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Italy Bans ChatGPT Over Privacy Concerns

By  |  April 2, 2023

On Friday, the chatbot ChatGPT was banned in Italy by a government order, marking the first reported instance of such action taken against the artificial intelligence tool.

Italy’s data protection authority has determined that OpenAI, a California-based company responsible for creating ChatGPT, violated privacy laws by collecting personal data from users without proper age verification measures in place to prevent minors from accessing illicit content.

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Italy has banned the use of ChatGPT due to concerns regarding privacy. The service is not available in China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran, as OpenAI has chosen not to make it accessible in these countries.

Italy’s decision is a sign of the policy challenges emerging for the developers of cutting-edge A.I. after the release of ChatGPT. The program has dazzled users with its ability to draft essays, engage in humanlike conversations and perform more complex tasks like writing computer code, but it has raised alarms about the spread of misinformation, the effects on employment and broader risks to society.