Google will have to delay the European rollout of its new artificial intelligence (AI) tool 'Bard' after the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) raised privacy concerns.
Google unveiled its AI chatbot Bard earlier this year in a bid to compete with ChatGPT which has taken the internet by storm.
The DPC said it was recently informed by Google of its intention to launch Bard in the EU this week but added that it had not had any detailed briefing or sight of any supporting documentation.
"It has since sought this information as a matter of urgency and has raised a number of additional data protection questions with Google to which it awaits a response and Bard will not now launch this week," said Graham Doyle, Deputy Commissioner with the DPC.
"The matter is under ongoing examination by the DPC and we will be sharing information with our fellow Data Protection Authorities as soon as we receive further answers to our questions," Mr Doyle said.
Google is regulated by the Irish data watchdog because its EU headquarters are in Dublin.
A Google spokesperson said that it wanted to make Bard more widely available in a responsible way after engagement with experts, regulators and policymakers.
"As part of that process, we've been talking with privacy regulators to address their questions and hear feedback," the spokesperson said.
