Key Points
- Alignment with EU Regulation: Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms Inc., and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, have expressed their support for government oversight of artificial intelligence (AI) after discussions with European Commissioner Thierry Breton.
- Commitment to Compliance and Transparency: Both Zuckerberg and Altman have emphasized their commitment to compliance with European regulations.
Friday, June 23, Bloomberg reported that tech company executives Mark Zuckerberg and Sam Altman have expressed their support for government oversight of artificial intelligence (AI) following discussions with European Commissioner Thierry Breton. In a meeting held on Friday, Breton revealed that he and Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta Platforms Inc., were in agreement regarding the European Union’s (EU) regulation of AI, which is currently undergoing final negotiations. Both executives endorsed the EU’s risk-based approach and measures such as watermarking, as outlined by Breton.
Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, also voiced his agreement with the EU’s approach to AI, expressing appreciation for the European institution’s seriousness in addressing the issue and recognizing its significance for the rest of the world. Altman stated, “We look forward to working with you to be running well in advance and offering a European service in compliance with the European market.” OpenAI, known for developing the popular chatbot ChatGPT, has generated significant interest in the potential of generative AI, a technology that produces text or images based on user prompts.
Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, affirmed the company’s support for the goals of the AI Pact and emphasized the importance of transparency in tech companies’ AI efforts, encouraging collaboration with industry, governments, and civil society. Clegg mentioned the need for further examination of the details but acknowledged the significance of open dialogue.
The discussions between the executives and Commissioner Breton took place as part of his tour of technology companies. Following his visit to Meta, Breton commented on the company’s preparedness to comply with Europe’s strict content moderation rules and announced that Meta would undergo a stress test of its systems in the coming month. While Meta provided substantial information on its compliance with the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), the stress test aims to ensure comprehensive adherence to the regulations.
Zuckerberg agreed to the stress test scheduled for mid-July, evaluating Meta’s ability to handle content moderation rules effectively. Breton revealed that Meta has approximately 1,000 employees working on DSA implementation. Additionally, Meta’s CEO expressed interest in conducting a future test to assess how the company’s platforms would comply with the forthcoming competition rules specified in the EU’s Digital Markets Act. The Act requires companies to self-report as gatekeepers with respect to certain core platform services by July 3.
Breton also emphasized the need for Meta to allocate more resources to combat disinformation, particularly regarding Russian disinformation campaigns in Eastern European countries concerning the conflict in Ukraine. He also discussed a Wall Street Journal report on child predators targeting children through Meta’s Instagram photo-sharing site.
Clegg described the conversation as “constructive” in a tweet and extended an invitation for Breton’s team to visit Meta’s Dublin campus to observe their stress testing processes ahead of implementation.
During separate discussions, Breton explored artificial intelligence with Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia Corp., the leading chipmaker in the market supplying processors for AI. Following the meeting, Huang informed reporters that it was highly likely Nvidia would invest in Europe.
In his meeting with Twitter owner Elon Musk and new CEO Linda Yaccarino, Breton emphasized the need for the social media platform to allocate more resources to address sensitive content, in order to comply with the EU’s regulations by the August deadline.
Credits: Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash
