Let data be used to train AI, EU urged

In an open letter, 49 technologists, academics and business executives – including Meta founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg – said Europe “has become less competitive and less innovative compared to other regions” for AI research and technology, and said Europe risks falling further behind due to “inconsistent regulatory decision making”.

The letter signatories said AI developers will go elsewhere in the world to develop and deploy innovative new gen-AI tools, which they said have the potential to boost economic growth and enhance scientific research, “if there is no change of course”, citing concerns over “fragmented and unpredictable” regulatory decision making and “huge uncertainty” caused by “interventions” by EU data protection authorities.

“What needs to be observed is the fact that the open letter is not meant to challenge the newly enacted EU AI Act,” said Nils Rauer, expert in the intersection between AI and the law at Pinsent Masons. “The focus of concern lies on the data. Every AI-based application needs adequate access to data. This begins with the training of the model and continues throughout the entire lifecycle of the product. AI without constant feedback is useless.”

“Creating a reliable regulatory framework for the development and deploying of AI is highly welcome across all business sectors,” added Cerys Wyn Davies, who also specialises in AI-related law at Pinsent Masons. “Businesses need legal certainty and security. Those are the preconditions for investing in the development of modern technologies.”

In their letter, the signatories said the effective operation of the EU single market and a “shared regulatory rulebook” can enable EU “to compete with the rest of the world on AI and reap the benefits of open source models”. However, they raised concerns about the absence of such building blocks for investment.

“If companies and institutions are going to invest tens of billions of euros to build generative AI for European citizens, they require clear rules, consistently applied, enabling the use of European data,” the signatories said. “But in recent times, regulatory decision making has become fragmented and unpredictable, while interventions by the European data protection authorities have created huge uncertainty about what kinds of data can be used to train AI models. This means the next generation of open source AI models, and products, services we build on them, won’t understand or reflect European knowledge, culture or languages.”

“Europe faces a choice that will impact the region for decades. It can choose to reassert the principle of harmonisation enshrined in regulatory frameworks like the GDPR so that AI innovation happens here at the same scale and speed as elsewhere. Or, it can continue to reject progress, betray the ambitions of the single market and watch as the rest of the world builds on technologies that Europeans will not have access to. We hope European policymakers and regulators see what is at stake if there is no change of course,” they said.

Rauer said Europe has often been criticised for being over-engineered when it comes to regulation, adding that bureaucracy “can easily strangle innovation and technical progress.”

Rauer said: “What is needed is the right level of harmonisation and the creation of an environment that encourages creatives to run their research and testing within Europe rather than outside. The EU Data Act is a step into the direction of making available the required information for the purpose of R&D. However, this piece of legislation again comes with a wide spectrum of obligations.”

The signatories said Europe “can’t afford to miss out on the widespread benefits from responsibly built open AI technologies that will accelerate economic growth and unlock progress in scientific research”. However, they said that “harmonised, consistent, quick and clear decisions under EU data regulations that enable European data to be used in AI training for the benefit of Europeans” is necessary if that potential is to be realised.

“Decisive action is needed to help unlock the creativity, ingenuity and entrepreneurialism that will ensure Europe’s prosperity, growth and technical leadership,” they said.

Wyn Davies said the signatories’ call for wider access to data and a more liberal regulation for open AI is understandable.

“The balance needs to be right,” she said. “Obviously, proprietary data as well as know-how and intellectual property deserve adequate protection. However, the open letter does not call into question these principles. It is more that benefits for the wider society only come about if we provide the basis for those benefits to be developed. In the case of AI, this inevitably involves adequate access to data and information.”