Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) has initiated a cross-border investigation into Google Ireland Limited over data protection concerns. The investigation focuses on the firm’s use of personal data in developing its Pathways Language Model 2.
Purpose of Investigation
The aim of the investigation is to check whether Google complied with its obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This regulation is a mandatory requirement for processing personal data of EU and EEA residents for the purpose of developing AI models.
Importance of Data Protection Impact Assessment
The main question of the investigation is whether Google conducted the required Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) before processing personal data for PaLM 2. In their press release, the DPC emphasized the importance of DPIAs in safeguarding individual rights and freedoms when data processing poses a high risk.
Context and Implications
Google introduced PaLM 2 in May 2023. It is an advanced language model with improved multilingual capabilities, reasoning skills, and coding abilities. The model is available in four sizes tailored to different use cases. This investigation is part of a rising trend of increased scrutiny of tech companies’ AI development practices. Just a week prior, the DPC wrapped up an investigation into X, which resulted in the company agreeing to stop using personal data from EU and EEA users to train its AI chatbot, Grok. X also promised to delete the data it collected between May 7 and August 1 and announced that it would no longer gather data for the purpose of training Grok.
The development and use of AI technologies continue to draw the attention of regulators worldwide, and the results of this investigation could significantly impact the future implementation of innovations in this field.
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