Reuters: France, Ireland and Germany investigate nationwide ban on ChatGPT

Several European privacy regulators are investigating the use of ChatGPT. They do this following the example of the Italian regulator, which recently banned the tool. Not all watchdogs are looking at a ban.

The French and Irish privacy regulators, among others, have asked questions to the Italian Garante per la protezione dei dati personali, writes Reuters. The regulators want to know on what exact grounds Italy has banned ChatGPT. Last week, the national regulator banned the tool in the country. OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, immediately made the tool inaccessible at DNS level.

The Garante per la protezione dei dati personali believes that ChatGPT violates the GDPR because no permission was requested for the use of personal data during training, but the exact reasoning remains vague. Other European regulators will probably want to see whether a ban is also necessary in that country, or whether other sanctions can and should be imposed on OpenAI. A German privacy watchdog is also said to be considering a ban, although the status of this is not known.

Not all regulators are considering a ban. According to Reuters, the Swedish regulator has no need for an investigation. The Spanish authority currently has no investigation underway, but does not rule it out.