An open letter signed by more than 160 executives from companies ranging from Renault to Meta states that the proposed artificial intelligence legislation in the European Union will threaten competitiveness and harm Europe's technological sovereignty. EU lawmakers approved a draft set of rules this month that require systems like ChatGPT to disclose AI-generated content and help distinguish between real images and so-called deepfakes, along with ensuring protections against illegal content.
Since the popularity of the ChatGPT application surged, several open letters have been issued calling for regulatory frameworks for artificial intelligence and warning of the "risk of extinction due to AI." Among the signatories of previous letters are Elon Musk and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, along with Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio, who are considered "the godfathers of AI." Jan Luckan, who works at Meta, signed the letter this Friday opposing the EU's regulatory measures. Other signatories include executives from a variety of institutions, such as the Spanish telecommunications company Cellnex, the French software company Mirakl, and the German investment bank Berenberg.
The letter warned that under the rules proposed by the EU, technologies like generative AI would be subject to regulatory oversight, and companies developing these systems would face high compliance costs and disproportionate legal risks. The letter added that these regulations might drive innovative companies to relocate their activities outside of Europe and investors to withdraw funding from European AI development overall. However, Altman, who threatened in May to withdraw ChatGPT from Europe if compliance with the forthcoming AI laws became difficult, later reversed his stance, stating that the company does not intend to exit Europe.
