The Italian data protection regulator Italian Garante has temporarily banned OpenAI’s artificial intelligence (AI) service ChatGPT over privacy concerns.

The regulator also said that it may impose the company with a fine of up to €20 million or four per cent of its annual turnover after a data breach was reported to it in March.

The move comes as the watchdog launches a wider investigation into how the Microsoft-backed company collects data about its users.

The data authority also raised concerns about the lack of age verification systems in place for younger users.

In a statement, the regulator said: “In its order, the Italian SA highlights that no information is provided to users and data subjects whose data are collected by Open AI; more importantly, there 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.”

National Technology News has reached out to OpenAI for comment.

Italy’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini has criticised the regulator’s decision in a post on Instagram, describing the move as “disproportionate.” He added that the ban was “hypocritical” and that common sense was needed over privacy issues in all online products.

A number of organisations have recently raised concerns about the use of AI technology such as ChatGPT, including the US Chamber of Commerce which called for regulation of AI in order to ensure it does not become a national security risk or hurt growth. The Charted Institute for IT has also warned that the technology is “fallible” and ChatGPT will make it harder to mark students’ work fairly.

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