CNS, March 14th - According to Reuters, on March 13th, local time, the European Parliament officially voted to pass and ratify the "Artificial Intelligence Act," aiming to strictly regulate the use of artificial intelligence.
It was reported that during the plenary session held in Strasbourg, France, a total of 523 members voted in favor of the act, 46 against, and 49 abstained. EU countries are set to formally approve the act in May, with the legislation expected to come into effect in early 2025 and be implemented in 2026, although some provisions will come into effect earlier.
The draft of the "Artificial Intelligence Act" was initially proposed by the European Commission in April 2021, reaching a preliminary agreement on issues such as the government's use of biometric surveillance and the regulation of foundational AI models like ChatGPT.
This act will regulate foundational or generative AI models, like those by OpenAI, which are trained on vast datasets to generate new content or perform tasks. Additionally, it will limit the government's use of real-time biometric surveillance in public spaces to deal with certain crimes, prevent terrorist attacks, and search for individuals suspected of serious crimes.
These rules will cover high-impact, general-purpose AI models and high-risk AI systems, which must adhere to specific transparency obligations and EU copyright laws.
Patrick Van Eecke, a partner at DLA Piper, commented, "The EU has the world's first AI law. Other countries and regions might use the AI Act as a blueprint, much like the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)."
However, Van Eecke also noted that the detailed regulations could be a downside for companies. Depending on the violation, companies could face fines of up to 7.5 million euros (approximately 59.03 million RMB) or 1.5% to 35 million euros or 7% of their global turnover.
