Policymakers in Europe are diligently working on artificial intelligence (AI) regulations, and this bulletin aims to provide updates on related laws and policies, as well as their implications for Europe, fundamental rights, and democracy.
The AI Act was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on July 12 and comes into force on August 1. Different sections of the Act will become applicable over the next few months. For details on when key sections enter into applicability, refer to the April issue of our AI bulletin.
A new political ecosystem is emerging around the AI Act. The European Parliament has established a cross-committee group comprising representatives from the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) committees to monitor its implementation.
The European Commission's political guidelines for the next term also emphasize AI innovation. Two new initiatives were announced: the AI Factories initiative, aimed at providing supercomputing capacity for AI start-ups, and the Apply AI strategy, which seeks to enhance public service delivery through AI. Additionally, there is speculation about a potential European AI Research Council modeled after CERN.
The Commission has called for expressions of interest in participating in developing the first AI Codes of Practice for general purpose AI (GPAI) models. This follows concerns that civil society participation might be insufficient. Eligible participants include civil society organizations with an EU presence, academia, independent experts with relevant expertise regardless of their location, among others. Interested stakeholders must express interest by August 25.
Four working groups will focus on transparency and copyright-related issues, risk identification and assessment, risk mitigation, and internal governance processes. A multistakeholder consultation covering similar subjects has also been launched by the Commission; contributions are due by September 10.
In other news related to 'AI & EU,' the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) emphasized that data protection authorities should be designated as market surveillance authorities under the Act due to their role in overseeing personal data processing in AI technologies.
Additionally, draft pledges under the Commission's AI Pact have been released to foster collaboration among industry actors on best practices and early compliance with the Act. Participating organizations are asked to publicly share their commitments and report on them within 12 months.
