The EU AI Act is gradually being implemented, but it has faced strong opposition from the EU industry. On July 3, local time, several companies and institutions, including Dutch semiconductor company ASML and European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, jointly issued an open letter urging the European Union to pause the implementation of the EU’s AI Act.
The letter states that the EU’s AI regulations are overly complex, which not only threatens the development of leading European companies but also hampers various industries’ ability to deploy AI at the scale required for global competition.
The signatories propose that the AI Act be suspended for two years to allow businesses a reasonable amount of time to implement the new regulations before the key obligations of the AI Act come into effect, and to simplify certain provisions further.
The majority of the EU AI Act’s provisions are set to take effect on August 2, 2024. The European Commission has stated that it will be the world’s first comprehensive AI law. However, some parts of the Act will be phased in, such as the business codes for General AI Large Models (GPAI), which will take effect in August 2025, although the EU has yet to release the specific codes. Additionally, obligations for “high-risk AI systems” will not come into effect until August 2026.
The open letter emphasizes that Europe has strong industrial foundations, a wealth of talent, world-class research capabilities, a culture of open collaboration, and robust regulatory safeguards. It also has ambitions to develop AI, but these ambitions must be translated into action. The letter suggests that the EU should simplify policy regulations, encourage innovation, and states that detailed proposals have already been made, with a willingness to collaborate closely with the European Commission.
A similar situation unfolded across the Atlantic in the United States. In February 2024, California’s state legislature introduced the “Safe and Reliable Innovation Act for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models,” the first state law in the U.S. to strictly regulate AI large models. Since the introduction of the bill, U.S. tech companies, scholars, and politicians have publicly criticized it. Notable figures like Fei-Fei Li, Elon Musk, OpenAI, and Anthropic all expressed opposition or dissatisfaction. The bill was ultimately vetoed by the California governor in September 2024, and did not come into effect.
After Donald Trump resumed the presidency, the U.S. government relaxed its stance on AI regulation, and businesses called for more encouragement of AI innovation. On May 8, at a U.S. Congressional hearing, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called for increased AI infrastructure in the U.S., while advocating for moderate regulation to foster innovation. Alongside him, AMD CEO Lisa Su and Microsoft President Brad Smith suggested loosening AI export controls. Subsequently, the Trump administration rescinded the AI chip quota system established during the Biden administration, and companies like Nvidia, AMD, and Qualcomm secured significant orders during Trump’s visit to the Middle East.
In June, Trump formally repealed the executive order on AI regulation issued under Biden, which had been the most comprehensive AI regulation in U.S. history. Trump even included provisions in his “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” to prohibit state and local governments from regulating AI for the next ten years. However, these provisions were removed by the U.S. Senate in July.