The European Union’s AI Act, a comprehensive plan for regulating artificial intelligence applications, has overcome its last significant obstacle as Member States’ representatives voted to confirm the final text. This crucial development follows a political agreement in December, resulting from intense negotiations. The Coreper vote, endorsing the draft rules, brings relief to Brussels, particularly as France’s opposition had posed a threat to the regulation. All 27 EU ambassadors unanimously backed the text, averting the risk of derailing the regulation.
The potential failure of the vote could have led to the entire regulation foundering, with limited time for renegotiations amid upcoming European elections and the current Commission’s mandate ending soon. With the unanimous support of Member States, the baton now passes to the European Parliament for the final vote on the compromise text. Given that the major opposition came from a few Member States, particularly those like Germany and Italy expressing concerns about obligations on foundational models, the upcoming votes are expected to confirm the regulation’s adoption.
Once adopted, the Act will come into force 20 days after publication in the EU’s Official Journal, with a tiered implementation period. There will be a six-month grace period before a list of banned uses of AI takes effect, likely around fall. The rules on foundational models, or general-purpose AIs, will not apply until 2025, allowing a year before their implementation. The majority of the rules will take effect two years after the law’s publication.
The Commission has already initiated the setup of an AI Office to oversee the compliance of powerful foundational models posing systemic risks. Additionally, measures have been announced to support homegrown AI developers, including the retooling of the bloc’s supercomputers to aid generative AI model training. The EU’s flagship AI Act is anticipated to become law in the coming months, signaling a significant step forward in regulating and shaping the future of artificial intelligence in Europe.
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