ChatGPT exits Italy after GDPR violation warning

The Italian data protection authority (DPA) shut down ChatGPT in the country, alleging the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot violates European Union privacy laws and has no controls to stop it interacting inappropriately with young children.

Garante ordered OpenAI, the U.S.-based developer of the chatbot, to cease processing the data of Italian citizens while it investigates the company’s activities in the country. ChatGPT, launched in November, is programmed to hold conversations and answer questions about thousands of topics.

“[T]here appears to be no legal basis underpinning the massive collection and processing of personal data in order to ‘train’ the algorithms on which the platform relies,” Garante said in a translated press release Friday.