ROME (Reuters) - Italy's data protection watchdog is ready to reactivate the ChatGPT chatbot on April 30 if its maker OpenAI takes "useful steps" to address the agency's concerns, its chief Pasquale Stanzione said in an interview on Tuesday.

Microsoft Corp-backed OpenAI took ChatGPT offline in Italy in late March after the authority temporarily restricted its personal data processing and began a probe into a suspected breach of privacy rules.

"We are ready to reopen ChatGPT on April 30 if there is a willingness on the part of OpenAI to take useful steps. I think there is on the part of the company, let's see", Stanzione told Corriere della Sera newspaper.

(Writing by Francesca Piscioneri, editing by Alvise Armellini)