BRUSSELS: More than 160 executives, including representatives from companies such as Renault and Meta, have signed an open letter expressing their concerns regarding the proposed European Union (EU) Artificial Intelligence (AI) legislation.
The executives argue that the legislation, if enacted, would jeopardize Europe’s competitiveness and technological sovereignty. The EU lawmakers recently agreed on a set of draft rules that would require AI systems, like ChatGPT, to disclose AI-generated content, distinguish deep-fake images from real ones, and implement safeguards against illegal content.
In recent times, the popularity of AI technologies, including ChatGPT, has prompted calls for regulation and raised concerns about the potential risks associated with AI. Previous open letters on the subject have been signed by notable figures such as Elon Musk, CEO of OpenAI, and Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio, prominent figures in the AI field often referred to as the “godfathers of AI.” However, Yann LeCun, who works at Meta, joined other executives in signing the most recent letter, challenging the EU’s proposed regulations.
Concerns Over Proposed Artificial Intelligence Rules
Executives from a diverse range of companies, including Spanish telecom company Cellnex, French software company Mirakl, and German investment bank Berenberg, also added their signatures to the letter. However, none of the companies mentioned, including Renault and Meta, responded immediately to requests for comment on the matter.
The letter’s organizers, Cedric O, former digital minister of France; Jeannette zu Fürstenberg, founding partner of La Famiglia VC; and René Obermann, Airbus chairman, expressed their concern about the European Parliament’s decision to shift from a risk-based approach to a technology-based approach in the legislation. They warned that the proposed regulations could result in heavy restrictions on technologies like generative AI, leading to increased compliance costs and disproportionate liability risks for companies developing such systems.
According to the letter, such regulations could potentially prompt highly innovative companies to relocate their operations abroad, while investors may withdraw their capital from European AI development. However, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, who had previously threatened to withdraw ChatGPT from Europe due to anticipated difficulties complying with the upcoming AI laws, later reversed his stance and confirmed that the company has no plans to exit the European market.
Dragos Tudorache, co-leader of the EU proposals drafting, dismissed the concerns raised in the letter, stating that the suggestions made by the executives are already incorporated in the draft legislation. He argued that those expressing concerns may not have thoroughly reviewed the text but reacted based on the influence of a few individuals with vested interests in the topic.
