Europe’s new AI Act that went into effect Thursday, regulating the type of artificial intelligence that tech companies can deploy, and calling for those companies to be transparent with users.
The new laws, which were approved in draft form last year, are likely to make waves in the fast-moving world of AI technology. In the leadup to this week’s implementation of the law, companies including Apple and Meta have changed plans regarding AI technologies they will introduce in other regions, including the U.S. At the time of last year’s draft, 150 tech executives from companies, including Airbus, ARM and Meta, argued against the law change in a letter.
How will the law affect users?
The act says that tech companies must ensure that AI systems introduced in Europe are safe, transparent, non-discriminatory, traceable and environmentally friendly. The act ranks the dangers of AI as Unacceptable Risk, High Risk, Limited Risk or Acceptable Risk, but asks that even AI technologies that don’t fall in the first two categories adhere to transparency requirements and EU copyright law. Companies that violate the act could be fined as much as 7 percent of their annual revenues or 35 million euros (about $37.7 million dollars).
Obviously, users in Europe will be more affected by this law than those in the U.S. Products that might be introduced here and in other regions will likely be delayed, tweaked or not rolled out at all in those countries. But it’s yet unclear how U.S. users will be impacted if they are, for instance, doing business in Europe and using some of those AI technologies as part of their job.
It’s unclear if a user who is traveling and using some of these AI technologies would be able to access them in those countries, especially if they must rely on servers in countries where the tech is outlawed.
It could mean longer development times for tech such as Apple’s AI platform Apple Intelligence as the company figures out ways to introduce different versions of its software for different regions. It already appears that Apple’s timeline is shifting for Apple Intelligence.
More significantly for U.S. tech users, the European laws could serve as a framework for regulations by states or the federal government in the U.S., something tech companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Google, OpenAI and Meta would be likely to lobby against vociferously.
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