Meta
said
it
will
delay
the
launch
and
training
of
its
AI
assistant
in
Europe
following
a
request
from
the
Irish
Data
Protection
Commission
(DPC).
According
to
a
June
10
statement,
the
regulator
asked
Meta
to
postpone
large
language
model
(LLM)
training
involving
public
content
adults
share
on
Facebook
and
Instagram.
The
Irish
DPC
acts
as
Meta’s
lead
privacy
regulator
in
the
EU
and
issued
the
request
on
behalf
of
the
European
Data
Protection
Authorities
(DPAs).
The
lack
of
local
information
means
users
would
receive
a
“second-rate
experience.”
Meta
said:
“This
means
we
aren’t
able
to
launch
Meta
AI
in
Europe
at
the
moment.”
Meta
said
it
was
“disappointed”
by
the
request
and
called
it
a
“step
backward”
for
AI
competition
and
innovation
in
the
EU.
The
firm
added
that
it
is
confident
it
complies
with
European
regulations.
The
Irish
DPC
endorsed
the
training
pause.
It
said
it
“welcomes
the
decision”
and
will
continue
working
with
Meta
following
earlier
“intensive
engagement.”
European
privacy
non-profit
NOYB
said
that
complaints
from
itself,
other
organizations
such
as
the
Norwegian
Consumer
Council,
and
certain
DPAs
led
the
Irish
DPC
to
issue
the
request
to
pause
Meta’s
activities.
Situation
developed
over
months
Meta
said
on
June
14
that
it
had
informed
European
DPAs
of
its
activities
since
March.
However,
the
situation
developed
after
Meta
started
informing
users
of
its
AI
training
activities
through
more
than
two
billion
in-app
notifications
and
emails
on
May
22.
NOYB
sent
complaints
to
11
DPCs
on
June
6.
On
June
10,
Meta
acknowledged
consultations
with
the
Irish
Data
Protection
Commission
(DPC)
and
said
it
had
integrated
feedback
to
ensure
its
AI
training
complied
with
AI
laws.
Meta
noted
that
Google
and
OpenAI
already
use
AI
for
user
data
training.
The
firm
expects
to
comply
with
EU
General
Data
Protection
Regulation
(GDPR)
laws
on
the
legal
basis
of
“Legitimate
Interest,”
a
flexible
provision
that
others
in
the
AI
industry
have
relied
on.
Mentioned
in
this
article
Go to Source
Author: Mike Dalton
