Earlier this month, the European Union’s AI Code of Practice was published, allowing member states to evaluate its contents. The Code of Practice has three chapters, focusing on Transparency, Copyright and Safety and Security; abiding by it is voluntary. At least one massive tech company making a big investment in AI doesn’t sound terribly interested in abiding by these guidelines, however: Meta.
In a post on LinkedIn, Meta’s Chief Global Affairs Officer, Joel Kaplan, explained the company’s decision. “We have carefully reviewed the European Commission’s Code of Practice for general-purpose AI (GPAI) models and Meta won’t be signing it,” he wrote. “This Code introduces a number of legal uncertainties for model developers, as well as measures which go far beyond the scope of the AI Act.”
Kaplan also went on to cite a number of corporate leaders who have urged a pause in implementing the code. He argued that the Code of Practice “will throttle the development and deployment of frontier AI models in Europe.”
In an analysis of Kaplan’s announcement for Engadget, Will Shanklin observed that this isn’t the first time Meta and EU regulators had clashed. Shanklin also noted one big area where the Code of Practice might be at odds with Meta: it prohibits using pirated media for training purposes. Meta’s use of pirated books (full disclosure: including several of mine) has been well documented at this point.
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How much access are you willing to grant?Meta’s concerns over the Code of Practice aren’t necessarily shared by its competitors. On Friday, Reuters reported that Microsoft’s president indicated that they were likely to sign on to the code. How other players in the AI sector end up reacting to the Code of Practice — and what the political ramifications of it might be — remain to be seen.
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