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Will ChatGPT be banned?

ChatGPT is already banned in China, Russia and Italy. Discover what the future holds for the chatbot
Last Updated on April 5, 2023
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With growing concerns over the safety of AI applications, many are wondering – will ChatGPT be banned?

OpenAI’s ChatGPT is a hugely popular online chatbot that seems to be able to do absolutely everything in the natural language processing world. From writing essays, generating code, composing lyrics and even creating your resume – it’s no surprise that this bot has become extremely popular.

The sudden boom of AI technology has raised alarms with authorities, however. With risks spanning from the spread of misinformation, its effects on education and employment, and wider issues to society, many countries have already decided to block the use of this chatbot.

In recent news, Italy is the next country to ban ChatGPT. The block was triggered after new concerns about data privacy and the lack of age restrictions on the platform.

This dispute is still in its early days but it may result in ChatGPT being banned indefinitely. But, that’s not all. According to local reports, Germany is also considering jumping on this bandwagon.

The effects of this have spread across Europe. Other EU nations such as France and Ireland are looking into Italy’s findings to assess whether they need to take action too.

So, will ChatGPT be banned in Europe? It is hard to say just yet. Assuming that OpenAI will take Italy’s concerns on board, we would expect that ChatGPT will be back up and running.

Will that be the case for other countries too? This again is really hard to predict. As long as OpenAI complies with local laws and regulations it is pretty safe to assume ChatGPT will remain up and running.

Which countries banned ChatGPT?

Interestingly, ChatGPT is already banned in a few countries. For example, you cannot access ChatGPT in many areas where US apps are already blocked, such as China, Iran, North Korea and Russia.

Will ChatGPT be banned in schools?

Concerns over students using ChatGPT to complete their homework have been circulating for a while now. While this answer truly depends on the school, it is highly likely that schools across the US and UK have already banned their pupils from accessing the bot.

In the US, here are a few districts where ChatGPT is banned:

  • Los Angeles Unified School District
  • New York City Public Schools
  • Fairfax County Public Schools
  • Alabama’s Montgomery County

Final Thoughts

So, will ChatGPT be banned? When it comes to the US, this is definitely highly unlikely considering that it’s the birthplace of the chatbot.

But, what about other countries? This is a bit difficult to predict. Hopefully, OpenAI shapes up to meet the local regulations in other countries to allow the bot to continue running.

Funmi joined PC Guide in November 2022 and has a knowledge of AI apps, gaming and consumer technology.