In a historically significant proceeding earlier this week, EU negotiators held an intensive session in Brussels that spanned nearly 24 hours. Their primary mission: to achieve an agreement on AI regulation. Albeit imperfect, an agreement was indeed reached, with the internal market chief of the EU, Thierry Breton, expressing the sentiment that they couldn’t “let the perfect be the enemy of the good”.
According to people familiar with the matter, Breton wanted to avoid a lengthy weekend recess that could potentially allow lobbyists more influence and time to interfere Bloomberg Law reports. The intense session painted a somewhat comical picture of dedicated negotiators driving a self-service coffee machine to its breaking point.
The agreement is seen as a major step toward developing an AI policy that could heavily influence western deliberations and ensuing regulations, particularly in the current climate where the US Congress has shown minimal initiative in this area.
Before being implemented, this agreement needs the approval of both the EU Parliament and its 27 member states. Thierry, who had previously served as the CEO of Atos SA and is currently the EU’s internal market commissioner, revealed that the agreement also includes allowances for certain live facial scanning, but with stringent safeguards and exemptions in place.
This first pact to regulate AI by the European Union is a pivotal move in policy that serves as a reality-check of the rapid advances in AI and underlines the pressing need for appropriate legislation and oversight.