Google he would postpone the launch of his chatbot Bard in Europa, due to concerns expressed by Irish privacy regulators that the AI does not comply with European Union data protection rules. Google announced just last week that it would make its Bard chatbot available, leaving it to the EU little time to verify what measures he had taken the tech giant to comply with local privacy requirements. And now it has no set release date.
Google Bard, delayed the launch in Europe due to privacy
The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) would have ruled that Google had not provided adequate information regarding privacy concerns ahead of the European rollout of AI. And this becomes necessary due to the law on the protection of personal data. The law, which went into effect in 2018, protects individuals from releasing their personal data except to obtain information for criminal activities and threats to public safety.
Graham Doylethe DPC Deputy Commissioner, told TechCrunch: “The DPC had not received any detailed submissions or seen a DPIA [valutazione dell’impatto sulla protezione dei dati] o no supporting documentation as of this moment.” He further added: “He has since requested this information urgently and has raised a number of further data protection questions with Google which he awaits a response to and Bard will not be launching this week.”
Google’s answer
Google has acknowledged this opposition and has communicated the next steps to the press before the launch of Bard in Europe. Gizmodo reports: “We have previously expressed our intention to make Bard accessible to a wider audience, including that of the European Union, and that we would do so responsibly, after consulting experts, regulators and politicians“. The spokesperson added: “As part of this process, we have been in dialogue with privacy regulators for clarify their doubts and listen to their opinions”.
Europe and artificial intelligence
This isn’t the first time AI has been blocked in the EU over privacy concerns, as just last month Italy decided to temporarily ban ChatGPT for similar reasons. So much so that the ChatGPT iOS app has just arrived in our country.
Many had expressed doubts when Google revealed that the Bard chatbot was available in three languages and launched in over 180 countries, none of which were located in the EU. Google appeared to explain why, stating on its support page, “We will gradually expand into more countries and territories in a manner consistent with local regulations and our AI principles.” Regulations in Europe are tighter – and AI companies have to pass more scrutiny before we Europeans can use them.
Google claims it wants to make Bard accessible to a wider audience, but before it can do that, it’s going to have to address it all issues and concerns raised by the DPC and will need to present official documentation demonstrating compliance with all EU regulations. The commission said it had no deadline for when or if Bard will be allowed to launch in the EU. Regulators are in no hurry – and companies seem to have accepted that. We too should deal with it: first privacy, then new technology.