The data protection watchdog in Italy has said it is ready to allow the return of OpenAI’s contentious ChatGPT chatbot by the end of the month provided the company take “useful steps” to address concerns.

The comments were made by Pasquale Stanzione, president of the Italian Data Protection Authority Garante, in an interview with local newspaper Corriere della Sera.

He said: "We are ready to reopen ChatGPT on April 30 if there is a willingness on the part of OpenAI to take useful steps. I think there is on the part of the company, let's see.”

ChatGPT was taken offline in late March after Garante temporarily restricted the chatbot’s personal data processing and began a probe into suspected breaches of privacy rules in the country.

Garante last week set out a set of "concrete" demands that OpenAI must meet in order for ChatGPT to return to Italy. These include informing Italian users of "the methods and logic" behind how ChatGPT processes data to operate, and allowing users to request the correction of personal data inaccurately generated by the service or deletion if a correction is impossible.

The watchdog has also said that OpenAI should allow non-users to object to the processing of their personal data to run ChatGPT’s algorithms "in a simple and accessible manner."

Italy was the first country in western Europe to halt usage of ChatGPT, but lawmakers in both Germany and Spain have also raised concerns over the chatbot and could follow suit with similar measures.

the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), an independent body which unites national privacy watchdogs across Europe, last week set up a task force on ChatGPT “to foster cooperation and to exchange information on possible enforcement actions conducted by data protection authorities.”

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