Italian regulators have temporarily blocked the AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT, citing privacy concerns following a reported data breach, in addition to raising concerns about child safety.
The Italian data protection authority said it was taking temporary measures “until ChatGPT respects privacy”, including temporarily limiting the corporate’s processing of Italian users’ data.
The agency said Microsoft-backed OpenAI, the Silicon Valley company behind ChatGPT, had “no legal basis” to gather user data, which was collected “to coach the algorithms that power the platform.”
The Italian government said it has launched an investigation against OpenAI, which has 20 days to point out that it complies with the European Union’s privacy rules.
Failure to accomplish that could end in a positive of 4% of the corporate’s global annual revenue or $21.8 million, whichever is larger.
The agency also noted, it said, the dearth of an OpenAI filter to examine that children under 13 will not be using ChatGPT, in line with the Financial Times.
The regulator claimed that children were exposed to content that was inappropriate for his or her “level of self-awareness”.
The post asked for comment from OpenAI.
![Italy blocked ChatGPT due to an alleged breach of user privacy.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/NYPICHPDPICT000009027140.jpg?w=1024)
The rise of ChatGPT shook the tech world after an AI-powered bot demonstrated advanced conversational abilities that imitated humans.
The technology has been shown to be capable of making emails, essays and software code – fueling fears it could replace people working in knowledge-intensive industries.
Some school districts have banned students from using ChatGPT on account of concerns that it could possibly be used for cheating in exams.
Rapid advances in AI have prompted some outstanding technology watchers to call for caution.
Tesla mogul Elon Musk, who co-founded OpenAI nearly a decade ago, and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak are amongst the numerous tech entrepreneurs who signed an open letter calling for a halt to artificial intelligence development and research.
![The rapid development of artificial intelligence has prompted calls to halt research and development.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/NYPICHPDPICT000006728932.jpg?w=1024)
The letter warns that AI systems with “intelligence that competes with humans could pose serious threats to society and humanity” – from flooding the web with misinformation and automating work to more catastrophic future threats outside of science fiction.
It is claimed that “in recent months, AI labs have been stuck in an out-of-control race to develop and deploy increasingly powerful digital minds that nobody – not even their creators – can understand, predict or reliably control.”
“We call on all AI labs to right away halt for no less than 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4,” the letter reads.
“This break needs to be public and verifiable and include all key actors. If such a break can’t be enacted quickly, governments should step in and impose a moratorium.”