A group of companies including Meta Platforms, Spotify and Italian luxury-fashion giant Prada warned Thursday that the European Union risks missing out on the full benefits of artificial intelligence because of the bloc’s tech regulations. In an open letter that was coordinated by Meta, executives from more than two dozen companies said AI can boost productivity and expand the economy, but Europe might reap fewer rewards than other jurisdictions.
“Europe has become less competitive and less innovative compared to other regions and it now risks falling further behind in the AI era due to inconsistent regulatory decision making,” the letter said. The letter calls on the EU to harmonize its rules and provide what the signatories refer to as a modern interpretation of the bloc’s data-protection law. Other signatories include representatives from Swedish telecommunications-equipment company Ericsson, German software company SAP and German industrial group Thyssenkrupp, along with researchers and civil-society and trade groups. The European Commission, the bloc’s executive body, said it is stepping up efforts to support AI innovation. It added that the EU’s incoming justice commissioner will be expected to make sure that the bloc’s data protection law responds to both law enforcement and commercial needs. The letter comes after Meta and Apple said new AI features they are rolling out elsewhere won’t initially be available in Europe because of the bloc’s regulations. Apple said in June that it likely wouldn’t introduce its new AI system, called Apple Intelligence, for European iPhone users this year because of what it said were uncertainties caused by a new digital-competition law. Requirements that large tech companies make it easier for rival services to work on their operating systems “could force us to compromise the integrity of our products in ways that risk user privacy and data security,” Apple said at the time.
