Factbox-Governments’ efforts to regulate AI tools

Italy’s data protection agency has announced that it will lift the ban temporarily imposed on OpenAI’s ChatGPT artificial intelligence (AI) technology if the US-based company complies with privacy demands by the end of April. The increasing development of AI, such as Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT, has made it harder for governments to agree on the best way to regulate the technology.

Here are some of the most recent actions taken by national and international governing bodies to regulate AI tools:

Australia

The government has requested advice on how to deal with AI from Australia’s chief scientific advisory body and is currently assessing how to move forward, according to a spokesperson from its ministry of industry and science, as of 12 April.

Britain

In March, Britain announced plans to split authority for governing AI between regulators of human rights, health and safety, and competition, rather than creating a new, centralised body.

China

On 11 April, China unveiled draft measures for managing generative AI services and stipulated that companies must submit security assessments to authorities before releasing their offerings to the public. Beijing’s economy and information technology bureau also announced in February that it would support the development of AI models to challenge ChatGPT.

European Union

The European Data Protection Board, which unites national privacy watchdogs, claimed on 13 April that it has established a task force on ChatGPT, potentially paving the way for a common policy to create privacy rules around AI. The EU is also discussing the introduction of the European Union AI Act, which would regulate anybody who utilises AI technology to provide a product or service. The act would cover systems that can generate content, predictions, recommendations, or decisions which could impact upon environments. Lawmakers propose stratifying AI tools by level of perceived risk, ranging from low to unacceptable.

France

France’s privacy watchdog, CNIL, is conducting an investigation into several complaints against ChatGPT after the chatbot was temporarily banned in Italy due to concerns over privacy violations. French lawmakers approved the use of AI video surveillance during the 2024 Paris Olympics in March, despite warnings from civil rights groups regarding potential threats to civil liberties.

Italy

On 31 March, Italy imposed a temporary ban on OpenAI’s ChatGPT due to concerns by the national data agency that the technology may violate privacy regulations and failed to verify that its users were over 13 years old, as it had stipulated. The country’s data protection agency has set an April-end deadline for OpenAI to fulfil its data protection and privacy demands before lifting the ban.

Japan

Digital transformation minister, Taro Kono, has called for the upcoming G7 digital ministers’ meeting on 29-30 April to discuss AI, including ChatGPT, and publish a unified G7 message.

Spain

Spain’s data protection agency, AEPD, has begun a preliminary investigation into potential data breaches by ChatGPT. On 11 April, the AEPD also requested that the EU’s privacy watchdog assess concerns about ChatGPT’s privacy implications.

US

On 11 April, the Biden administration announced it was seeking public comments on potential accountability measures for AI systems. President Joe Biden had previously told science and technology advisers that AI could help tackle issues such as disease and climate change but stressed that it is vital to also consider potential threats to society, national security, and the economy.