Google has delayed a planned launch of its generative AI chatbot, Bard, in the European Union this week, according to the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) the tech giant's lead data protection authority in the region. The development, first reported by Politico, comes long after OpenAI launched a free research preview (November 2022) of its rival chatbot, ChatGPT, without applying limits on where in the world Internet users could access it. DPC deputy commissioner Graham Doyle said today that Google "recently" informed the authority of its intention to launch Bard in the EU "this week."