The European Union's central data regulator said on Thursday it had set up a task force on ChatGPT, a potentially important first step toward a common policy on setting privacy rules on artificial intelligence (AI).

The move by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) follows a unilateral move by Italy last month to curb ChatGPT – a stance that Germany's commissioner for data protection said could be followed in Europe's biggest economy. Spain's data protection agency Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD) said earlier this week that it too would launch a preliminary investigation into potential data breaches by ChatGPT.

Experts, U.S. government and several other European governments have also expressed concern about the rapid growth of adoption of ChatGPT and similar AI products.

"The EDPB members discussed the recent enforcement action undertaken by the Italian data protection authority against OpenAI about the ChatGPT service," the statement said.

"The EDPB decided to launch a dedicated task force to foster cooperation and to exchange information on possible enforcement actions conducted by data protection authorities."

A source at one national watchdog who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media said member states hoped to align their policy positions but this would take time.

The source said member states were not seeking to punish or make rules that will affect ChatGPT owner OpenAI, but rather to create general policies that "are transparent."

They said attendees at Thursday's meeting included policy experts who presented opinions and exchanged ideas, rather than being decision makers.

The EDPB is an independent body that oversees data protection rules in the European Union, and it is composed of national data protection watchdogs.

The discussion of ChatGPT was added to the body's agenda following a request from Spain to discuss the matter earlier this week.