Last Friday, Italy surprised by announcing the blockade to ChatGPT. But the measure of the privacy watchdog, known as GPDP, has not fallen in favor with all political strata in the country. One of his main opponents has been Matteo SalviniMinister of Transport and Vice President of the Italian Council of Ministers.
Through your instagram profilethe controversial politician —considered a tough eurosceptic and member of the neo-nationalist movement— criticized the ban on access to ChatGPT in Italy, calling it “excessive”. Furthermore, he said that it was a paradox that the chatbot of OpenAI when the same technology is used for the new Bing search engine, which does continue to work in its territory.
Salvini also condemned the fact that Italy is the first western country to take such a measure. “It is not acceptable that in Italy, the homeland of Galileo, Marconi and Olivetti, we should consider using a VPN to get past a blockade like China and countries without freedom,” he posted.
Criticism of the GPDP and its decision to block access to ChatGPT in Italy came to light a couple of days after the news broke. The Italian personal data protection guarantor assured on Friday that the measure against the artificial intelligence platform corresponded to two specific shortcomings. The first, the massive collection of personal data from users, a problem that came to light after the recent exposure of subscriber data to ChatGPT Plus. The second, the absence of tools to verify that only those over 13 years of age can access the service, as indicated in its terms and conditions.
The ban on ChatGPT divides the waters in Italy
Of course, the case of Italy has sparked a great debate regarding how platforms like ChatGPT should be regulated. Let’s not forget that the chatbot of OpenAI has been open to the public for just over four months. Therefore, it is still not entirely clear what is the scope of national or regional legislation on these platforms. And the speed at which the AI industry is evolving makes the discussion even more complex.
For now, from startup The US has not made any formal statements in this regard. yes it has sam altam, its main manager, through his personal Twitter account. “Of course we comply with the Italian government and have stopped offering ChatGPT in Italy (although we believe we are following all privacy laws). Italy is one of my favorite countries and I hope to visit it again soon!” tweeted.
From the GPDP, meanwhile, they have chosen not to refer to the sayings of Matteo Salvini. In his criticism of the decision to block access to the chatbot of AI in Italy, The minister described the body’s position as “hypocritical”. “Privacy issues affect almost all online services. Common sense is needed,” he said.
Whether the aforementioned minister likes it or not, today ChatGPT has 20 days to resolve the issues raised by the authorities. If OpenAI does not meet the established requirements, it is exposed to financial punishment. The fine can be up to 20 million euros, or 4% of its annual global turnover. The startup It does not have offices in the EU, but it does have a representative assigned to the European Economic Area.