Ireland launches privacy inquiry into Google AI data use in EU

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC), the EU’s main data privacy regulator, said it would investigate whether Google had breached the bloc’s regulations in relation to the procession of personal data.  

“The Data Protection Commission today announced that it has commenced a cross-border statutory inquiry into Google Ireland,” the DPC said. The U.S. tech giant has its European headquarters in Dublin.

The probe will look into the “development of its foundational AI model”, the DPC added.

The “statutory inquiry concerns the question of whether Google has complied with any obligations that it may have had to undertake” under the EU’s strict General Data Protection Regulation, it added.

This would have been “prior to engaging in the processing of the personal data” of EU citizens, a statement read.

The DPC said it was in relation to the development of Google’s foundational AI Model, Pathways Language Model 2 (PaLM 2).

A representative for Google didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

“A data protection impact assessment, where required, is of crucial importance in ensuring that the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals are adequately considered and protected when processing of personal data is likely to result in a high risk,” the Dublin-based regulator said.

“This statutory inquiry forms part of the wider efforts of the DPC” and other EU regulators overseeing “personal data of EU/EEA data subjects in the development of AI models and systems”.

The DPC’s inquiry into Google is the latest move by the regulating giant to reign in the powers of giant tech companies in the nascent AI field.

In June, Meta, which also has its European headquarters in Dublin, agreed to pause training of its Llama AI model using public comments posted by European users of Facebook and Instagram.Later, X, formerly Twitter, agreed to suspend its processing of European users’ data to train its GrokAI model following legal action from the regulator.