Meta Leads Open Letter Urging EU for Clear AI Regulations to Boost Innovation

Meta Leads Open Letter Urging EU for Clear AI Regulations to Boost Innovatio
Regulating AI in Europe and how it could damage AI development

Meta, along with a coalition of companies, researchers, and institutions central to Europe's technological landscape, has issued an open letter calling for consistent and harmonized artificial intelligence (AI) regulations within the European Union (EU). The signatories warn that fragmented regulatory approaches risk hindering the EU's competitiveness and innovation in the rapidly advancing AI era.

Call for Regulatory Certainty

The letter emphasizes that inconsistent regulatory decision-making has already made Europe less competitive compared to other regions. The coalition argues that without clear and uniformly applied rules, the EU stands to miss out on two cornerstone developments in AI innovation:

  1. Open Models: These are AI models made available without charge for everyone to use, modify, and build upon. Open models can multiply benefits and spread social and economic opportunities. They strengthen sovereignty and control by allowing organizations to download and fine-tune models locally, eliminating the need to send data elsewhere.

  2. Multimodal Models: The latest advancements in AI that operate fluidly across text, images, and speech. These models represent a significant leap forward—the difference between having only one sense and having all five. They have the potential to turbocharge productivity, drive scientific research, and add hundreds of billions of euros to the European economy.

Economic and Cultural Implications

Research cited in the letter estimates that generative AI could increase global GDP by 10% over the next decade. The coalition expresses concern that without embracing these technologies, Europe may be deprived of technological advances enjoyed by other regions such as the United States, China, and India.

They highlight that interventions by European Data Protection Authorities have created significant uncertainty about what kinds of data can be used to train AI models. This uncertainty could result in AI models and services that do not understand or reflect European knowledge, culture, or languages.

A Choice for Europe's Future

The signatories urge European policymakers and regulators to reassert the principle of harmonization enshrined in regulatory frameworks like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). They advocate for a modern interpretation of GDPR provisions that respects its underlying values while enabling AI innovation to occur at the same scale and speed as elsewhere.

Alternatively, they warn that continued fragmentation could lead to Europe falling further behind, missing out on the widespread benefits of responsibly built open AI technologies that accelerate economic growth and scientific progress.

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Conclusion

The letter concludes with a call for decisive action to unlock the creativity, ingenuity, and entrepreneurship necessary for Europe's prosperity, growth, and technical leadership. Harmonized, consistent, and clear decisions under EU data regulations are deemed essential to enable European data to be used in AI training for the benefit of all Europeans.

Copy of the Letter

Meta Leads Open Letter Urging EU for Clear AI Regulations to Boost Innovation

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