ChatGPT Maker OpenAI plans action to address concerns over Italy ban

ChatGPT producer OpenAI plans to present measures on Thursday to address concerns that led to Italy’s ban on the chatbot last week, Italy’s data protection agency Garante said.

Microsoft-backed OpenAI took ChatGPT offline in Italy after Garante temporarily restricted it last week and launched an investigation into an alleged privacy breach.

The agency last week accused OpenAI of failing to verify the age of ChatGPT users and “the absence of any legal basis justifying the massive collection and storage of personal data”.

On Thursday, he said he had no intention of curbing the development of AI, but recalled the importance of respecting the rules aimed at protecting the personal data of Italian and European citizens.

In a Wednesday night video conference attended by CEO Sam Altman, OpenAI pledged to be more transparent about how it handles user data and verifies user age, Garante said.

The company said it would send Garante a document on Thursday regarding the steps to be taken to respond to its requests.

The data authority said it would assess the proposals made by OpenAI. A source familiar with the matter said it would likely take several days to assess the contents of the letter.

OpenAI, which is based in San Francisco, did not respond to a request for comment on the agency’s statement.

On Thursday, the company published a blog post titled “Our Approach to AI Security,” which said it was working to develop “nuanced policies against behaviors that pose a real risk to people.”

“We do not use the data to sell our services, advertise or create profiles of people,” he said. “We use data to make our models more useful to people. ChatGPT, for example, is improving with additional training on the conversations people have with it.

“Although some of our training data includes personal information available on the public internet, we want our models to learn about the world, not individuals.”

The company said it removes personal information from its datasets wherever possible, refines models to reject user prompts for such information, and will respond to individual requests to remove their data from its systems.

Italy’s ban has sparked interest from other privacy regulators in Europe who are studying whether tougher measures are needed for chatbots and whether to coordinate such actions.

In February, Garante banned chatbot company IA Replika from using the personal data of Italian users, citing risks for minors and emotionally fragile people.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

---