regulation

EU Drafts New Data and AI Rules

American tech executives have replaced the Brexiteers in Brussels, but this is no swanky eurotrip
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Francis Scialabba

· 3 min read

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American tech executives have replaced the Brexiteers in Brussels, but this is no swanky eurotrip. They wanted to get ahead of AI regulations.

What's on the EU's mind?

This morning, the European Commission shared draft frameworks for data and AI strategies. The bloc plans to create a single market for data to shore up its tech prowess. It also wants to become a global leader in “trustworthy AI” by proposing more guardrails on the technology:

  • Closely regulate AI in “high-risk” sectors (such as healthcare, policing, and transportation) and high-risk scenarios that could lead to injury, death, or material damage
  • Require companies to ensure training data is unbiased and algorithms are testable for authorities
  • Say “All AI applications are welcome in the European market as long as they comply with EU rules” (so no outright ban on facial recognition)

Who’s been in town?

Facebook employee #1 Mark Zuckerberg chowed down on waffles and wrote an FT opinion piece calling for regulation of harmful content, political advertising, privacy, and data portability. On Monday, FB VP of Global Policy Management Monika Bickert elaborated in a content moderation policy white paper.

  • She highlighted what Facebook was doing well, like tech tools that proactively remove harmful content. But the paper cut FB some slack, noting the difficulty of perfect enforcement or policing different systems of speech.

Content moderation and AI overlap at FB. The company says it employs 35,000 workers to screen its services for harmful content, but some tasks require automated systems to scale. FB's AI tools and human moderators suspend over 1 million bogus accounts daily, Zuck said in Munich last weekend.

He just missed some others

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai was in Brussels last month...and wrote his own FT op-ed arguing for AI regulation: "There is no question in my mind that artificial intelligence needs to be regulated." And the NYT reported that Apple SVP for AI John Giannandrea also recently stopped by, though there was strangely no Financial Times op-ed.

Big picture: From agricultural guidelines to vehicle emission standards, the EU has sharpened the tip of the regulatory spear in the past decade. U.S. tech executives accept that more regulation is coming, but want a baseline of policies that don't disrupt business as usual.

+ While we're here: The U.K. (now separate from the EU) is expanding its media watchdog's powers to oversee harmful content on online platforms.

Keep up with the innovative tech transforming business

Tech Brew keeps business leaders up-to-date on the latest innovations, automation advances, policy shifts, and more, so they can make informed decisions about tech.