FTC Investigates ChatGPT While Google Bard Expands

Well, it was fun while it lasted…

ChatGPT is getting the shakedown as the FTC is investigating OpenAI for potential consumer harm.

The federal agency is trying to figure out if OpenAI's ChatGPT has been playing by the rules—like getting proper permission before collecting user data and making sure they're not spreading any misleading information.


Now, nothing has happened yet.

But the FTC sent a Civil Investigative Demand letter (a 20-page document that asks for everything except the kitchen sink) this week to OpenAI.

They want to know where OpenAI keeps all of its data and how the company trains/refines ChatGPT; they're even looking into the chatbot's security practices.

This is the first regulatory hurdle that OpenAI is facing in the US, which is a sign that people are starting to look closer at how generative AI is being used.

The tech is evolving super fast and raising concerns not just by everyday folks and businesses but by governments too.

While the drama stews between the FTC and OpenAI, let's switch up with some good news about chatbots!

Google has expanded Bard to more countries, languages and they've added some new features too.

Bard is now available in over 40 languages, including Arabic, Chinese, German, Hindi, and Spanish, and is accessible in more places, such as Brazil and across Europe.

Google got the greenlight finally in the EU after its expansion plans were delayed because the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), which watches over data privacy for the EU, had concerns.

Before, the DPC claimed that Google hadn't given them enough information on how Bard would protect the privacy and personal data of Europeans, but now it doesn't seem like it's an issue.

Let's talk features.

Bard can listen and speak its answers back to you and respond to prompts that include images; you can even adjust the tone and style in five different ways: simple, long, short, professional, or casual.

Conversations can be renamed and pinned once they're started, and you can share them with others. You can export code to repositories like Replit or Google Colab.

And that's a wrap on all things AI-chatbot-related!

Want to read this in Spanish? Spanish Version >>