The Irish regulator responsible for overseeing data privacy within the European Union emphasized that the inquiry is "crucial for ensuring that individuals' fundamental rights and freedoms are adequately protected."

The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has initiated an inquiry to determine whether Google adhered to European Union privacy regulations in the development of one of its artificial intelligence models.

The DPC announced today that it has launched a cross-border statutory inquiry into Google Ireland. This inquiry is focused on assessing the development of Google's foundational AI model and whether the company met any obligations under the European Union's stringent General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) before processing personal data of EU citizens.

The DPC emphasized that conducting a data protection impact assessment is crucial when processing personal data that could pose a high risk to individuals' fundamental rights and freedoms. This inquiry is part of broader efforts by the DPC and other EU regulators to oversee the handling of personal data by AI models and systems within the EU/EEA.

Earlier this year, in June, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, decided to suspend its plans to use personal data for training AI models following concerns raised by the DPC. This decision came after extensive discussions with the regulator.

In March 2023, Italy's data privacy regulator temporarily banned ChatGPT due to data privacy issues. The ban was lifted within a month after ChatGPT implemented new user warnings and provided an option for users to opt out of having their conversations used to train the AI's algorithms.