AI at a Curious Crossroads in Europe
Europe’s economy is stalling. (American) Big Tech has started to restrict AI releases to EU customers because of the extent of regulation, amid concerns over the new AI Act.
In September, after years of trying to restrict and regulate data, IT and AI, the EU has perhaps signalled a new direction. Ursula von der Leyen, the EU Commission President, has begun appointing key people with a view to increase economic performance, and that includes the data arena. There is a dawning realisation in the EU that regulation and red tape may actually be bad for business; Brussels has even started questioning the impact of GDPR.
What does this mean for data and AI businesses in the EU?
This is particularly tricky for the EU’s data industry. The EU only recently passed the AI Act into law, heralded until very recently as the blueprint for regulating AI around the world. But the Act has already created uncertainty; Meta and others have not rolled out AI tools to European customers, explicitly over these concerns.
So, at one level, what’s the problem? Clearly, the regulation is working, and limits the use of AI. But, all of a sudden, that’s a bad thing. Will the EU now put the brakes on the law’s rollout? Or will the data protection lobby not allow that? Henna Virkkunen, the new EU “Tech Sovereignty” Commissioner, just appointed by von der Leyen, has a mandate to focus on growing the economy. More will come out over the next few months as she settles in and defines her approach, so watch this space. My own personal view is that it’s very hard for a leopard to change its spots, and Brussels is a regulatory beast at heart.
And what about data and AI in the UK?
In turn, that creates a curious opportunity, and risk, for the UK’s new Government. It’s still early days for Labour’s administration, but its left-wing, interventionist instincts mean it’s more philosophically aligned to the EU. Indeed, it is already talking about sorting out the UK’s relationship with the EU, and signed a treaty with Germany. But if that means more regulation and less innovation, then that will harm the UK’s economy, and the strong data and AI sector.
Before the election, the UK’s data and AI position was that it would be more pragmatic about regulation than the EU. It would also be more “pro-business”. Parliament engaged fairly successfully with industry stakeholders. So far, the new administration has been quiet about its data strategy, but the opportunity should be to ensure innovation and a pro-business, pragmatic stance continues. Perhaps the silence so far should be seen as a good sign.
The irony – Americans get it!
The irony in the apparent volte-face on the eastern side of the Atlantic is that, on the other side of the pond, the last few months has seen the US flexing its regulatory muscles with Big Tech. Google is going through its antitrust trial at the moment. TikTok is in court trying to stop itself from being broken up as well. And all of this, seemingly, without red tape and restrictive practices.
For more details on the EU’s plans, click here to an external article.