None of the 180+ nations and territories that Google Bard hits are in the EU

Google provided more information on the development of its Bard conversational AI assistant on Wednesday, including PaLM 2 and increased availability. Canada and each of the EU’s 27 member states are not included on the list of 180 supported nations and territories. There is speculation that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the EU is to blame for the absence as the world struggles to balance the rapid expansion of generative AI chatbots with user privacy.

This week’s Google I/O event featured spectacular announcements about AI advancements and extending Bard access by adding support for Korean and Japanese. Yet, some people instantly observed that The Great White North and EU nations were not mentioned in the story. The business will “gradually extend to other nations and territories in a way that is consistent with local regulations and our AI principles,” according to Google’s help website, so this could change.

Google hasn’t yet provided an explanation for why it hasn’t yet made Bard available in the EU, Canada, or any other prohibited regions. In contrast to Google’s home country, the EU has stricter data protection and user privacy laws. The regulatory environment for AI in the EU is also about to change.

Italy was already problematic for ChatGPT

What kinds of policy infractions might an AI assistant capable of communication like Bard suggest in the EU? We can look at what OpenAI recently underwent to have Italy’s temporary ban on ChatGPT lifted for some fast ideas.

Italy was one of the first nations to impose access restrictions on an AI like ChatGPT since it has rather active privacy regulations. The Italian government stated that ChatGPT had to abide by rules regarding “transparency, the right of data subjects—including users and non-users—and the legal basis of the processing for algorithmic training relying on users’ data” when it announced its interim ban in April.

Whenever procedures like publishing an online form that allows users to opt out of using ChatGPT’s training algorithms and remove their data were implemented, OpenAI eventually cooperated. When Italian users sign up, OpenAI additionally verifies their birthdates to make sure they are at least 18 years old or have parental consent. Additionally, OpenAI stated that it will work to inform users about ChatGPT through a PR campaign that included information on how users might opt not to disclose their data.

Google may avoid having to go through the same hoop-jumping OpenAI had to in order to maintain availability in Italy by not launching Bard in the EU. A flood of concerns about how someone like Bard could operate in compliance with GDPR are raised by its impending presence in the EU.

According to GDPR, EU users have the following rights about their personal data: access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability, objection, as well as the right to reject automated decision-making, such as profiling. If businesses box off their AI training data in a way that prevents EU users from these rights, they face fines.