According to sources quoted by the media, EU lawmakers have difficulty reaching consensus on specific rules for formulating the Artificial Intelligence (AI) bill.
In June of this year, the European Parliament passed the draft authorization of the AI Act. The bill is currently in the tripartite negotiation stage among member states, parliament, and the European Commission, with the aim of determining the final version of the bill. If officially approved, this draft will become the world's first regulation on AI.
So far, the EU has conducted three tripartite negotiations on the AI Act. Sources said that the fourth meeting is scheduled to be held this Tuesday, and the day before, EU lawmakers will discuss their negotiating positions around the basic model and high-risk AI system.
Spain, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union in the second half of this year, is working hard to reach an agreement and has proposed a compromise plan to accelerate this process.
According to the draft seen by the media, it includes a hierarchical management method for regulating the basic model, which is defined as a model with over 45 million users. ChatGPT, a chat robot, is defined as a very capable foundation model (VCFM), which has additional obligations, including regular reviews to identify potential vulnerabilities.
However, opponents believe that smaller AI platforms may pose the same level of danger.
Spain stated that prior to the fourth tripartite talks, it had consulted with other EU countries on possible compromise plans. However, sources said that a final agreement is unlikely to be reached at this meeting.
This means that the EU may not reach an agreement until December at the earliest, and the fifth tripartite talks are scheduled to be held in early December of this year. If no agreement can be reached by then, the negotiations may be postponed until early next year, and the European Parliament elections in June next year may further disrupt the relevant negotiations.
EU Industrial Policy Director Thierry Brayton and one of the negotiation leaders of the AI Act, Drago Tudorache, expressed the hope that the bill will be approved by the end of this year.