European regulators are reportedly preparing new guidance covering banned uses of artificial intelligence.
The efforts to enforce Europe’s landmark AI Act come even as President Donald Trump has warned the European Union of targeting American tech giants, the Financial Times (FT) reported Tuesday (Feb. 4).
The EU adopted the AI Act in May. It is considered the most comprehensive set of rules governing AI globally. Provisions restricting moves like scraping the internet to create facial recognition databases, went into effect Sunday (Feb. 2), per the report.
Now, the European Commission is ready to issue key guidance on how these rules should be applied, with further regulations governing large AI models and AI-powered products that pose a high risk to users — such as healthcare offerings — set to debut between now and 2027, the report said.
It’s part of a piece of legislation requiring companies building “high-risk” AI systems to provide greater transparency into their AI models. Companies creating the most powerful models face added requirements, like risk assessments, and firms that fail to comply with the law face fines and could be banned from the EU, according to the report.
Trump has threatened to target Europe in reaction to fines levied against American companies, the report said. The EU is already reassessing investigations into tech giants like Apple and Google under other digital markets legislation.
“There is definitely a worry in Brussels that the new U.S. president will raise pressure on the EU around the AI Act to ensure that U.S. companies don’t have to deal with too much red tape or potentially even fines,” said Patrick Van Eecke, co-chair of law firm Cooley’s global cyber, data and privacy practice, per the report.
Meanwhile, Trump is deviating from President Joe Biden when it comes to regulating AI in the United States. On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order reversing Biden’s order governing AI.
Biden’s order required the government to vet AI models from the likes of Google and OpenAI, while also establishing chief AI officers in federal agencies and creating frameworks that addressed ethical and security risks.
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