Europe on Wednesday moved closer to adopting the world’s first artificial intelligence regulations, as EU lawmakers approved an interim agreement on artificial intelligence technologies whose use is rapidly expanding in a wide range of industries and daily life.
The AI Act comes three years after its enactment, as generative AI systems such as Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s chatbot Gemini grow in popularity, and concerns about misinformation and fake news grow.
The law regulates high-impact general-purpose AI models and high-risk AI systems, which must comply with specific transparency obligations and EU copyright law.
This limits the government’s use of real-time biometric surveillance in public places to cases of specific crimes, prevention of genuine threats such as terrorist attacks, and searching for suspects in the most serious crimes. be.
“We welcome the overwhelming support from the European Parliament for the EU AI Act, the world’s first comprehensive and binding framework for trustworthy AI. Europe is now the global standard setter for trustworthy AI. ” said EU industry chief Thierry Breton.
A total of 523 EU MEPs voted in favor of the agreement, 46 opposed and 49 abstained.
EU countries are expected to formally give their assent to the deal in May, and the legislation is expected to come into force early next year and apply in 2026, although some provisions are expected to come into force sooner.
Patrick van Ecke, a partner at law firm Cooley, said Brussels may have set the standard for the rest of the world.
“The European Union has now enacted the world’s first hard-coded AI law. Other countries and regions are likely to use the AI law as a blueprint, as they did with the GDPR.” said, referring to EU privacy regulations.
But the downside for businesses is a lot of red tape, he said.
The European Parliament and EU countries reached a tentative agreement in December after nearly 40 hours of negotiations.
Companies risk fines ranging from 7.5 million euros or 1.5% of global turnover to 35 million euros or 7% of global turnover, depending on the type of violation.
Lobbying group Business Europe raised concerns about how the rules would be implemented.
“The need for extensive secondary legislation and guidelines raises significant questions regarding legal certainty and the interpretation of actual laws, which affect investment decisions,” said Executive Director Marcus J. Baylor. It is extremely important for.”
A spokesperson for Amazon, which has begun rolling out its new AI assistant, welcomed the vote and said: “We are committed to working with the EU and industry to support the safe, secure, and responsible development of AI technology.” Stated.
Meta Platforms warned against any measures that could stifle innovation.
“It is important not to lose sight of the huge potential of AI to drive innovation and enable competition in Europe, and openness is key here,” said Marco Pancini, head of EU at Meta. .
