The American start-up OpenAI, owner of the ChatGPT conversational robot blocked since Friday in Italy for breaching personal data legislation, has pledged to “strengthen transparency” in its negotiations with the Italian regulator, announced this one Thursday.
“OpenAI is committed to enhancing transparency in the use of personal data […] and safeguards for minors,” the Italian Personal Data Protection Authority said in a statement.
The start-up must also send by Thursday evening “a document indicating the measures responding to the requests of the Authority”, which “reserves the right to evaluate the measures proposed by the company” before deciding on the action to be taken on the blocking of ChatGPT in the peninsula.
Italy is the first Western country to block ChatGPT over data usage concerns, two months after banning another program marketed as a “virtual friend”, the Replika app.
She accuses ChatGPT of not respecting European regulations and of not verifying the age of minor users.
The Italian regulator published its press release the day after a videoconference meeting with several OpenAI officials, including its CEO Sam Altman.
During this meeting, OpenAI has, according to the regulator, “confirmed its willingness to collaborate with the Italian Authority to arrive at a positive solution to the issues raised”.
The Authority for its part “stressed that it had no intention of slowing down the development of AI and technological innovation”, while reaffirming “the importance of compliance with the standards protecting the personal data of Italian and European users. “.
Appearing in November, ChatGPT was quickly taken by users impressed by its ability to clearly answer difficult questions, write sonnets or computer code. Funded by the computer giant Microsoft, which has added it to several of its services, it is sometimes presented as a potential competitor to the Google search engine.
AI also feeds much deeper fears than the mere exploitation of personal data. The European Union is currently preparing a draft regulation which could be finalized by early 2024, for application a few years later.
Europol had warned in late March that criminals were ready to take advantage of AI to commit fraud and other cybercrimes.
ChatGPT was also blocked soon after its release in several schools or universities around the world, after fears of cheating in exams, and companies advised their employees not to use this application.