EU lawmakers ratify political deal on artificial intelligence rules

Two key groups of lawmakers at the European Parliament on Tuesday ratified a provisional agreement on landmark artificial intelligence rules ahead of a vote by the legislative assembly in April that will pave the way for the world's first legislation on the technology.

Called the AI Act, the new rules aim to set the guardrails for a technology used in a broad swathe of industries, ranging from banking to cars to electronic products and airlines, as well as for security and police purposes.

The rules will also regulate foundation models or generative AI like the one built by Microsoft-backed OpenAI, which are AI systems trained on large sets of data, with the ability to learn from new data to perform various tasks.

" AI Act takes a step forward: MEPs in @EP_Justice & @EP_SingleMarket have endorsed the provisional agreement on an Artificial Intelligence Act that ensures safety and complies with fundamental rights," one of the two European Parliament committees said on X.

EU countries gave their backing earlier this month after France secured concessions to lighten the administrative burden on high risk AI systems and offer better protection for business secrets.

Big Tech however remained guarded, worried about the vague and general wording of some of the requirements and the impact of the law on innovation.