Report from EU Today
In Brief – The European Council and leading EU Parliament lawmakers have reached a provision deal on a so-called Digital Omnibus package that delays implementation of some regulatory deadlines in the landmark EU AI Act. The timeline of rules for high-risk AI systems, such as those involving biometrics, critical infrastructure, education, employment, law enforcement, and border management will be delayed from August 2, 2026 to December 2, 2027. The negotiators also agreed to exempt industrial machinery from direct AI Act regulation, which was a top priority of the German Government, who argue that the industrial systems are already subject to the EU’s Machinery Regulation that was updated in 2023. Other sectors, such as medical devices and digital equipment, expressed disappointment that additional regulated industries were not similarly excluded. Consumer groups and privacy advocates largely criticized the changes as creating new loopholes, although they did win an agreement to restore a “strictly necessary” standard for the use of personal data to detect and correct biases in AI systems, tightening a change in the original Omnibus proposal that they had harshly criticized. The agreement also includes the expected new prohibition on AI applications used to create unauthorized sexually explicit deepfakes in response to the highly publicized release of a Grok image-creating tool that could create sexualized images. The agreement must be approved by the European Parliament and EU member states.
Context – The Trump Administration’s commitment to AI investment and innovation to compete with China has pushed policy in the direction of deregulation in all major markets, including Europe. Ironically, while Colorado, the first US state with an AI Act-style law, is trimming its landmark regulation, a growing number of other states are discussing regulating various uses of AI. The latest Trump Administration AI legislative framework proposes a national AI policy and generally preempting state laws, but meaningful political and policy divisions stand in the way of major legislative action.