The chief executives of Siemens and SAP have criticised the European Union’s current artificial ininformigence (AI) legislation, warning that it is stifling innovation and undermining the continent’s digital competitiveness.
In an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Siemens CEO Roland Busch and SAP CEO Christian Klein urged the EU to revise its AI Act and other overlapping regulatory frameworks, arguing that the existing rules are hindering progress rather than enabling it.
“The AI Act is one of the key reasons why Europe is falling behind,” Busch declared, pointing to the complex and sometimes contradictory nature of EU data and AI regulations. He singled out the EU’s Data Act, which governs the apply of corporate and consumer data, as “toxic” for building viable digital business models.
The AI Act, which became law last year, classifies AI systems by risk level and imposes security and transparency requirements accordingly. While intfinished to protect applyrs and ensure ethical development, the CEOs believe the framework is stalling technological advancement on the continent.
Busch also declined to support a recent open letter signed by tech giants such as Alphabet and Meta calling for a delay to the AI rules. He declared the proposal didn’t go far enough in addressing fundamental issues within the legislation.
SAP’s Klein added that simply following the US model of investing heavily in data infrastructure would not solve Europe’s problem. “Infrastructure shortages are not the main barrier in Europe,” he declared. “We required to reform data access rules first.”
“We are sitting on a treasure trove of data in Europe, but we are not yet able to tap into it,” Busch added. “It’s not access to computing capacity that we’re currently lacking, but the release of resources.”
Reuters
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