Italy Launches Probe Into OpenAI's Sora (Photo by Mariia Shalabaieva on Unsplash)

Italy’s data protection watchdog has recently initiated an investigation into OpenAI’s Sora, the popular text-to-video AI model. The Italian regulator, known as the Garante, made this move over concerns that OpenAI”s new artificial intelligence tool would process people”s personal data.

“Given the possible implications that the ‘Sora’ service could have on the processing of users’ personal data in the European Union and in Italy in particular, the Authority has asked OpenAI to provide a number of clarifications,” said the regulator in a translated statement on March 8. The Italian Data Protection Authority (DPA) also stated that the ChatGPT maker has to clarify within 20 days whether the new AI model is already available to the public and whether it is or will be offered to users in the European Union, particularly in Italy.

Microsoft-backed OpenAI is also required to clarify with the regulator on various issues. This includes how the algorithm is trained and what data is collected and processed to train the algorithm, especially whether it is personal data. Apart from this, the Italian authority also seeks clarification on whether OpenAI”s AI tool will adhere to European data protection laws upon its potential release within the EU.

In January, the regulator accused OpenAI’s ChatGPT of violating the data privacy law. On that occasion, the data protection watchdog said that the “available evidence” pointed to the existence of breaches of the provisions contained in the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It is worth mentioning that Italy banned ChatGPT in March 2023. However, the chatbot was reinstated weeks later.

OpenAI”s Sora, which was unveiled on February 15, will be able to generate videos up to a minute long based on whatever prompt a user types. OpenAI also claims that the AI tool not only what the user has asked for in the prompt but also how those things exist in the physical world.