BRUSSELS – November 18, 2022 –The Council of the EU today reached a political agreement on its general approach to the EU AI Act, paving the way toward trilogue negotiations. Matteo Quattrocchi, Director of Policy at BSA | The Software Alliance, offered the following statement.

“The enterprise software industry’s biggest priority on the AI Act is to ensure the development of effective rules that allow the growing ecosystem of responsible AI developers and deployers in Europe to thrive. To strengthen and sharpen this landmark legislation, BSA encourages EU lawmakers to clarify the definition of high-risk AI to avoid any legal uncertainty,” said Quattrocchi.

“More problematic, however, is the inclusion of general purpose AI in the Act’s scope,” Quattrocchi added. “The defining feature of the AI Act is that it is rightly and appropriately built around the concept of risk. BSA is concerned that applying high-risk obligations to AI systems that can be used for many different low-risk purposes will adversely affect AI development, deployment, and innovation in Europe.”

“BSA and nine other industry associations across the EU recently published a position paper explaining why maintaining a risk-based approach to artificial intelligence is needed to support Europe’s digital transition. BSA and our members look forward to continuing to work with European policymakers and other stakeholders to support a balanced approach to general purpose AI in the EU AI Act,” Quattrocchi said.