As EU Regulations on AI Intensify, Tech Giants Push Back 

Tech companies are limiting the rollout of their AI features within the European Union (EU), highlighting regulatory challenges as the conflict between Silicon Valley and the EU regulations on AI mushroom. 

Apple and Meta are among the leading companies that will delay or even possibly withdraw their AI features rollout in Europe, given the complex, and sometimes unpredictable, nature of EU’s AI regulations. 

Meta, Apple Fight EU Regulations on AI 

Recently, Apple announced that it is considering pausing the launch of its Apple Intelligence suite in Europe due to concerns over the EU’s Digital Market Act, arguing that complying to the Act would require security compromises that are unacceptable for the company. 

Meta has also followed Apple’s lead by withholding the rollout of its AI model, Llama, from the European market. The Facebook parent’s open-source model, designed to help developers to create their own AI products, was heavily scrutinized by the EU over privacy concerns.  

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Zuckerberg emphasized that overregulating AI could suppress innovative growth or even stop it, leading many companies to not launch products within Europe. 

“There’s one string of thought which is like, ‘Ok well we need to lock it all down”, Zuckerberg said. 

Meta’s decision followed extensive questioning by European officials regarding the use of data mined and harvested from public Facebook and Instagram accounts. Instead of handling the regulatory challenges by the EU, Meta simply took the easy way out and delayed the product’s release.  

Is It About Regulation? Or Innovation? 

The actions by tech companies are doing nothing but adding fuel to the fire, intensifying the tensions between Silicon Valley and the EU over differing views on how AI and advanced technology should be regulated.  

“We need to make sure that innovation continues to happen, and that the innovation doesn’t just come outside Europe. We already have a very long history in Europe of underinvesting in R&D,” Amazon’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Werner Vogels told CNN. 

A Movement on the Rise in California

The EU regulation on AI extends beyond Europe, as tech companies are also pushing back against any regulatory movement limiting their expansion and development in various areas. 

The most recent example is the lobbying efforts by Silicon Valley against California’s AI bill.  

OpenAI is among the opponents of the California AI regulation, especially since it mandates companies to implement protocols to prevent their AI models from causing “critical harms,” such as being used for cyberattacks or weapon development. On top of that, the California AI regulation movement and its bills have a provision entitled “full shutdown” – forcing AI systems to be turned off.  

In a letter to California State Sen. Scott Wiener, OpenAI’s Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), Jason Kwon, highlighted that such a bill could lead companies to leave California and hinder their progress. 

“Many of the industry’s leading developers, entrepreneurs and researchers live and work here, making California home to both AI’s biggest players and a thriving ecosystem of start-ups and other smaller companies,” Kwon said, adding that if the bill is signed into law, there “is a real risk that companies will decide to incorporate in other jurisdictions or simply not release models in California.” 

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