ChatGPT is no longer available in Italy until further notice. This is because the Italian government sees a massive violation of the basic data protection regulation.
In recent months, ChatGPT has won the hearts of the AI community. Admittedly, there are now many alternatives to the tool from OpenAI. Nevertheless, hardly any competitor made it so clearly into the news. This is because the GPT-3 and GPT-4 algorithms captivate with texts that can hardly be distinguished from human ones.
Now, however, ChatGPT developer OpenAI is facing problems with the Italian government. The reason: European data protection laws. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) stipulates a minimum age of 13 for such applications. At the same time, there must be consent for each data point of a European user.
Italy: ChatGPT no longer available with immediate effect
Since OpenAI has not demonstrably fulfilled both points, the Italian data protection authority is now taking action against the tool. For the time being, the company must prohibit registration for the tool in the country. However, OpenAI has 20 days to respond to the accusations.
If the company does not refute them, it could face massive fines. The GDPR provides for payments of up to four percent of the worldwide turnover. The company actually wanted to pull the plug on ChatGPT on Friday, but that was no longer possible at such short notice.
ChatGPT: Is the Italian government setting a precedent?
With its accusations, the Italian Commission could set a precedent for the entire European Union. Because if the authority finds a violation of the GDPR, ChatGPT is also illegal in all member states at the same time. OpenAI has not yet commented on the accusations.
So far, the tool is not available in China, Hong Kong, Iran, Russia and parts of Africa. The EU could join in the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, the question remains to what extent progress can be made in AI research. Because one thing should be clear: With the mass of data points, no company should be able to assign consent.
