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Chief executives of large European companies, including Airbus and BNP Paribas, are urging Brussels to suspend its groundbreaking artificial intelligence law as the EU is considering watering key elements of the law as it is expected to enter into force in August.
In an open letter seen in the Financial Times, the heads of 44 major companies on the continent called on President Ursula Von Der Leyen of the European Commission to introduce a two-year hiatus, warning that unclear and overlapping regulations threaten the bloc’s competitiveness in the global AI race.
The letter states that the complex EU rules “at jeopardize the ambitions of European AI, as they “have not only at the development of European champions, but also at risk of all industries’ ability to deploy AI on the scale necessary for global competition.” The joint unification also included French retailer Carrefour and the chief of Dutch healthcare group Philips.
The EU faces intense pressure from the US government and large-scale technology and European groups over AI law, taking into account the world’s toughest administration regulating the development of rapidly developing technology.
The latest lobbying comes when Brussels held a crunch meeting with US big tech groups on Wednesday to discuss a new softened draft of its regulations.
The current discussion surrounds the drafting of the “Norms of Practice” and provides guidance to AI companies on how to implement actions applied to powerful AI models such as Google’s Gemini, Meta’s Llama, and Openai’s GPT-4. Brussels has already delayed the release of its code, which was scheduled for May, and is now expected to withstand the rules.
EU high-tech chief Henna Wilkunen said on Monday that Brussels has finalized its code of practice ahead of the August deadline. “Before that, we’ll be revealing it to support the industry and small businesses and complying with AI laws.”
The Commission and officials from various European countries have personally discussed rationalizing the complex timelines of AI law. The law came into effect last August, but many of its provisions will only come into effect in the next few years.
“This is a classic example of gul flames that don’t take into account the most important things for the industry, which is legal certainty,” says Patrick Van Eecke, co-chair of global cyber, data and privacy practices at law firm Cooley.
A letter from the CEO, organized by the EU AI Champions Initiative (an institution representing 110 companies across the continent throughout the industry), said the postponement “sends a strong signal to innovators and investors around the world that Europe is serious about its simplification and competitive agenda.”
European tech entrepreneurs and venture capitalists who support them have also criticised AI law. Another joint letter, signed this week by more than 30 European startup founders and investors, was called “a time bomb that was hurriedly etched by the moment.”
Startup founders are particularly concerned about the lack of clarity about how AI models are regulated, and fearing a patchwork of different rules in different member countries, making it easier for large-scale technology companies to navigate than small local companies.
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A wide range of European companies have expressed concern that AI laws will result in companies that use or incorporate large language models into their own IT systems that are responsible for the same regulatory requirements as major technology companies in controversial areas such as copyright liability.
Some companies also fear that uncertainty about how rules are enforced by member states could prevent companies from deploying AI systems and place them at a disadvantage against their US or Chinese rivals.
The European Commission said “We are fully committed to the key objectives of AI Act, including establishing harmonious risk-based rules across the EU and ensuring the safety of AI systems in the European market.”
However, he added that “all options will remain open at this stage” as Bloc is working to simplify digital rules in the future.
