Contributing Writer
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Scott Nover
Contributing Writer
Scott Nover is the lead writer for GZERO AI. He's a contributing writer for Slate and was previously a staff writer at Quartz and Adweek. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Fast Company, Vox.com, and The Washington Post, among other outlets. He currently lives near Washington, DC, with his wife and pup.
Sep 17, 2024
Ireland’s data privacy authority has opened an inquiry into Google’s artificial intelligence practices. The country’s Data Protection Commission has become an important data watchdog in the European Union as many of the world’s top tech companies have set up their European operations in Ireland. The DPC is specifically investigating whether Google’s Pathways Language Model 2, or PaLM 2, protected user privacy in accordance with Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation.
PaLM 2 is a foundational model developed by Google AI that’s largely been succeeded by its Gemini model, which launched in December 2023.
Under the GDPR, companies are required to carry out “data protection impact assessments” any time they develop a project that could be considered “high-risk” to citizens’ personal information. The Irish data regulator will look into whether Google improperly skipped this step. GDPR violations are no joke: If found liable, Google could be forced to cough up 4% of their global annual revenue. Google told reporters that it takes its obligations under GDPR seriously and will work with the DPC to answer their questions.
