Ireland launches EU privacy probe into Google AI development [Video]

An Irish regulator helping to police European Union data privacy on Thursday launched an investigation into Google’s artificial intelligence development.

The inquiry comes as the EU and other major regulators around the world crack down on big tech over a raft of issues including competition, disinformation and taxation.

The EU has also adopted the world’s first sweeping rules to govern AI, which came into force in August.

“The Data Protection Commission today announced that it has commenced a cross-border statutory inquiry into Google Ireland,” where the US tech giant has its European headquarters.

The probe will look into the “development of its foundational AI model”, the DPC said in a statement.

The rise of AI has fuelled excitement about its potential, with chatbots that show humanlike ability to answer questions to generate everything from essays to recipes and computer codes.

But the emergence of AI has also sparked concerns about …