Google's Bard is now available - unless you're in the EU or Canada

During the I/O 2023 conference last week, Google announced that its AI-powered chatbot, Bard, is now readily available in 180 countries and territories in English. However, Canada and the European Union are not on that list.

In its official documentation, Google hints at the reasons behind this notable absence:

"Bard is currently available in 3 languages and over 180 countries and territories. We’ll gradually expand to more countries and territories in a way that is consistent with local regulations and our AI principles."
- Google Support documentation (Source: Bard Help)

In recent developments, we've seen the potential challenges for Artificial Intelligence (AI), and more specifically Large Language Models (LLMs), to co-exist with stringent data privacy regulations such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

In the last few months, ChatGPT was temporarily banned in Italy, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) announced the creation of a "task force" on OpenAI's system, Clearview's facial recognition system has received several fines, and the conversation around regulating AI has never been more passionate.

Is this the reason behind Bard not being available in the EU and Canada? It would seem so, as indicated by the communication from the company, including a statement from a Google spokesperson to the online publication Android Authority:

"Bard will soon be able to support the 40 top languages, and while we haven’t finalized the timeline for expansion plans, we will roll it out gradually and responsibly, and continue to be a helpful and engaged partner to regulators as we navigate these new technologies together."
- Google spokesperson (Source: Android Authority)

As of now, Bard is available in 3 languages (English, Japanese, and Korean), in over 180 countries and territories. We will have to wait and see what the next steps are, and when the conversational generative artificial intelligence chatbot will become available for the rest of the world.

What is your opinion on this story? Have you had the chance to try Bard yet? Continue the conversation on the Yes We Trust community on LinkedIn:

Note: On August 29th, join Didomi for a webinar about AI and Data Privacy, where speakers will discuss the AI landscape, the impact of AI on data privacy, and how to make safe use of AI for your business: