Italy Fines OpenAI $15.7 Million for Privacy Violations

The Italian Data Protection Authority (IDPA), also known as Garante, has fined OpenAI $15.7 million following an investigation into the data collection practices of its flagship AI model, ChatGPT. The agency also mandated a six-month public awareness campaign by OpenAI to address the issue.

In a statement released on December 20, the IDPA revealed that OpenAI failed to notify the agency about a data breach in March 2023. Additionally, the investigation found that OpenAI processed users' personal data to train the chatbot without establishing a "sufficient legal basis," violating transparency principles and failing to meet its obligations to provide users with relevant information.