Google releases chatbot in Europe after addressing privacy concerns

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Google is launching its artificial intelligence-based chatbot across Europe after being forced to upgrade security measures to comply with regulatory demands on copyright and users’ privacy.

The US tech giant had planned to release its Bard chatbot across the European Union in June, but it was delayed after regulators in Ireland, where the company has its European headquarters, sought assurances that there were enough safeguards to protect European consumers. There are solutions.

Google on Thursday said it has met Irish watchdog requirements by tightening privacy settings on its Bard chatbot to increase transparency so users know how their data is being used and have more control over it. Used to be.

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission said ahead of Thursday’s launch that “Google has made a number of changes, particularly to the controls for users”.

The approval of expansion in Europe will allow Google to move forward with its challenge to rivals such as Microsoft-backed Open AI, which is racing to create products through generative AI – software that can create text, images and code. It has launched Bard in nearly 180 countries, from Algeria to Zimbabwe.

Since OpenAI does not yet have an EU-based headquarters, individual countries can see whether the company complies with data protection rules. Italy briefly suspended OpenAI’s ChatGPT in March over privacy concerns before allowing the service to resume a few weeks later.

Google has also expanded the features for Bard. From Thursday the chatbot will be available in more than 40 languages ​​and Google has added the ability to listen to the chatbot’s responses, pin and rename conversations, and use images in prompts for the English-only service.

Brussels has introduced some of the toughest rules governing the technology through its proposed AI Act, prompting an outcry from companies and officials in the region.

“Companies wanting to set up AI ventures in Europe will have to comply with our new AI regulations,” said MEP Dragos Tudorche, who led the development of the law. “The rules we set out are proportionate, and designed for ease of compliance while encouraging innovation and market access. They are about transparency and social responsibility.