ChatGPT creates texts with the help of artificial intelligence. Users can specify individual commands or sentences, which the system then supplements independently using huge amounts of data from the Internet.

The Italian authority criticized in particular that OpenAI has no legal basis for the mass collection and storage of personal data. The company also does not obtain the consent of the people concerned and there are no youth protection measures, such as effective age checks for minors.

The US company should now "inform within 20 days about the measures taken," the agency said. Otherwise there is a risk of "a fine of up to 20 million euros or up to four percent of the annual turnover".

According to the AI ​​researcher Nello Cristianini from the British Bath University, OpenAI should be able to implement some of the requirements of the Italian authority without major problems, for example the requirements for the protection of minors. However, obtaining the consent of the authors of the data collected on the Internet is much more problematic. "It is not clear how this can be resolved in the foreseeable future," said Cristianini.

ChatGPT is extremely successful, but recently the warnings have been piling up. This week, for example, the police authority Europol said that criminals and fraudsters could take advantage of the application. The chatbot can provide information, for example, "from how to break into a house, to terrorism, cybercrime and sexual abuse of children".