Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Spotify CEO Daniel Ek have joined forces to oppose the EU AI law.
In a joint statement published on August 24, 2024, the 2 experts argued that the EU's fragmented and draconian regulatory strategies would decelerate innovation and endanger European corporations.
This happened just weeks after the official publication of the EU’s groundbreaking AI law. got here into force on 1 August2024.
While the law's strictest provisions won’t come into force until 2025 and 2026, corporations must prepare to comply now or face heavy fines if caught.
In the open letterZuckerberg and Ek are convinced of the advantages of artificial intelligence, saying that the technology “has the potential to vary the world – increasing human productivity, accelerating scientific progress, and contributing trillions of dollars to the worldwide economy.”
However, they warn that EU rules threaten the advantages of AI and are particularly concerned in regards to the impact on open source AI development.
“We consider the following generation of ideas and startups will likely be based on open source AI since it enables developers to cost-effectively integrate the newest innovations and provides institutions more control over their data,” they wrote.
Zuckerberg also spoke about Meta's challenges in developing and releasing AI models in Europe, revealing that the corporate was unable to coach its models using public data from Facebook and Instagram as a result of regulatory hurdles.
Meta has already delayed the discharge of its open-source Llama models in Europe and cited bureaucracy as an obstacle.
This delay, Zuckerberg argues, signifies that “probably the most powerful AI models won’t reflect Europe's collective knowledge, culture and languages - and that Europeans won’t have the option to make use of the newest AI products.”
Spotify's Ek backed Zuckerberg on the importance of AI to his company's success, crediting early AI investments for creating “a personalised experience for each user that has led to billions of artists and creatives being discovered all over the world.”
Critics fell on deaf ears, calling the law “risk-averse” and “complex” and warning that “preemptive regulation of theoretical harms for emerging technologies equivalent to open-source AI will hamper innovation.”
They pointed to the inconsistent application of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for example of how well-intentioned measures can create unintended obstacles.
EU law sets the principles for AI, but the results loom
So what exactly is it in regards to the EU’s approach to artificial intelligence that prompts Zuckerberg and Ek to go on the offensive?
The law introduces a risk-based approach and categorizes AI systems in response to their potential impact. It has been criticized for burdensome rules and poor definitions which might be inconsistent with industry terminology.
Zuckerberg and Ek are usually not alone. In June, over 150 executives from major corporations equivalent to Renault, Heineken, Airbus and Siemens raised the alarm in regards to the Impact of regulation on business.
Jeannette zu Fürstenberg, founding partner of the Berlin enterprise capital fund La Famiglia VC, warned of “catastrophic consequences for European competitiveness”.
Now that the wheels of the law are in motion, there isn’t any turning back. EU officials remain convinced that they’ve taken the suitable steps.
European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier recently assured: “The laws isn’t there to stop corporations from implementing their systems – quite the opposite. We want them to operate within the EU, but we wish to guard our residents and our corporations.”
Whether the long-term effects of the law are consistent with Zuckerberg and Ek's concerns will soon turn into clear, but probably not for a couple of 12 months.
