INEWS
Italy has introduced an effective ban on artificial intelligence (AI) bot ChatGPT after accusing the software’s creators OpenAI of “unlawful collection of personal data”.
The country’s national privacy regulator has ordered OpenAI, which is backed by technology giant Microsoft, to stop the collection of Italian users’ data with immediate effect and until it amends its date collection practices.
Despite the ban in Italy, the UK Government has no current plans to ban ChatGPT or other AI platforms.
Government sources told i that while ministers are working a regulatory system around the growth in AI, there had “not been any talk of imposing bans on ChatGPT or other AI services” in Whitehall.
ChatGPT is already blocked in a number of countries, including China, Iran, North Korea and Russia.
Italy’s Data Protection Authority claims ChatGPT lacks lawful justification for the collection of users’ personal information.
The authority added that OpenAI also has no mechanism in place to stop underage users accessing the service, which “exposes minors to absolutely unsuitable answers compared to their degree of development and self-awareness”.
In February Italy’s data watchdog also banned the San Francisco-based Replika, an AI software that has become notorious for its erotic role play option.
While ChatGPT is still currently accessible in Italy is users use a virtual private network, the Italy authorities have given OpenAI 20 days to stop processing user data in the country entirely.
At the end of this period OpenAI must show the regulator what measures it’s taken to meet the its requirements, and could face fines of up to €20m (£17.8m) if it fails to demonstrate is has adhered to the ruling.
Professor Michael Osborne, professor of machine learning at the University of Oxford, told i: “Italy’s move shows that regulators are paying close attention to ChatGPT.
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