The star of Google’s recent I/O developer keynote wasn’t the Pixel 7a or even the Pixel Fold, it was artificial intelligence. Incorporated into just about every Google product available, Google’s AI standard-bearer is the Google Bard chatbot, which has just had its waitlist removed so anyone can sign up. Well, unless you live in Europe.
That’s because although Google is making Bard available in 180 countries and territories across the world, none of the European Union’s 27 member states make the cut. That's (roughly) 451 million people who can't use Bard without resorting to a VPN. There’s been no word on why it’s the case but EU regulators haven’t been especially welcoming of AI in recent months. Italy banned ChatGPT until OpenAI agreed to comply with a list of measures around transparency and data rights.
