Italy is first country to block ChatGPT, probes OpenAI

Key highlights

• The Italian data protection authority blocked ChatGPT over privacy concerns
• It has also commenced an investigation into OpenAI to ascertain its level of compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
• The Italian authority also criticized ChatGPT for not having any filter to verify the age of users.

Italy has become the first country world to block the popular AI tool by OpenAI, ChatGPT. The country’s National Authority for Personal Data Protection said there were privacy concerns relating to the model, which was created by US start-up OpenAI backed by Microsoft.

The regulator said it would ban and investigate OpenAI with immediate effect to find out whether it complied with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which governs the way in which businesses can use, process, and store personal data.

The body also disclosed that ChatGPT had “suffered a data breach on March 20 concerning users’ conversations and payment information of subscribers to the paid service”.

Other ChatGPT flaws cited

The Italian data protection watchdog said there was no legal basis to justify “the mass collection and storage of personal data for the purpose of ‘training’ the algorithms underlying the operation of the platform”.

• It also said that since there was no way to verify the age of users, the app “exposes minors to absolutely unsuitable answers compared to their degree of development and awareness”.
• The data protection body is asking OpenAI to “communicate within 20 days the measures undertaken” to remedy this situation – or risk a fine of up to 4% of its annual worldwide turnover.

Since it launched in November 2022, millions of people all over the world have used ChatGPT. The AI tool can answer questions using natural, human-like language and it can also mimic other writing styles, using the internet as it was in 2021 as its database. ChatGPT can also be used to write computer code, without having the technical knowledge.

To leverage the popularity of the tool, software giant, Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI and has integrated ChatGPT to its Bing and Edge browser last month. It has also said that it will embed a version of the technology in its Office apps, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.

Meanwhile, there have been concerns over the potential risks of artificial intelligence (AI), including its threat to jobs and the spreading of misinformation and bias. Earlier this week key figures in tech, including Elon Musk, called for these types of AI systems to be suspended amid fears the race to develop them was out of control.