ChatGPT available again in Italy after meeting demands of regulators
OpenAI's chatbot, ChatGPT, is available again in Italy after the company fulfilled the conditions requested by the Italian data protection authority. The AI software was temporarily blocked due to privacy concerns, and the Italian watchdog, known as Garante, ordered OpenAI to stop processing Italian users' personal information while it investigated a possible data breach. OpenAI addressed or clarified the issues raised by the watchdog, which included adding information on their website about how they collect and use data that trains the algorithms powering ChatGPT, providing EU users with a new form for objecting to having their data used for training, and adding a tool to verify users' ages when signing up.
The measures, including age verification for new users, have satisfied Garante, and they urged OpenAI to comply with two other demands for an age-verification system and a publicity campaign informing Italians about the backstory and their right to opt-out of data processing.
Generative AI systems like ChatGPT use vast pools of online data such as digital books, blog posts, and other media to generate text, images, and other content that mimics human work. However, the rapid development of these systems has raised ethical and societal concerns among officials and tech leaders, with EU negotiators scrambling to update draft artificial intelligence regulations that have been years in the making.
Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini has expressed his support for the return of ChatGPT and said that his League party "is committed to helping start-ups and development in Italy." However, other regulators are investigating ChatGPT too, including France's data privacy regulator and Canada's privacy commissioner, after receiving complaints about the chatbot.
