EU moves to ease AI, privacy rules amid pressure from Big Tech, Trump

In an effort to spur innovation, the European Union has begun to relax its expansive regulations governing artificial intelligence and data privacy.

The European Commission’s unveiling of what it refers to as the “Digital Omnibus” on Wednesday marked the start of a battle between tech companies worried about red tape and privacy advocates worried about digital rights being eroded.

The bloc would allow tech companies to use anonymized personal data to train AI models and postpone the introduction of stricter risk-management and oversight regulations for “high-risk” AI until 2027 as part of the reform package.

The changes, which amend the AI Act and a number of other privacy and technology-related laws, would also lower website pop-ups that ask for cookies’ permission and lessen the requirements for small and medium-sized businesses to submit documentation.

The changes, according to EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen, require the 27 EU member state representatives’ approval to bolster European competitiveness due to simpler rules governing AI, cybersecurity, and data protection.

We have “a large internal single market, strong infrastructure, and talent.” However, “our businesses, especially our start-ups and small businesses,” Virkkunen said, are frequently stifled by bureaucratic regulations.

The move was welcomed by lobbying organizations for tech giants in the United States, who have voiced their disapproval of Europe’s regulatory framework.

The Computer & Communications Industry Association, which includes Google, Apple, and Meta, reported that the Omnibus misses important opportunities to raise the outdated compute threshold for identifying AI models that pose a “systemic risk” and fails to address problematic language regarding the extraterritoriality of copyright provisions, which conflict with EU and international standards.

Meanwhile, advocates for privacy rights criticized the reforms as a capitulation of Big Tech.

The founder of Vienna-based rights organization NOYB – European Center for Digital Rights, Max Schrems, described this as “the biggest attack on Europe’s digital rights in years.”

It is obvious that the commission is incorrect when it claims that it “maintains the highest standards.” It makes the suggestion to “unify” these standards.

The proposals, according to Gianclaudio Malgieri, an associate professor of law and technology at Leiden University in the Netherlands, marked a shift away from a rights-based approach to tech regulation that had made Europe unique from the US.