ChatGPT accessible again in Italy

Access to the ChatGPT chatbot has been restored in Italy.

It was banned by the Italian data-protection authority at the start of April over privacy concerns.

It maker, OpenAI, which is backed by Microsoft, said it had successfully “addressed or clarified” the issues raised.

It said its privacy policy was now accessible to people before they registered for ChatGPT and there was a new tool to verify the age of users.

The Italian data-protection authority, also known as Garante, had temporarily restricted the chatbot and launched a probe over the artificial intelligence application’s suspected breach.

As Garante had accused OpenAI of failing to check the age of ChatGPT’s users who are supposed to be aged 13 or above, OpenAI said it would offer a tool to verify users’ ages in Italy upon sign-up.

OpenAI explained that it would also provide a new form for European Union users to exercise their right to object to its use of personal data to train its models.

The Italian regulator told the BBC it “welcomed the measures OpenAI implemented” but called for even more compliance.

In particular, the spokesperson said, around “implementing an age verification system and planning and conducting an information campaign to inform Italians of what happened as well as of their right to opt-out from the processing of their personal data for training algorithms.”

Garante said it would carry on its “fact-finding activities regarding OpenAI also under the umbrella of the ad-hoc task force that was set up by the European Data Protection Board.”

An OpenAI spokesperson said it appreciated the Garante for being collaborative, and that it would continue ongoing constructive discussions.

Millions of people have used ChatGPT since it launched in November 2022.

It can answer questions using natural, human like language and it can also mimic other writing styles.

Microsoft has spent billions of dollars on it and it was added to Bing last month.

It has also said that it will embed a version of the technology in its Office apps, including Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Outlook.

Bard, Google’s; rival artificial-intelligence chatbot, is now available, but only to specific users over the age of 18.