Google is under investigation by Europe’s privacy watchdog over its processing of personal data in the development of one of its artificial intelligence models. Regulators are increasing their scrutiny of Big Tech’s AI ambitions. Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, responsible for enforcing the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), has launched a statutory inquiry into the tech giant’s Pathways Language Model 2, or PaLM 2. PaLM 2 was launched in May 2023 and predates Google’s latest Gemini models, which power its AI products. Gemini, launched in December of the same year, is now the core model behind its text and image-generation offering. The inquiry will assess whether the company has breached its obligations under GDPR regarding the processing of personal data of EU and European Economic Area citizens. Companies must conduct a data protection impact assessment before handling such information if its use poses a high risk to individuals’ rights and freedoms, particularly with new technologies. This is crucial for protecting individuals’ fundamental rights and freedoms, as stated by the regulator. The investigation is examining this assessment. Google did not respond immediately to a request for comment. This is part of a series of actions by the DPC against Big Tech firms building large language models. For example, Meta paused training its model Llama on public content shared by adults on Facebook and Instagram in Europe, following discussions with the Irish regulator. Meta then limited the availability of some AI products to users in the region. Additionally, X users found they were automatically included in having their posts used to train systems on Elon Musk’s xAI start-up. The platform suspended its processing of European users’ data in August to train its Grok AI model, following legal proceedings by the DPC. This was the first time the regulator took such action against a tech firm.
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