The European Union has scrapped proposals that would have empowered consumers to claim compensation for harm caused by artificial intelligence, following calls from lawmakers and entrepreneurs to pare back regulation.
The AI Liability Directive (AILD) was first proposed in 2022, as existing corporate responsibility rules were deemed unfit to protect consumers from the potential risks of AI. The new regime was supposed to make it easier for EU citizens to take companies using the technology irresponsibly to court.
But in a surprise twist, the European Commission confirmed this week it was taking the proposals off the table. A Commission memo issued on Tuesday — seen by Sifted — reads: “No foreseeable agreement. The Commission will assess whether another proposal should be tabled or another type of approach should be chosen.”
The decision was made public just as French president Emmanuel Macron brought the AI Action Summit in Paris to a close, where many attendees — including US vice president JD Vance — argued the EU needed to cut red tape in order to foster innovation. But some were unimpressed by the Commission’s decision.
Axel Voss, a German MEP (Member of European Parliament) who worked closely on the EU’s sweeping AI Act, wrote on Linkedin that scrapping the directive would make life more difficult for homegrown startups, leaving individual countries to decide what counts as AI-induced harm.
“The Commission is actively choosing legal uncertainty, corporate power imbalances, and a Wild West approach to AI liability that benefits only Big Tech,” he wrote.
“The reality now is that AI liability will be dictated by a fragmented patchwork of 27 different national legal systems, suffocating European AI startups and SMEs. The question is, are we taking the single market seriously or not?”
By contrast, the CCIA (Computer and Communications Industry Association) Europe cheered the decision. “The withdrawal of the proposed AILD is a positive and welcome development, reflecting the serious concerns raised by industry, multiple Member States, and Members of the European Parliament,” the body said in a press release issued on Wednesday.
Sifted approached the European Commission for comment.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/eu-ai-act-rules-liability-directive-tech-laws/
