ChatGPT Still Has A Chance To Resume Operations In Italy: Here's How

Italy's ban on ChatGPT has sparked concerns among privacy watchdogs in other European countries.

Italian authorities have set out a list of requirements for OpenAI's ChatGPT to resume operations in the country after temporarily restricting the service's personal data processing and launching an investigation into potential breaches of privacy rules. The data protection agency, Garante, has demanded that OpenAI meet "concrete" requirements by the end of April, including informing Italian users of the methods and logic behind data processing, providing tools to correct or delete inaccurate data, allowing non-users to opt out of data processing, and introducing an age verification system by the end of September.

Garante warned that it reserved the right to impose additional measures after its ongoing investigation is completed. The ban on ChatGPT in Italy has sparked concerns among privacy watchdogs in other European countries, with Spain's data protection agency requesting that the EU evaluate the service's privacy risks.

The move comes after Italy's regulator banned AI chatbot company Replika from using users' personal data in the country due to risks to minors and emotionally fragile people. Chatbots' rapid development has brought the need for AI regulation to the forefront of lawmakers' and regulators' attention worldwide, who are considering measures to address potential impacts on national security, jobs, and education.

Meanwhile, OpenAI said earlier this week that it would offer up to $20,000 to users reporting vulnerabilities in its artificial intelligence systems. OpenAI Bug Bounty program, which went live on Tuesday, will offer rewards to people based on the severity of the bugs they report, with rewards starting from $200 per vulnerability.

Technology companies often use bug bounty programs to encourage programmers and ethical hackers to report bugs in their software systems.

According to details on the bug bounty platform Bugcrowd, OpenAI has invited researchers to review certain functionality of ChatGPT and the framework of how OpenAI systems communicate and share data with third-party applications.