ChatGPT, an AI chatbot that can help people answer and solve almost anything, has got much attention seems coming out. There were reports of students using it for solving their exam, writing their diploma, as well it has helped people in every day life. But with that, it got also unwanted attention – from European Union regulators. Therefore, Italy already presented ban on accessing it in the country. What happens next – will other EU countries follow?

Ban of ChatGPT in Italy [1]

Other European countries are considering following Italy's lead in temporarily banning the use of chatbots like ChatGPT, and discussing whether stronger measures are needed to regulate their use. While there is disagreement among European parliamentarians about the content and scope of the EU AI Act, some regulators are exploring how existing tools, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), can apply to generative AI companies that use algorithms to produce highly human-like responses to text queries based on analysing large amounts of data, which may include personal information of internet users. The agency's move made Italy the first Western country to act against a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence.

The Italian regulator, Garante, accused OpenAI of not verifying the age of ChatGPT users and collecting personal data without legal justification to train the chatbot. Dessislava Savova, a partner at Clifford Chance, commented that the accusations demonstrate how GDPR can provide tools for regulators to shape the future of AI. Other European countries, including France, Ireland, and Germany, are reaching out to Garante to learn more about the ban and possibly coordinate their own actions. However, the privacy regulators in Sweden and Spain have no plans to ban ChatGPT at this time, with Spain not receiving any complaints but not ruling out a future investigation.

Italy's Deputy Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini, however, has criticized the Italian government's Data Protection Authority for temporarily banning chatbot ChatGPT, stating that the block over privacy concerns seemed excessive. Salvini, who is also the leader of the ruling coalition League party and serves as transport minister, wrote on Instagram that he found the regulator's decision hypocritical and that common sense was needed as privacy issues concern practically all online services.

Stock development of Microsoft

Microsoft stocks entered the market at 0,10 USD in 1986. Since then, they have seen an amazing development, as their stock gained 287,130% over the course of 37 years. The highest point they have reached was in November 2021, when the price for one stock was 343,11 USD. After that it had some fall, however nothing too scary, as most stocks had corrections in this period. Current price of stock is 287,23 USD, which still gives a lot of opportunity for movement of the price. [2]

Movement of Microsoft stocks in the last five years. (Source: Google Finance) *

Bill Gates disagrees with measures against AI [3]

Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, has stated that calls to halt the development of artificial intelligence will not tackle the challenges that lie ahead. Gates argued that it would be better to focus on how best to utilise AI, since it would be difficult to understand how a global pause could work. His comments come after more than 1,000 AI experts co-signed an open letter calling for an urgent pause in the development of systems that are more powerful than Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s new ChatGPT, which can hold human-like conversations, compose songs, and summarise lengthy documents. The experts, including Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, said in the letter that the potential risks and benefits to society needed to be assessed. Gates suggested that asking a specific group to pause would not address the challenges.

Microsoft has made significant investments in OpenAI to outpace its competitors. Although Bill Gates is currently focused on the philanthropic work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, he has been a strong advocate for AI, comparing its impact to that of the internet and mobile phones. In a blog post titled The Age of AI has begun, Gates emphasized his belief that AI can be used to help reduce global inequalities.

Conclusion

It will be interesting to see, how other EU countries will react to the ban and if they will follow the Italy’s example or not. In that case, Microsoft could get hit hard, as they have invested around 10 billion dollars into this project. On the other hand, some countries already decided to not put any limitations or bans on the use of it, which is a good sign for OpenAI and Microsoft. Regardless, Microsoft is a stable company with proven history.

Adam Austera, analyst of Ozios

* Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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[1] https://www.reuters.com/technology/germany-principle-could-block-chat-gpt-if-needed-data-protection-chief-2023-04-03/

[2]https://www.google.com/finance/quote/MSFT:NASDAQ

[3] https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/bill-gates-says-calls-to-pause-ai-wont-solve-challenges-3048469