FILE PHOTO: An undated handout image from U.S. startup Replika shows a user interacting with a smartphone app to customize an avatar for a personal artificial intelligence chatbot, known as a Replika, in San Francisco, California, U.S. Luka, Inc./Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
MILAN (Reuters) -Italy's data protection agency has fined the developer of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot company Replika 5 million euros ($5.64 million) for breaching rules designed to protect users' personal data, the authority said on Monday.
Launched in 2017, San Francisco-based startup Replika offers users customised avatars that can have conversations with them. The 'virtual friend' is marketed as being able to improve the emotional wellbeing of users.
