Meta, Klarna and Spotify Join Call for EU Regulations for AI

As European tech leaders urge regulatory clarity to stay competitive in artificial intelligence, New York lawmakers contemplate stricter controls, highlighting the global struggle to balance innovation and oversight.

Meanwhile, industry figures like Appian CEO Matt Calkins demand stronger IP protections, underscoring the challenges facing policymakers and businesses in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.

European Tech Leaders Call for AI Regulatory Certainty

A group of European business leaders, researchers and institutions penned an open letter urging the European Union to provide more transparent AI development regulations. The signatories, including Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Klarna CEO and co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski and Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek, warned that fragmented and inconsistent regulatory decisions could hinder Europe’s competitiveness in AI.

The letter emphasized the importance of “open” AI models and “multimodal” technologies. Without them, “the development of AI will happen elsewhere — depriving Europeans of the technological advances enjoyed in the U.S., China and India.”

The signatories said these technologies could “turbocharge productivity, drive scientific research and add hundreds of billions of euros to the European economy.”

However, the current regulatory environment in Europe was described as an obstacle. The letter stated that “regulatory decision making has become fragmented and unpredictable, while interventions by the European Data Protection Authorities have created huge uncertainty about what kinds of data can be used to train AI models.”

The tech leaders presented Europe with a choice in the letter.

“It can choose to reassert the principle of harmonization enshrined in regulatory frameworks like the GDPR and offer a modern interpretation of GDPR provisions that still respects its underlying values, so that AI innovation happens here at the same scale and speed as elsewhere,” the letter said. “Or, it can continue to reject progress, contradict the ambitions of the single market and watch as the rest of the world builds on technologies that Europeans will not have access to.”

The letter concluded with a call for “harmonized, consistent, quick and clear decisions under EU data regulations that enable European data to be used in AI training for the benefit of Europeans.”

The signatories stressed the situation’s urgency.

“Decisive action is needed to help unlock the creativity, ingenuity and entrepreneurialism that will ensure Europe’s prosperity, growth and technical leadership.”

The EU’s regulatory landscape has become increasingly complex, with new rules like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the upcoming AI Act adding layers of compliance for businesses.

Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl, director general of DigitalEurope, told DW that smaller companies are particularly burdened, facing what she called a “tsunami” of overregulation. Many startups, including several valued at over $1 billion, are relocating to the United States due to the prohibitive costs of staying in Europe.

Industry leaders argue that Europe’s regulatory environment is forcing local companies to fall behind global competitors, particularly in the U.S. and China, where AI innovation is surging ahead in less restrictive markets.

New York Lawmakers Consider AI Regulations

New York state legislators are exploring new AI regulations to address worries about privacy, copyright and potential deception.

During a Friday (Sept. 20) assembly hearing, lawmakers and the state attorney general expressed concerns about fraud and other negative consequences of unchecked AI. Chief Deputy Attorney General Chris D’Angelo emphasized the need for transparency:

“We think that the companies that put out AI models that generate this content need to also have an obligation to watermark that content so that people can hold them accountable and trace it back,” D’Angelo said, per a Saturday (Sept. 21) Times Union report.

The state has taken initial steps to promote AI, with Gov. Kathy Hochul announcing a $275 million Empire AI Consortium project, the report said. However, regulations have lagged behind technological advancements.

Assemblyman Alex Bores highlighted worries about open-source AI potentially being used to generate dangerous information, according to the report. Meanwhile, industry representatives like IBM’s Roslyn Docktor urged lawmakers to focus on regulating risk rather than core algorithms.

“AI is a tool, and like any tool, it can be misused…,” Docktor said, per the report. “But we do not regulate the underlying tools — we regulate how they are used in different contexts.”

Appian CEO Demands IP Safeguards

Appian CEO Matt Calkins is advocating for more substantial intellectual property (IP) protections as AI regulations struggle to keep up with technological advancements, particularly around data source disclosures and privacy, CIO Dive reported Wednesday (Sept. 25).

“We don’t talk nearly enough about the AI intrusion on personal privacy and private information intellectual property,” Calkins said, per the report.

He said he is working with U.S. lawmakers to push for rules requiring AI models to disclose their data sources, obtain consent for using private or copyrighted data, and ensure anonymization of personal information, the report said.

Calkins and industry leaders like ScienceLogic CEO David Link said they believe transparency in AI data use is essential for building trust, according to the report. However, the lack of clear regulations has heightened legal risks for enterprises, especially concerning IP.

Calkins emphasized that maintaining trust between companies and customers is vital as AI becomes more integrated into business operations, the report said. Without proper governance, businesses face challenges navigating the AI landscape while safeguarding IP.

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