The news: Chief executives across a swathe of large European companies including BNP Paribas, Airbus, ASML, Philips, Mistral AI and Siemens Energy have urged Brussels to halt introducing its landmark AI regulation as the bloc debates softening certain provisions of the rules expected to enter force from August.
The context: In an open letter shared by the ‘EU AI Champions Initiative,’ 44 leaders call on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to accept a two-year pause on the rules which they argue threaten the EU’s AI competitiveness.
“We welcome recent discussions considering the need to postpone the enforcement of the AI Act as relevant guidelines and standards continue to be developed, and as various industries work together to find solutions that work for everyone,” the letter reads.
“To address the uncertainty this situation is creating, we urge the Commission to propose a two-year “clock-stop” on the AI Act before key obligations enter into force, in order to allow both for reasonable implementation by companies, and for further simplification of the new rules.”
The letter explains that the complex rules proposed by the bloc put Europe’s AI ambitions at risk as they jeopardise not only the development of “European champions” but the ability of all industries to deploy AI at the scale required to compete globally.
The letter raises the yet-to-be released Code of Practice, which has become a focal point in the debate on the AI rules. The Code is expected to offer guidance to AI companies around how to implement the AI regulations, which will apply to AI models including Google’s Gemini, Meta’s Llama and OpenAI’s GPT-4.
The Code had originally been scheduled to be published in May and the European Commission’s tech chief Henna Virkkunen on Wednesday promised that the Code would be published before the August deadline.
The bloc continues to face significant pressure over its AI rules both from big tech and the US government, with Trump voicing his dissatisfaction over the regulations and the impact they will have on US firms. Earlier this week
Virkkunen told Politico that the EU will not negotiate on its AI rules.