OpenAI’s ChatGPT Back in Italy After Complying with Transparency Demands
OpenAI’s ChatGPT, a popular interactive artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, has returned to providing services in Italy after being temporarily banned on March 31. The country’s data protection agency, Garante, suspected that the AI chatbot violated the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). The ban was lifted on April 29 after ChatGPT complied with the regulator’s demands.
Revocation of Ban
The revocation of the ban required ChatGPT to reveal its data processing practices and implement age-gating measures, among other legal requirements. The Italian regulator imposed the temporary ban on ChatGPT in response to a data breach on March 20. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that ChatGPT was “available in Italy again” without revealing the steps taken by the company to comply with the Italian regulator’s transparency demands.
Compliance with Local Authorities
The abrupt ban initially raised concerns about AI regulations. However, ChatGPT's swift compliance with local authorities is seen as a positive move widely welcomed by its global users. European Union legislators are working on a new bill to monitor AI developments. This bill aims to classify AI tools according to their perceived risk level based on their capability. High-risk tools will not be banned entirely but will be subjected to stricter transparency requirements, if the bill is signed into law. Therefore, generative AI tools, including ChatGPT, will be subject to disclosure of their use of copyrighted materials in AI training.
