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The European Commission said on Wednesday (25 September) that 115 organisation signed its artificial intelligence (AI) Pact, voluntary commitments that pave the way for compliance with the AI Act, but according to Euractiv’s reporting, its significance has waned.
Though it has been one year in the making, in the past month interest in signing the AI Pact has increased, after the commitments were loosened. However, its future is uncertain following Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton’s resignation.
Roughly 1,000 companies have expressed interest in joining the AI Pact, including both Pillar I, a peer-to-peer network for exchanging best practices, and Pillar II, a series of pledges. That is an increase from the 700 who signed in early August.
The AI office and the Commission’s Executive Vice President for a Europe fit for the Digital Age Margrethe Vestager are “following directly” the digital initiatives previously overseen by Breton, including the AI Pact, a Commission spokesperson said at a Wednesday press briefing.
Earlier this year, the Pact was purported as a means to comply with the AI Act’s provisions earlier than is mandatory, but in its latest version, it is more about exchanging information and figuring out how to comply, said a spokesperson from Digital Europe, a trade organisation for digital companies.
Breton’s absence
The Pact was a “pet project” for Breton, so following his departure, its importance has waned in the eyes of companies, said one person involved in the negotiations. Three other sources involved confirmed that the Pact was politically important for the former Commissioner.
The Frenchman’s sudden resignation affected the process, postponing a planned meeting between the former Commissioner and high-profile CEOs, according to two people involved in the process.
A signing ceremony is taking place on Wednesday, multiple sources told Euractiv. It was touted by the Commission as an opportunity for stakeholders to meet Breton. It was expected he would maintain responsibility for AI in the next Commission, said a person involved in the process.
Some doubts were raised as to whether the Pact would be prioritised by the new Commission. One source told Euractiv: “We more or less expect that the AI Pact will gradually fade away over the next few months.”
It had been deprioritised before Breton’s resignation, given the sheer amount of work the Commission’s AI Office has to do, another source said.
Change in tune
Microsoft, Google, Amazon and OpenAI are among the 115 signatories, but major names like Meta, Anthropic and Mistral do not appear in the initial list, according to a Commission press release on Wednesday. Industry heavyweights like Airbus, Deutsche Telekom, and Porsche also signed.
“We welcome harmonised EU rules and are focusing on our compliance work under the AI Act at this time, but we do not rule out our joining the AI Pact at a later stage,” a spokesperson for Meta told Euractiv on Tuesday (24 September).
Companies have been reluctant to sign as they were concerned that the pact could become “too much of a prescriptive exercise,” which could also take energy away from ongoing compliance work with the AI Act, said one person familiar with the process.
The firms were also wondering whether signing the AI Pact might have consequences for their compliance, that person added.
There is a multitude of pacts, codes, and guidelines on AI, that have been agreed upon internationally, so when it comes to Europe, the current focus is on compliance with the AI Act, said another source from a Big Tech firm.
The timeline
Some of the industry feedback was taken on board in the latest draft of the Pact, which was circulated earlier this month. In this draft, signatories are committing themselves “to the extent feasible” to the various aims.
An earlier draft was circulated in July, and the Commission has been engaging with the private sector for the past year.
Firms could express their intention to sign by 11 September, although the Pact is still open to signatories.
The Pact includes three core commitments and a longer list of voluntary commitments. About half of the signatories have only signed on to the core commitments, said a Commission official who declined to be identified discussing information that isn’t public yet.
After 12 months the signatories have to report on the outcome of the implementation of their commitments, although it is unclear exactly what this reporting will involve, one person said.
[Edited by Rajnish Singh]
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