The developer and managing company of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT, Microsoft-backed OpenAI, has been temporarily suspended from operating in Italy on Friday due to unlawful data collection and problems in its age verification system. Italy’s Guarantor for the Protection of Personal Data agency (GPDP) launched a legal inquiry into the case and named OpenAI in a press release. The authority claimed that there was no legal basis for the massive collection and processing of personal data by OpenAI, and that there were no reliable systems in place to verify the user’s age, potentially presenting inappropriate content to children. OpenAI has 20 days to respond with remedies or risks, and may face a fine of up to €20 million ($21.68 million) or 4% of its annual worldwide turnover. Italy is the first Western country to limit the use of AI chatbots, and concerns over the technology’s rapid development have attracted lawmakers’ attention globally, with calls for new regulations to govern AI.