EU countries strike deal on landmark AI rulebook

European Union member countries on Friday unanimously reached a deal on the bloc’s Artificial Intelligence Act, overcoming last-minute fears that the rulebook would stifle European innovation. EU deputy ambassadors green-lighted the final compromise text, hashed out following lengthy negotiations between representatives of the Council, members of the European Parliament and European Commission officials. The law would ban some applications of AI technology, impose strict limits on use cases considered high-risk, and hem in the most advanced software models with obligations of transparency and stress-testing. The EU is the first out of the blocks in laying down binding rules for fast-moving AI technology. Even if many countries and international clubs — from the OECD to the G7 — have spent the past few years pondering how to regulate AI, most have stuck to voluntary guidelines or codes of practice. When EU policymakers announced they had found a final compromise on the AI Act’s content in December, the breakthrough was hailed as a pioneering step Europe should celebrate amid the rise of ubiquitous AI tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard. But the achievement rubbed some EU countries the wrong way. Over the past few weeks, the bloc’s top economies Germany and France, alongside Austria, hinted that they might oppose the text in Friday’s vote. While Vienna’s beef was with data protection provisions, Paris and Berlin warned that rules for advanced AI models would hamstring Europe’s budding AI champions, such as France’s Mistral and Germany’s Aleph Alpha. With Italy — sometimes an AI Act critic — keeping mum on its intentions, the AI Act’s fate was suddenly in question, as four opposing countries would be enough to derail the law for good.

Full report : EU countries strike a deal on the AI Act, after announcing pro-innovation measures and an AI Office; the bill awaits formal approval of EU Parliament.