An intriguing statement about the growth of Google Bard, the AI chatbot experiment, was given yesterday at the highly anticipated Google I/O 2023 event. The announcement of Bard’s imminent availability in a startling 180 nations ushered in a new era of universal accessibility. However, the European Union and its member nations were glaringly absent from this lengthy list.
Google did not formally declare the reason for this exclusion, but it stands to reason that it has something to do with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). A comparable AI system, ChatGPT, was briefly outlawed in Italy just last month due to fears that it did not adhere to GDPR standards. This possibility was alluded to by Google, which said that future Bard expansions would be done “consistent with local regulations.”
On a support page, Google provided a comprehensive list of the 180 countries where Bard is now available. This glaring absence of European Union countries was noted by our team members as well as WinFuture, who sought clarification from Bard itself. The AI chatbot responded by indicating that GDPR was indeed the reason behind the lack of support. However, it is important to note that Bard, being a language model, can only provide information that is already publicly available.
Notably, Canada is also missing from the list of supported countries at this time, adding to the regions left waiting for access to Bard.
Google Bard is currently available in English for anyone living in supported regions without a waitlist. Additionally, the chatbot added Korean and Japanese to its list of supported languages. Future additions of additional languages are anticipated.
Although customers in those nations may be disappointed that the European Union was not included in Bard’s expansion, it is probable that Google is making every effort to comply with GDPR and other local laws. Users worldwide eagerly anticipate the day when Bard will be accessible in their local locations as Google continues to navigate the complexity of data protection and privacy legislation.
In the meantime, the global expansion of Google Bard represents a significant step forward in making AI chatbot technology accessible to a wider audience, fostering increased interaction and engagement across diverse cultures and languages.
