EU regulators pass the planet’s first sweeping AI regulations

The European Parliament has approved sweeping legislation to regulate artificial intelligence, nearly three years after the draft rules were first proposed. Officials reached an agreement on AI development in December. On Wednesday, members of the parliament approved the AI Act with 523 votes in favor and 46 against, There were 49 abstentions.

The EU says the regulations seek to “protect fundamental rights, democracy, the rule of law and environmental sustainability from high-risk AI, while boosting innovation and establishing Europe as a leader in the field.” The act defines obligations for AI applications based on potential risks and impact.

The legislation has not become law yet. It’s still subject to lawyer-linguist checks, while the European Council needs to formally enforce it. But the AI Act is likely to come into force before the end of the legislature, ahead of the next parliamentary election in early June.

Most of the provisions will take effect 24 months after the AI Act becomes law, but bans on prohibited applications will apply after six months. The EU is banning practices that it believes will threaten citizens’ rights. “Biometric categorization systems based on sensitive characteristics” will be outlawed, as will the “untargeted scraping” …read more