Italy has launched a probe into how artificial intelligence (AI) companies gather data to train their AI algorithms.
The Italian Data Protection Authority is conducting a fact-finding investigation on public and private websites on whether they are taking adequate measures to prevent AI platforms from collecting large amounts of personal data.
“Following the fact-finding investigation, the Authority reserves the right to take the necessary steps, also in an urgent matter,” it said.
It’s publicly known that some AI platforms “through web-scraping collect, for different uses, enormous quantities of data, including personal data, published for specific purposes (news, administrative transparency, etc.) within managed websites by public and private entities,” according to the watchdog. It declined to name any specific companies.
OpenAI is one of the companies that has been in the spotlight over its data collection practices. The company was sued earlier this year in a class-action lawsuit for “stealing data from millions of unsuspecting consumers worldwide” to train its models and to develop ChatGPT and DALL-E.
The Italian data watchdog, also known as Garante, has previously gone after OpenAI for its data practices. In March, the regulator banned ChatGPT in Italy for breaching European data protection guidelines.
There seems “to be no legal basis underpinning the massive collection and processing of personal data in order to ‘train’ the algorithms on which the platform relies,” Garante said at the time.
Garante called for feedback from AI experts, academics, and other members of the public on the latest investigation within the next 60 days.
European countries continue to lead in AI regulation globally. While the EU’s AI Act serves as the regional guide, several countries are exploring national-level measures to tame the technology and protect their citizens.
According to a new joint paper seen by Reuters, Italy has teamed up with France and Germany to formulate AI regulations. The document reportedly opposes “untested norms” while calling for “mandatory self-regulation through codes of conduct.”
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