EU's AI Act Faces Crucial Negotiations Amid Rising Generative AI

Big Tech lobbies against perceived overregulation as France, Germany, and Italy advocate for self-regulation.

The European Union's AI Act, the world's first comprehensive AI regulations, is facing a crucial moment as negotiators attempt to finalize the details.
The process has been complicated by the rise of generative AI that produces human-like work, leading to a battle over how to govern systems that underpin general purpose AI services.
Big tech companies are lobbying against what they see as overregulation, while European lawmakers want added safeguards for the cutting-edge AI systems those companies are developing.
The EU's three largest economies, France, Germany and Italy, have pushed back with a position paper advocating for self-regulation, seen as a move to help homegrown generative AI players.
If the legislation is not agreed upon before the European Parliament elections next year, it could be put on hold until later in the year, after new EU leaders take office.