Canada excluded from Google's expansion of AI chatbot Bard

Canada has been left out of a recent expansion of Google's artificial intelligence-powered chatbot known as Bard as the big tech giant continues its fight with the federal government over the Online News Act.

Canada has been left out of a recent expansion of Google's artificial intelligence-powered chatbot known as Bard as the big tech giant continues its fight with the federal government over the Online News Act.

Writing in a blog post Thursday, members of the Bard team said the chatbot has undergone its "biggest expansion to date," becoming "available in most of the world, and in the most widely spoken languages."

Google's parent company Alphabet announced in February that it would open Bard to test users for feedback, followed by a public release.

The company now says its ChatGPT competitor can be used in more than 40 languages and in countries such as Brazil and across Europe.

"As part of our bold and responsible approach to AI, we've proactively engaged with experts, policymakers and privacy regulators on this expansion," the blog post said.

"And as we bring Bard to more regions and languages over time, we'll continue to use our AI Principles as a guide, incorporate user feedback, and take steps to protect people's privacy and data."

But of the more than 230 countries and territories that Bard is currently available in, Canada is not among them.