After warnings from EU, ChatGPT said it could leave Europe

Robert Besser
28 May 2023, 21:07 GMT+10

Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, has said the company could consider leaving Europe if it could not comply with the EU's expected artificial intelligence regulations
The EU's upcoming restrictions on AI, the first set of rules to govern AI globally, could require companies that develop generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, to disclose any copyrighted material used to develop their systems
Altman said that before considering pulling out, OpenAI will try to comply with the regulations in Europe when they are set

SAN FRANCISCO, California: Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, has said the company could consider leaving Europe if it could not comply with the EU's expected artificial intelligence regulations.

The EU's upcoming restrictions on AI, the first set of rules to govern AI globally, could require companies that develop generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, to disclose any copyrighted material used to develop their systems.

During an event in London this week, Altman said that before considering pulling out, OpenAI will try to comply with the regulations in Europe when they are set.

"The current draft of the EU AI Act would be over-regulating, but we have heard it is going to get pulled back. They are still talking about it," he said.

The EU parliamentarians, which agreed on the draft AI act earlier this month, will now debate it, involving the representatives of the Parliament, the Council and the Commission, to finalize the details of the bill.

"There is so much they could do, like changing the definition of general purpose AI systems. There are a lot of things that could be done," Altman said, as quoted by Reuters.

A General Purpose AI System is a category proposed by lawmakers to account for AI tools with more than one application, such as generative AI models like Microsoft-backed ChatGPT.