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ChatGPT has gone offline in Italy after the government’s Data Protection Authority on Friday temporarily banned it. Italy also launched a probe over its suspected breach of privacy rules.

Italy is accusing OpenAI – the company behind ChatGPT – of failing to check the age of its users who are supposed to be 13 or above.

It also says ChatGPT has an “absence of any legal basis that justifies the massive collection and storage of personal data” used to “train” the chatbot.

OpenAI has 20 days to respond with solutions or could risk a fine of almost 22 million dollars. OpenAI said it has disabled ChatGPT for users in Italy.

Italy is now the first Western country to take action against a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence.

However Italy’s deputy prime minister yesterday criticized the decision, calling it “disproportionate.”