Google won't tell anyone why its withholding Bard AI from the EU
While Google's AI assistant Bard(opens in new tab) is currently available in 180 countries(opens in new tab) across the globe, the European Union and Canada still aren't invited to the AI party. Almost two months after Google launched its friendly AI chatbot, Bard, the company is still withholding access to certain regions, but there's no official statement on the matter.
The best guess is that Google may not see eye-to-eye with certain incoming regulations, not to mention that up against current GDPR rules, its processes may already be a little bit illegal.
The EU's incoming AI Act(opens in new tab) is currently making its way through European Parliament in a bid to push current and would-be AI developers into making their products more transparent, and safer for the general public. Having spoken to some experts on the matter, Wired(opens in new tab) seems to be under the impression that Google is out there silently stomping its feet over the details of the act.
Even in its current state, Bard doesn't quite fit the bill when it comes to the EU's laws surrounding internet safety. As Access Now senior policy analyst, Daniel Leufer, says in the Wired piece, «There's a lingering question whether these very large data sets, that have been collected more or less by indiscriminate scraping, have a sufficient legal basis under the GDPR.»
Aside from current law, the much more targeted, and rigorous AI Act set to pass in mid June would likely have a significant impact on how Google's AI tool operates.
Once the bill goes through there will be even more restrictions placed on tools that could be «misused and provide novel and powerful tools for manipulative, exploitative and social control practices,» as is outlined in the official
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