The European Union will seek to thrash out an agreement on sweeping rules to regulate artificial intelligence on Wednesday, following months of difficult negotiations in particular on how to monitor generative AI applications like ChatGPT.
ChatGPT wowed with its ability to produce poems and essays within seconds from simple user prompts.
AI proponents say the technology will benefit humanity, transforming everything from work to health care, but others worry about the risks it poses to society, fearing it could thrust the world into unprecedented chaos.
Brussels is bent on bringing big tech to heel with a powerful legal armory to protect EU citizens’ rights, especially those covering privacy and data protection.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, first proposed an AI law in 2021 that would regulate systems based on the level of risk they posed. For example, the greater the risk to citizens’ rights or health, the greater the systems’ obligations.
Negotiations on the final legal text began in June, but a fierce debate in recent weeks over how to regulate general-purpose AI like ChatGPT and Google’s Bard chatbot threatened talks at the last minute.
Negotiators from the European Parliament and EU member states began discussions on Wednesday and the talks were expected to last into the evening.
Some member states worry that too much regulation will stifle innovation and hurt the chances of producing European AI giants to challenge those in the United States, including ChatGPT’s creator OpenAI as well as tech titans like Google and Meta.
Although there is no real deadline, senior EU figures have repeatedly said the bloc must finalize the law before the end of 2023.
Chasing local champions
EU diplomats, industry sources and other EU officials have warned the talks could end without an agreement as stumbling blocks remain over key issues.
Others have suggested that even if there is a political agreement, several meetings will still be needed to hammer out the law’s technical details.
And should EU negotiators reach agreement, the law would not come into force until 2026 at the earliest.
The main sticking point is over how to regulate so-called foundation models—designed to perform a variety of tasks—with France, Germany and Italy calling to exclude them from the tougher parts of the law.
“France, Italy and Germany don’t want a regulation for these models,” said German MEP Axel Voss, who is a member of the special parliamentary committee on AI.
The parliament, however, believes it is “necessary… for transparency” to regulate such models, Voss said.
Late last month, the three biggest EU economies published a paper calling for an “innovation-friendly” approach for the law known as the AI Act.
Berlin, Paris and Rome do not want the law to include restrictive rules for foundation models, but instead say they should adhere to codes of conduct.
Many believe this change in view is motivated by their wish to avoid hindering the development of European champions—and perhaps to help companies such as France’s Mistral AI and Germany’s Aleph Alpha.
Another sticking point is remote biometric surveillance—basically, facial identification through camera data in public places.
The EU parliament wants a full ban on “real time” remote biometric identification systems, which member states oppose. The commission had initially proposed that there could be exemptions to find potential victims of crime including missing children.
There have been suggestions MEPs could concede on this point in exchange for concessions in other areas.
Brando Benifei, one of the MEPs leading negotiations for the parliament, said he saw a “willingness” by everyone to conclude talks.
But, he added, “we are not scared of walking away from a bad deal”.
France’s digital minister Jean-Noel Barrot said it was important to “have a good agreement” and suggested there should be no rush for an agreement at any cost.
“Many important points still need to be covered in a single night,” he added.
Concerns over AI’s impact and the need to supervise the technology are shared worldwide.
US President Joe Biden issued an executive order in October to regulate AI in a bid to mitigate the technology’s risks.

News
Studies detail high rates of long COVID among healthcare, dental workers
Researchers have estimated approximately 8% of Americas have ever experienced long COVID, or lasting symptoms, following an acute COVID-19 infection. Now two recent international studies suggest that the percentage is much higher among healthcare workers [...]
Melting Arctic Ice May Unleash Ancient Deadly Diseases, Scientists Warn
Melting Arctic ice increases human and animal interactions, raising the risk of infectious disease spread. Researchers urge early intervention and surveillance. Climate change is opening new pathways for the spread of infectious diseases such [...]
Scientists May Have Found a Secret Weapon To Stop Pancreatic Cancer Before It Starts
Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have found that blocking the FGFR2 and EGFR genes can stop early-stage pancreatic cancer from progressing, offering a promising path toward prevention. Pancreatic cancer is expected to become [...]
Breakthrough Drug Restores Vision: Researchers Successfully Reverse Retinal Damage
Blocking the PROX1 protein allowed KAIST researchers to regenerate damaged retinas and restore vision in mice. Vision is one of the most important human senses, yet more than 300 million people around the world are at [...]
Differentiating cancerous and healthy cells through motion analysis
Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have found that the motion of unlabeled cells can be used to tell whether they are cancerous or healthy. They observed malignant fibrosarcoma cells and [...]
This Tiny Cellular Gate Could Be the Key to Curing Cancer – And Regrowing Hair
After more than five decades of mystery, scientists have finally unveiled the detailed structure and function of a long-theorized molecular machine in our mitochondria — the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier. This microscopic gatekeeper controls how [...]
Unlocking Vision’s Secrets: Researchers Reveal 3D Structure of Key Eye Protein
Researchers have uncovered the 3D structure of RBP3, a key protein in vision, revealing how it transports retinoids and fatty acids and how its dysfunction may lead to retinal diseases. Proteins play a critical [...]
5 Key Facts About Nanoplastics and How They Affect the Human Body
Nanoplastics are typically defined as plastic particles smaller than 1000 nanometers. These particles are increasingly being detected in human tissues: they can bypass biological barriers, accumulate in organs, and may influence health in ways [...]
Measles Is Back: Doctors Warn of Dangerous Surge Across the U.S.
Parents are encouraged to contact their pediatrician if their child has been exposed to measles or is showing symptoms. Pediatric infectious disease experts are emphasizing the critical importance of measles vaccination, as the highly [...]
AI at the Speed of Light: How Silicon Photonics Are Reinventing Hardware
A cutting-edge AI acceleration platform powered by light rather than electricity could revolutionize how AI is trained and deployed. Using photonic integrated circuits made from advanced III-V semiconductors, researchers have developed a system that vastly [...]
A Grain of Brain, 523 Million Synapses, Most Complicated Neuroscience Experiment Ever Attempted
A team of over 150 scientists has achieved what once seemed impossible: a complete wiring and activity map of a tiny section of a mammalian brain. This feat, part of the MICrONS Project, rivals [...]
The Secret “Radar” Bacteria Use To Outsmart Their Enemies
A chemical radar allows bacteria to sense and eliminate predators. Investigating how microorganisms communicate deepens our understanding of the complex ecological interactions that shape our environment is an area of key focus for the [...]
Psychologists explore ethical issues associated with human-AI relationships
It's becoming increasingly commonplace for people to develop intimate, long-term relationships with artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. At their extreme, people have "married" their AI companions in non-legally binding ceremonies, and at least two people [...]
When You Lose Weight, Where Does It Actually Go?
Most health professionals lack a clear understanding of how body fat is lost, often subscribing to misconceptions like fat converting to energy or muscle. The truth is, fat is actually broken down into carbon [...]
How Everyday Plastics Quietly Turn Into DNA-Damaging Nanoparticles
The same unique structure that makes plastic so versatile also makes it susceptible to breaking down into harmful micro- and nanoscale particles. The world is saturated with trillions of microscopic and nanoscopic plastic particles, some smaller [...]
AI Outperforms Physicians in Real-World Urgent Care Decisions, Study Finds
The study, conducted at the virtual urgent care clinic Cedars-Sinai Connect in LA, compared recommendations given in about 500 visits of adult patients with relatively common symptoms – respiratory, urinary, eye, vaginal and dental. [...]