After marathon ‘final’ talks which stretched to almost three days European Union lawmakers have tonight clinched a political deal on a risk-based framework for regulating artificial intelligence. The file was originally proposed back in April 2021 but it’s taken months of tricky three-way negotiations to get a deal over the line. The development means a pan-EU AI law is definitively on the way. Giving a triumphant but exhausted press conference in the small hours of Friday night/Saturday morning local time key representatives for the European Parliament, Council and the Commission — the bloc’s co-legislators — hailed the agreement as hard fought, a milestone achievement and historic, respectively. Taking to X to tweet the news, the EU’s president, Ursula von der Leyen — who made delivering a regulation to promote “trustworthy” AI a key priority of her term when she took up the post in late 2019 — also lauded the political agreement as a “global first”. The 🇪🇺 AI Act is a global first. A unique legal framework for the development of AI you can trust. And for the safety and fundamental rights of people and businesses. A commitment we took in our political guidelines – and we delivered. I welcome today’s political agreement. — Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) December 8, 2023 Prohibitions Full details of what’s been agreed won’t be entirely confirmed until a final text is compiled and made public, which may take some weeks. But a press release put out by the European Parliament confirms the… Click below to read the full story from TechCrunch
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