Artificial Intelligence: is the EU taking the lead over the US thanks to an extraterritorial regulation?
Corinne THIERACHE
To address legal issues raised by the Gen-AI revolution (copyrights, data privacy, cybersecurity, responsibility…), two regulatory patterns emerge: Europe’s human-centric, ethics-driven approach and America’s innovation-focused and market-driven strategy. While the EU’s legislators are discussing the AI Act, a horizontal regulation implementing a risk-based approach and prioritising loyalty, transparency, and accountability, the US reached on July 21st a non-binding agreement between the White house and big tech companies.
Although, Europeans tend to favour a legislative approach over soft law instruments, they may face slow-paced legislative machinery. In this regard, representatives of the European Commission called for an agreement between AI companies and European regulators to start implementing core principles for the forthcoming regulations.
Still, the EU seems to have managed to coax the US into regulating thanks to the multiplication of regulations with extraterritorial reach, showing that the US find themselves in a position where they are now obliged to compromise. The next step for companies from now on resides in their capacity to maintain a high level of innovation with an ongoing compliance process worldwide.