intelligence (AI), including its threat to jobs and the spread of misinformation and bias. Earlier this week, people in the tech community, including Elon Musk, called for a moratorium on the development of more advanced AI systems. Italy’s data protection agency said it would not only block OpenAI’s chatbot but also investigate whether it complies with the General Data Protection Regulation.

On March 23, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman publicly admitted that an error occurred in the open source library, which led to the leakage of some users’ chat records with ChatGPT.

ChatGPT also exposed minors to "answers absolutely inappropriate for their level of development and awareness" due to the inability to verify users' age, Italian regulators said. OpenAI has 20 days to explain how it will address regulators' concerns, otherwise it will be fined 20 million euros (IT Home Note: currently about 149 million yuan) or up to 4% of annual revenue.

In addition, the Irish Data Protection Commission also said that it is following up with Italian regulators to understand the basis for their actions and "will coordinate with all EU data protection authorities on the ban."

The Information Commissioner's Office, the UK's independent data regulator, also said it would "support" the development of artificial intelligence, but it was also prepared to "challenge" non-compliance with data protection laws.

It is worth mentioning that Google’s AI chatbot competitor Bard has now been launched, but it is limited to specific users over 18 years old, which is expected to be based on the same concerns.

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