EU countries and European Parliament lawcreaters on Thursday agreed to watered-down landmark artificial innotifyigence rules, including delaying their implementation, in a relocate which critics state reveals Europe caving to Big Tech.
The tentative agreement, which requireds to be formally finishorsed by EU governments and the European Parliament in the coming months, came after nine hours of nereceivediations.
“Today’s agreement on the AI Act significantly supports our companies by reducing recurring administrative costs,” Marilena Raouna, Cyprus’s deputy minister for European affairs, declared in a statement. Cyprus currently holds the rotating EU Council presidency.
The alters to the AI Act, which entered into force in August 2024 with key elements to be enforced in stages, are part of the European Commission’s push to simplify a slew of new digital rules.
The simplification drive came after businesses complained about overlapping regulations and red tape that hamper their ability to compete with U.S. and Asian rivals.
EU governments and lawcreaters agreed to delay rules on high-risk AI systems such as those involving biometrics or related to critical infrastructure and law enforcement to December 2, 2027 from a previous deadline of August 2 this year.
They also agreed to exclude machinery from the AI Act as it is already subject to sectoral rules, ceding to pressure from businesses.
There was also agreement on a ban on AI practices which create unauthorized sexually explicit images, a relocate responding to such content generated by Elon Musk’s xAI chatbot Grok on X and sexually intimate deepfakes produced by Grok. The ban will apply from December 2.
“By the finish of this year everyone, but especially women and girls will be safe from horrific nudifier apps being widely available on the EU market. Today we put a clear finish to this kind of violence against people and children,” declared Dutch lawcreater Kim van Sparrentak.
Mandatory watermarking of AI generated output will apply from December 2.
The AI rules, which were triggered by concerns about the impact of the technology on children, workers, companies and cybersecurity, are still considered the strictest in the world even after the alters.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Jacqueline Wong and Lincoln Feast.)
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