Latest news with #Garante
The Star
19-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Italy's data watchdog fines AI company Replika's developer $5.6 million
FILE PHOTO: An undated handout image from U.S. startup Replika shows a user interacting with a smartphone app to customize an avatar for a personal artificial intelligence chatbot, known as a Replika, in San Francisco, California, U.S. Luka, Inc./Handout via REUTERS/File Photo MILAN (Reuters) -Italy's data protection agency has fined the developer of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot company Replika 5 million euros ($5.64 million) for breaching rules designed to protect users' personal data, the authority said on Monday. Launched in 2017, San Francisco-based startup Replika offers users customised avatars that can have conversations with them. The 'virtual friend' is marketed as being able to improve the emotional wellbeing of users. Italian privacy watchdog Garante ordered Replika to suspend its service in the country in February 2023, citing specific risks to children. Following an investigation, it found that Replika lacked a legal basis for processing users' data and had no age-verification system to restrict children from accessing the service, resulting in the fine for its developer, Luka Inc. Replika did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The Italian authority has also announced a separate investigation to assess whether Replika's generative AI system is compliant with European Union privacy rules, especially around the training of its language model. Garante is one of the European Union's most proactive regulators in assessing AI-platform compliance with the bloc's data privacy rules. Last year, it fined ChatGPT maker OpenAI 15 million euros after briefly banning the use of the popular chatbot in Italy in 2023 over the alleged breach of EU privacy rules. ($1 = 0.8868 euros) (Reporting by Elvira Pollina; Editing by Cristina Carlevaro and Rachna Uppal)
CNA
19-05-2025
- Business
- CNA
Italy's data watchdog fines AI company Replika's developer $5.6 million
MILAN :Italy's data protection agency has fined the developer of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot company Replika 5 million euros ($5.64 million) for breaching rules designed to protect users' personal data, the authority said on Monday. Launched in 2017, San Francisco-based startup Replika offers users customised avatars that can have conversations with them. The 'virtual friend' is marketed as being able to improve the emotional wellbeing of users. Italian privacy watchdog Garante ordered Replika to suspend its service in the country in February 2023, citing specific risks to children. Following an investigation, it found that Replika lacked a legal basis for processing users' data and had no age-verification system to restrict children from accessing the service, resulting in the fine for its developer, Luka Inc. Replika did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The Italian authority has also announced a separate investigation to assess whether Replika's generative AI system is compliant with European Union privacy rules, especially around the training of its language model. Garante is one of the European Union's most proactive regulators in assessing AI-platform compliance with the bloc's data privacy rules. Last year, it fined ChatGPT maker OpenAI 15 million euros after briefly banning the use of the popular chatbot in Italy in 2023 over the alleged breach of EU privacy rules. ($1 = 0.8868 euros)
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Italy's data watchdog fines AI company Replika's developer $5.6 million
MILAN (Reuters) -Italy's data protection agency has fined the developer of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot company Replika 5 million euros ($5.64 million) for breaching rules designed to protect users' personal data, the authority said on Monday. Launched in 2017, San Francisco-based startup Replika offers users customised avatars that can have conversations with them. The 'virtual friend' is marketed as being able to improve the emotional wellbeing of users. Italian privacy watchdog Garante ordered Replika to suspend its service in the country in February 2023, citing specific risks to children. Following an investigation, it found that Replika lacked a legal basis for processing users' data and had no age-verification system to restrict children from accessing the service, resulting in the fine for its developer, Luka Inc. Replika did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The Italian authority has also announced a separate investigation to assess whether Replika's generative AI system is compliant with European Union privacy rules, especially around the training of its language model. Garante is one of the European Union's most proactive regulators in assessing AI-platform compliance with the bloc's data privacy rules. Last year, it fined ChatGPT maker OpenAI 15 million euros after briefly banning the use of the popular chatbot in Italy in 2023 over the alleged breach of EU privacy rules. ($1 = 0.8868 euros)
Reuters
19-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Italy's data watchdog fines AI company Replika's developer $5.6 million
MILAN, May 19 (Reuters) - Italy's data protection agency has fined the developer of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot company Replika 5 million euros ($5.64 million) for breaching rules designed to protect users' personal data, the authority said on Monday. Launched in 2017, San Francisco-based startup Replika offers users customised avatars that can have conversations with them. The 'virtual friend' is marketed as being able to improve the emotional wellbeing of users. Italian privacy watchdog Garante ordered Replika to suspend its service in the country in February 2023, citing specific risks to children. Following an investigation, it found that Replika lacked a legal basis for processing users' data and had no age-verification system to restrict children from accessing the service, resulting in the fine for its developer, Luka Inc. Replika did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The Italian authority has also announced a separate investigation to assess whether Replika's generative AI system is compliant with European Union privacy rules, especially around the training of its language model. Garante is one of the European Union's most proactive regulators in assessing AI-platform compliance with the bloc's data privacy rules. Last year, it fined ChatGPT maker OpenAI 15 million euros after briefly banning the use of the popular chatbot in Italy in 2023 over the alleged breach of EU privacy rules. ($1 = 0.8868 euros)
NBC News
17-02-2025
- Business
- NBC News
South Korea suspends new downloads of DeepSeek, citing privacy concerns
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea 's data protection authority said Monday that new downloads of the Chinese AI app DeepSeek had been suspended in the country after DeepSeek acknowledged failing to take into account some of the agency's rules on protecting personal data. The service of the app will be resumed once improvements are made in accordance with the country's privacy law, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) said in a media briefing. The measure that came into force on Saturday aims to block new downloads of the app, the agency said, though DeepSeek's web service remains accessible in the country. The Chinese startup appointed legal representatives last week in South Korea and had acknowledged partially neglecting considerations of the country's data protection law, the PIPC said. Italy 's data protection authority, the Garante, said last month it had ordered DeepSeek to block its chatbot in the country after failing to address the regulator's concerns over its privacy policy. DeepSeek did not immediately respond to a request for comment. When asked about earlier moves by South Korean government departments to block DeepSeek, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson told a briefing on Feb. 6 that the Chinese government attached great importance to data privacy and security and protected it in accordance with the law. The spokesperson also said Beijing would never ask any company or individual to collect or store data in breach of laws.
