At the end of March, the Italian data protection authority – Garante, stirred some controversy regarding their enforcement of a temporary ban on the chatbot ChatGPT. This chatbot uses artificial intelligence to generate texts that resemble human creations. Garante was less focused on AI, and instead was more concerned with the potential breaches to data protection legislation that was caused by ChatGPT.
In order to have the ChatGPT ban lifted, Garante mandated that Microsoft Corp-backed OpenAI — the company behind the chatbot — to be more transparent with its users over how their data is process. Along with this obligation, OpenAI has to obtain the user’s permission for the data to be used, helping ChatGPT to further develop the software. The protection of minors is also a key factor for Garante and OpenAI to implement in order for this software to be legalized. If OpenAI meets Garante’s criteria before April 30, the temporary ban will be lifted.
OpenAI is a San Francisco and London-based startup led by high-profile industry stakeholders such as Elon Musk, Microsoft’s former CEO Bill Gates and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and works on the research development of artificial general intelligence. OpenAI has a strong focus on ethical uses for AI and is committed to developing safe and responsible AI technology in order to unlock the potential of an AI-powered world.
Garante is the Italian Data Protection Authority, they are the nation’s independent public supervisory authority that was established to ensure individuals and companies comply with the nation’s regulations. Garante works to ensure privacy, security, and the right to access data freely and justly. This includes the safeguarding of online data, the monitoring of data transfers and data processing, as well as enforcing penalties against companies that break the regulations.
