ROME (AP) 鈥 Italy is temporarily blocking the artificial intelligence software ChatGPT in the wake of a data breach as it investigates a possible violation of stringent European Union data protection rules, the government's privacy watchdog said Friday.
The Italian Data Protection Authority said it was taking provisional action 鈥渦ntil ChatGPT respects privacy,鈥 including temporarily limiting the company from processing Italian users' data.
U.S.-based OpenAI, which developed the chatbot, said late Friday night it has disabled ChatGPT for Italian users at the government's request. The company said it believes its practices comply with European privacy laws and hopes to make ChatGPT available again soon.
While some public schools and universities around the world have over student plagiarism concerns, Italy鈥檚 action is 鈥渢he first nation-scale restriction of a mainstream AI platform by a democracy,鈥 said Alp Toker, director of the advocacy group NetBlocks, which monitors internet access worldwide.
The restriction affects the web version of ChatGPT, popularly used as a writing assistant, but is unlikely to affect software applications from companies that already have licenses with OpenAI to use the same technology driving the chatbot, such as .
The AI systems that power such chatbots, known as large language models, are able to based on the huge trove of digital books and online writings they have ingested.
The Italian watchdog said OpenAI must report within 20 days what measures it has taken to or face a fine of up to either 20 million euros (nearly $22 million) or 4% of annual global revenue.
The agency's statement cites the EU's General Data Protection Regulation and pointed to a recent data breach involving ChatGPT 鈥渦sers' conversations" and information about subscriber payments.
OpenAI earlier announced that it had to take ChatGPT offline on March 20 to fix a bug that allowed some people to see the titles, or subject lines, of other users鈥 chat history.
鈥淥ur investigation has also found that 1.2% of ChatGPT Plus users might have had personal data revealed to another user,鈥 the company had said. 鈥淲e believe the number of users whose data was actually revealed to someone else is extremely low and we have contacted those who might be impacted.鈥
Italy's privacy watchdog, known as the Garante, also questioned whether OpenAI had legal justification for its 鈥渕assive collection and processing of personal data鈥 used to train the platform's algorithms. And it said ChatGPT can sometimes generate 鈥 and store 鈥 false information about individuals.
Finally, it noted there's no system to verify users' ages, exposing children to responses "absolutely inappropriate to their age and awareness.鈥
OpenAI said in response that it works "to reduce personal data in training our AI systems like ChatGPT because we want our AI to learn about the world, not about private individuals.鈥
鈥淲e also believe that AI regulation is necessary 鈥 so we look forward to working closely with the Garante and educating them on how our systems are built and used,鈥 the company said.
The Italian watchdog's move comes as concerns grow about the artificial intelligence boom. A group of scientists and tech industry leaders published a letter Wednesday calling for companies such as OpenAI to until the fall to give time for society to weigh the risks.
The president of Italy's privacy watchdog agency told Italian state TV Friday evening he was one of those who signed the appeal. Pasquale Stanzione said he did so because 鈥渋t's not clear what aims are being pursued" ultimately by those developing AI.
If AI should 鈥渋mpinge" on a person's 鈥渟elf-determination鈥 then 鈥渢his is very dangerous,'' Stanzione said. He also described the absence of filters for users younger than 13 as 鈥漴ather grave."
San Francisco-based OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, announced this week that he鈥檚 embarking on a six-continent trip in May to talk about the technology with users and developers. That includes a stop planned for Brussels, where European Union lawmakers have been negotiating sweeping new rules to limit high-risk AI tools, as well as visits to Madrid, Munich, London and Paris.
European consumer group BEUC called Thursday for EU authorities and the bloc鈥檚 27 member nations to investigate ChatGPT and similar AI chatbots. BEUC said it could be years before the EU's AI legislation takes effect, so authorities need to act faster to protect consumers from possible risks.
鈥淚n only a few months, we have seen a massive take-up of ChatGPT, and this is only the beginning,鈥 Deputy Director General Ursula Pachl said.
Waiting for the EU鈥檚 AI Act 鈥渋s not good enough as there are serious concerns growing about how ChatGPT and similar chatbots might deceive and manipulate people.鈥
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O'Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island. AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan contributed from London.
