Tech Roundup: OpenAI ChatGPT Italy Ban, Twitter Open Source & More

[A recurring feature on the latest in Science & Technology.]

• Italy's data protection agency, the Garante, temporarily bans OpenAI's ChatGPT, alleging the artificial intelligence tool has been illegally collecting users' data and failing to protect children under the age of 13; orders the company to stop processing people's data locally with immediate effect. (The development comes amid calls to suspend new ChatGPT releases and assess such technologies over a range of risks for privacy, cybersecurity and disinformation.)
• The U.K. Competition and Market Authority (CMA) drops its investigation into Apple's policies and restrictions on mobile browsers and cloud gaming services after the tech giant wins an appeal filed with the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in January 2023 pointing out the CMA had missed key timing requirements, and thus should not be able to continue the investigation.
• The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) plans to file a complaint against Amazon alleging that Alexa-powered speakers collect data about children under 13 without parental consent, violating privacy laws.
• Google wins partial victory in its Android antitrust battle in India after an appeal court, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), drops directives that would have forced the tech giant to allow uninstalling of first-party pre-installed apps on Android devices and enable third-party developers to distribute their app stores through Google Play Store. (That said, Google will be required to allow users, during initial device setup, to choose their default search engine.)
• Twitter open sources a portion of its code on GitHub, including its algorithm for recommending tweets in For You but excluding its ad recommendation algorithm; to give a free pass to the 500 advertisers that spend the most on its platform as well as the top 10,000 organizations by follower count, days after the company announced a US$ 1,000/month subscription for brands to retain their verified status and checkmarks.
• General Motors plans to drop Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support in future EVs in favour of a new infotainment system developed by Google.
• Online gaming platform Roblox to hide advertisements from users 13 and younger, after nonprofit Truth in Advertising filed an FTC complaint in April 2022 against the company.
• Google rolls out a Material You redesign for Google Voice on Android; begins public testing its generative AI features in Gmail and Google Docs.
• Google confirms it put a limit of 5 million files per Drive account, even for paid Google One plans, as a "safeguard to prevent misuse."