European companies call on EU to delay start of AI Act

The bosses of 46 major companies have written an open letter to the European Union and its executive, the European Commission, calling for a delay in the implementation of the Artificial Intelligence Act, which is set to come into force on Aug 2.

The chief executives, from companies including the pan-European aerospace giant Airbus, the French retailer Carrefour, the Netherlands healthcare group Philips, and French banking giant BNP Paribas, say European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen should delay the legislation for two years. They say that would give time for the bloc to repair what they say are unclear and overlapping regulations that threaten the bloc's competitiveness.

Other signatories include Lufthansa, Mistral, and Siemens.

The letter, which was overseen by the lobby group EU AI Champions Initiative, claims the AI Act puts "Europe's AI ambitions at risk, as it jeopardizes not only the development of European champions, but also the ability of all industries to deploy AI at the scale required by global competition".

It says a delay would send "innovators and investors around the world a strong signal that Europe is serious about its simplification and competitiveness agenda".

"We urge the commission to propose a two-year 'clock-stop' on the AI Act before key obligations enter into force," it added.

The United States government and US technology companies have also lobbied the bloc urging a delay in the implementation of the AI Act, which has been described as the world's strictest set of regulations governing the development of AI and that has been criticized for threatening to stifle creativity and competitiveness.

The open letter published on Thursday follows a meeting on Wednesday between representatives from the EU and US technology companies in which a simplified version of the legislation was discussed.

And it followed another letter sent to the EU this week from more than 30 European AI startup companies that called the legislation "a rushed ticking time bomb", the Financial Times reported.

The EU has said it is committed to the focus of the legislation, which includes the establishment of harmonized risk-based rules across the bloc, and the safety of AI systems in Europe. But it has said it is working on simplifying its rules. The Politico news website said the EU is open to the idea because it wants to cut red tape and grow the economy.

Henna Virkkunen, executive vice-president of the European Commission for technological sovereignty, security, and democracy, told the Politico news website she will decide whether to delay the legislation in the coming weeks.

The Euronews website added that the bloc is also working on a Code of Practice that would help companies such as ChatGPT and Gemini navigate its AI rules.