While the US administration dodges regulation in the name of innovation, the real problem is the lack of common rules. Europe has an opportunity to set the standard—if it’s bold enough to take it
The problem
The third annual Global AI Summit, which took place in Paris last week, failed to achieve consensus on establishing global governance for AI. The final statement merely acknowledged “the need for […] cooperation on AI governance”, aiming for some consensus. But even that went too far for the United States, the largest global AI player, and Britain, which rejected the final declaration.
The American position that overregulation stifles innovation and development holds true in broad terms. Mario Draghi’s September 2024 report on European competitiveness argued for cutting red tape. Indeed, the European Commission announced in January that it will do just that.
But overregulation is not the problem in the global AI market—it’s the lack of common regulation. The AI market is a patchwork of different sets of rules and principles.
The solution
The conflict between regulation and innovation is a false one. Smart regulations and standards are prerequisites for providing both corporations and start-ups with clear market conditions and a level playing field.
The EU should not let the lack of transatlantic consensus on AI governance hinder its engagement with others on governance and its development of generative AI capacity. The American government pursues the deregulation argument in a likely effort to maintain its perceived global dominance. American big tech supports this argument by ruthlessly lobbying European lawmakers. But the EU should not miss the opportunity to build on the momentum that the Paris AI summit generated to enhance its AI position. The EU should therefore:
- Move decisively on datacentre investment plans. Until now, the focus in AI has been mostly on building the right algorithms. However, high-quality, trustworthy data are increasingly considered key for breakthrough AI systems. The EU holds large volumes of valuable data in key industrial sectors, which can help drive innovation.
- Apply the EU’s new technology strategy, the Competitiveness Compass, to the European AI ecosystem. This would build on the EU’s strengths, harness its resources and remove barriers to growth at the European and national levels.
- Introduce or strengthen cooperation on AI with allies and middle powers such as Brazil, India, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea—all signatories of the Paris AI summit. These conversations can explore ways to implement joint governance approaches and compare ways to enhance trust and data quality. The EU should also continue to invest in the UN track, building on the UN’s 2024 framework for technology governance, the Global Digital Compact.
The context
The AI summit in Paris positioned France, and by implication Europe, as a “third way” for AI, distinct from the heavy hitters, America and China. It also succeeded in broadening the conversation on AI, both geographically, by involving governments from a hundred countries, and on substance, by addressing issues such as AI’s impact on work and culture. Over 60 countries signed the final declaration, including China, India, Japan and the EU member states, laying a foundation for widening regulations on AI.
https://ecfr.eu/article/regulate-or-stagnate-why-the-eu-must-lead-on-ai/
