Five months after Google announced it was launching its own generative AI chatbot, the company has addressed the data privacy issues that had previously made it inaccessible to EU residents. Credit: Mojahid Mottakin Google has announced it is making its Bard chatbot available in the EU and Brazil, five months after the company opened it up for early access. To date, residents in EU countries have been unable to access the company’s ChatGPT rival due to issues surrounding data privacy concerns. In addition to making Bard more widely available, Google has also introduced a host of new features including text-to-speech capabilities, shareable Bard conversation links, Google Lens compatibility, and the ability to customize Bard responses — for example, adjusting for tone and style. Bard is also now available in over 40 new languages including Arabic, simplified and traditional Chinese, German, Hindi, Spanish, according to a blog post by Jack Krawczyk, product lead for Bard.. “As part of our bold and responsible approach to AI, we’ve proactively engaged with experts, policymakers and privacy regulators on this expansion,” Krawczyk wrote. “As we bring Bard to more regions and languages over time, we’ll continue to use our AI Principles as a guide, incorporate user feedback, and take steps to protect people’s privacy and data.” The link to the privacy and data protection guidelines details information including the length of time Bard stores user information, how users can change that timeframe, and the type of information it stores. Google had originally intended to launch Bard in the EU in June but was forced to postpone its plan after the Irish Data Protection Commission, the EU’s main data regulator, said the company had failed to provide sufficient information about how the chatbot would protect the privacy of those living in the EU. Like other generative AI chatbots, Bard is powered by a large language model (LLM), in this case a lightweight variant of LaMDA, Google’s main natural-language processing model. “This much smaller model requires significantly less computing power, enabling us to scale to more users, allowing for more feedback,” Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai wrote in a blog post when Bard was first introduced. “We’ll combine external feedback with our own internal testing to make sure Bard’s responses meet a high bar for quality, safety and groundedness in real-world information.” However, soon after its launch, Bloomberg reported that Google employees had branded the chatbot “worse than useless” and a “pathological liar” and begged the company to delay its release after Bard continued to provide a high number of factually incorrect or made-up responses. Users of other generative AI chatbots including ChatGPT have reported factually innacurate and completely made-up responses to queries — a phenomenon known as “hallucinating.” Related content news Businesses lack AI strategy despite employee interest — Microsoft survey Microsoft’s fourth annual Work Trend Index survey shows that workers are coming to grips with generative AI tools, but leaders aren’t convinced they have a proper deployment strategy in place. By Matthew Finnegan May 08, 2024 6 mins Microsoft Generative AI IT Skills news analysis Apple Silicon sets scene for a new AI ecosystem With its new iPads, Apple presses home the message that Apple Silicon is built for AI. By Jonny Evans May 08, 2024 12 mins Apple Generative AI iPad news The CHIPS Act money: A timeline of grants to chipmakers The Department of Commerce is divvying up $52 billion in the hopes of spurring on-shore chip manufacturing in the US. Here's what's been allocated and where the money is going. By Lucas Mearian May 08, 2024 5 mins CPUs and Processors Government Manufacturing Industry reviews Arc browser for Windows — better than Chrome? This might just be the best web browser for power users. But you’ll have to rewire your brain. By Chris Hoffman May 08, 2024 13 mins Windows Browsers Productivity Software Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe