Italy is blocking ChatGPT from processing data from Italian users.
This comes as the country’s privacy regulators determined that OpenAI, the U.S. company responsible for launching ChatGPT, is not abiding by the EU’s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).
The block is subject to being lifted once it can be established that OpenAI has conformed its data processing practices to European legislation.
At the European level, the European Consumer Organization (BEUC) called for EU member states to investigate OpenAI:
Although the EU is currently working on the world’s first legislation on AI, BEUC’s concern is that it would take years before the AI Act takes effect, leaving consumers at risk of harm from a technology which is not sufficiently regulated during this interim period and for which consumers are not prepared.
As we previously reported, Elon Musk along with several other developers involved in AI has also expressed concern, issuing an open letter on the subject, proposing a freeze on ChatGPT updates:
Powerful AI systems should be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable. This confidence must be well justified and increase with the magnitude of a system’s potential effects. OpenAI’s recent statement regarding artificial general intelligence, states that “At some point, it may be important to get an independent review before starting to train future systems, and for the most advanced efforts to agree to limit the rate of growth of computers used for creating new models.” We agree. That point is now.
It now remains to be seen how the rest of the EU will act with respect to the potential impact of AI on its citizenry.
