Tech firms pen letter to EU requesting more time to comply with AI Act

Tech companies release a joint letter requesting more time from the EU to comply with AI Act requirements, citing challenges due to the summer recess.

A group of organizations in the tech industry released a joint letter addressed to the European Commission requesting to extend compliance deadlines on general-purpose artificial intelligence (GPAI). 

On Aug. 9, the organizations — including DOT Europe, The Software Alliance, AmChamEU and the Computer & Communications Industry Association — asked for more time due to the summer recess.

Compliance concerns

The companies said the current time of year “poses significant challenges and limits the ability of [their] associations to provide meaningful contributions.” They proposed extending the consultation deadline for at least two more weeks to provide better results. 

Initially, the call for feedback initiated by the European Union Commission’s AI office launched on July 30 and is intended to run until Sept. 10. The consultation allows stakeholders in the industry to have their say on topics covered by the Code of Practice.

The companies said they are “mindful” of the short timeline the EU has set in place for implementing rules for GPAI models but believe “quality should prevail over speed.”

“Given that the proper implementation of the AI Act’s rules on GPAI will be crucial to the success of the EU AI ecosystem, including for the companies we represent, our aim is to provide high-quality responses and constructive contributions to this consultation…”

The results of the consultation will ultimately contribute to drafting the future Code of Practice for GPAI model providers.

Related: EU Council reaches agreement on supercomputer use for AI development

AI Act in action

The EU’s AI Act officially came into play on Aug. 1 with the goal of regulating the development and deployment of AI models within the region according to the risk they pose to society.

The first set of regulations to be expected are the “Prohibitions of Certain AI Systems,” which will start in February 2025.

These rules will prohibit AI applications from exploiting individual vulnerabilities and engage in non-targeted scraping of facial images from the internet or CCTV footage, along with the creation of facial recognition databases without consent.

Following this, general-purpose AI models will have a new set of requirements implemented in August 2025.

Regulations overseeing GPAI will come into effect in August 2025, one year after the legislation’s enforcement. GPAI systems are made to handle various tasks rather than being used for unique and specific purposes, such as image identification.

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