European Union negotiators signed a first-of-its-kind agreement on Friday, outlining a set of rules for the use of artificial intelligence. This significa🌳nt milestone came after 38 hours of negotiations over three days.
The AI Act, scheduled to take effect in 2026, will serve as a model for other c🃏ountries worldwide that have yet to establish legislation for the growing AI indu𓂃stry.
European Union negotiators signed a first-of-its-kind agreement on Friday, outlining a set of rules for the use of artificial intelligence. This significa🌳nt milestone came after 38 hours of negotiations over three days.
The AI Act, scheduled to take effect in 2026, will serve as a model for other countries worldwide that have yet to establish legislation for the growing✱ AI industry.
Days after EU co𝓡untries and lawmakers provisionally agreed on AI rules, experts from both sides will meet in 11 technical meetings starting Tuesday to𝄹 finalise details.
“This regulation aims to ensure that fundamental rights, democracy, the rule of law and environmental sustainability are protected from high-risk AI whil🐲e boosting innovation and making Europe a leader in the field,” the European Parliament media statement read.
The AI Act will adopt a "risk-based approach" when it come🔥s to products or services using artificial intelligence. The focus would be more on how the technology is used rather than the tech𝕴nology itself.
Under the AI Act, the 27-nation bloc will look to ban untargeted scraping of facial images from the internet or CCTV footage to create facial recognition databases, emotion recognition in the w🧔o🍸rkplace and educational institutions and social scoring based on social behaviour or personal characteristics.
Biometric systems will also be subject to ban♊ with some exceptions in cases of law enforcement.
Violations could draw fines of up to 35 million euros ($38 million) or 7 per cent🥀♔ of a company’s global revenue.
European Commissioner Thiery Bretton took to X in the late night hours of𝐆 Friday announcing the historic “deal!”, that had been signed by the EU members.
He added it was "much more than a rulebook - it's a launch pad𓆉 for EU start-ups and researchers to ♛lead the global AI race", BBC reported.
Lead Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Brando Benifei said, “It was long and intense, but the effort was worth it. Thanks to th🍌e European P♚arliament’s resilience, the world’s first horizontal legislation on artificial intelligence will keep the European promise - ensuring that rights and freedoms are at the centre of the development of this ground-breaking technology.”
Another MEP༒ Dragos Tudorache said, “The European Union has made impressive contributions to the world; the AI Act is another one that will significantly impact our digital future.”
The AI Act won't come into effect until two years after it gets final approval from European lawmakers, which is anticipated in a straightforw༒ard vote in early 2024.
Under the act, customers would be able to file complaints, and fines may be applied for any breaches. If a company breaks the 𓆉rules, they could face fines of up to 35 million euros ($38 million) or 7 per cent of their worldw♔ide revenue.