Italy temporarily blocks ChatGPT over privacy concerns

By FRANCES D’EMILIO and MATT O’BRIEN
Associated Press

ROME (AP) — 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 that it’s taking provisional action “until ChatGPT respects privacy.” The Italian Data Protection Authority’s measure involves temporarily limiting the company from processing Italian users’ data. U.S.-based OpenAI, which developed ChatGPT, said it disabled the service at the government’s request but believes it is following the law. The Italian watchdog says OpenAI must report within 20 days what measures it’s taken to ensure the privacy of users’ data or face a fine of up to 4% of its annual global revenue.