This decision "with immediate effect" will result in "the temporary limitation of the processing of Italian users' data vis-à-vis OpenAI", creator of ChatGPT, said in a statement the National Authority for the Protection of Personal Data.
ChatGPT appeared in November and was quickly taken over by users impressed by its ability to answer difficult questions clearly, write sonnets, and even pass exams.
ChatGPT can also be used to write computer code, without having the technical knowledge.
In its statement, the Italian Authority points out that ChatGPT "suffered on March 20 a loss of data (data breach) concerning users' conversations and information relating to the payment of subscribers to the paid service".
The Autorité also criticizes ChatGPT "for the absence of an information note for users whose data is collected by OpenAI, but especially the absence of a legal basis justifying the mass collection and storage of personal data, in order to +train+ the algorithms that operate the platform".
In addition, while the robot is intended for people over 13 years of age, "the Authority emphasizes that the absence of any filter to verify the age of users exposes minors to answers that are absolutely non-compliant with their level of development".
The Autorité asks OpenAI to "communicate within 20 days the measures taken" to remedy this situation, "under penalty of a penalty of up to 20 million euros or up to 4% of annual worldwide turnover".
The announcement comes as European police agency Europol warned on Monday that criminals are ready to leverage artificial intelligence like the ChatGPT chatbot to commit fraud and other cybercrimes.
From phishing to disinformation and malware, the rapidly evolving capabilities of chatbots are likely to be quickly exploited by bad actors, Europol said in a report.
Elon Musk and hundreds of global experts on Wednesday signed a call for a six-month pause in research on artificial intelligences more powerful than ChatGPT 4, the OpenAI model launched in mid-March, citing "major risks to humanity".
© 2023 AFP