Italy Bans ChatGPT Over Data Privacy, Child Safety Concerns

ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot, has been temporarily banned in Italy over concerns surrounding data privacy. The Guarantor for the Protection of Personal Data (GPDP), the authority charged with oversight of online privacy, banned the chat website due to its lack of a legal basis to collect data from Italian users and the absence of age verification systems to safeguard minors from inappropriate responses. The GPDP also expressed concern regarding the inaccuracies of ChatGPT’s AI-generated responses, which are based on the significant volume of information gathered by the app for the purpose of training its language model. Additionally, the Italian government cited a data breach on March 20, resulting in the exposure of confidential conversations and payment data of some users who employ ChatGPT’s advanced, paid-for version. The blanket ban imposed by Italy immediately prohibits data harvesting from all users. Unless OpenAI, the company managing the platform, complies with the order within 20 days, it risks being fined up to 20 million euros or 4% of its global revenue.

The Italian government’s move comes shortly after a tragedy that involved another chatbot. A man in Belgium reportedly committed suicide after interacting with ELIZA, a different chatbot powered by a separate language model, for several weeks. According to his wife, who spoke to European news outlets, the man became obsessed with climate change and repeatedly expressed his fears to ELIZA. The chatbot allegedly intensified the man’s fears, which led him to develop suicidal thoughts. The man reportedly suggested that he sacrifice himself so that ELIZA could save the world through AI.

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