Ulrich Kelber, the German data protection commissioner, has cautioned that Germany could potentially enact a similar ban to the one recently enforced in Italy on OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT due to data security concerns. He made these remarks during an interview with Handelsblatt newspaper, published on Monday.
In the wake of this news, Kelber stated that such a decision would be within the scope of state jurisdiction, but there were no current plans to take such action. He also disclosed that Germany had asked Italy for further information regarding their temporary ban.
Recently, OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology has become increasingly popular and been heralded by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as one of the most “revolutionary” advancements in the last 40 years. Nevertheless, this AI program has been hindered by Italy’s decision to suspend it on Friday.
Italy’s data protection authority has accused OpenAI of collecting user data without consent and not having an age-verification system in place to protect minors from potential illicit material. This makes Italy the first nation to employ a ban on ChatGPT due to privacy issues. Meanwhile, other countries such as China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran have been made inaccessible by OpenAI on purpose.
In response, Sam Altman, the founder of ChatGPT, has expressed his admiration for Italy and declared that the chatbot has been disabled in the country in accordance with the government’s regulations. He also expressed his hope to visit Italy soon.
