As the last phase of the legislative process unfolds, Developers Alliance reminds the EU co-legislators of several essential aspects:
- Limitations and straightforward bans should be proportionate to the risks and, with due consideration of the variety of applications and use cases (e.g., biometrics).
- It’s all about the use cases and not the technology. The AI Act should be technologically neutral and future-proof. The scope should be general enough to provide a framework for risk management and assignment of legal liability for all types of AI.
- In the case of general-purpose AI and across value chains, AI developers, deployers, and end-users should have access to all the necessary information and documentation for compliance with the AIA.
- The specifics and benefits of free and open source should be recognized. Open-source AI is vital to preserve broad access to technological progress, drive innovation, and avoid market concentration. Without open source, AI development will be dominated by those companies that can afford the risks.
- The high-risk approach as initially proposed by the European Commission should be maintained. The regulation should also allow AI developers and deployers the legal clarity and flexibility to certify their various applications in a seamless process within the New Legislative Framework (NLF) regime.
- The requirements should be feasible to comply with in practice. The AIA is complemented by other EU and national legislation, which apply depending on the use cases. Objectives such as the protection of democracy and the rule of law or environment are fulfilled through the complementary and cumulative application of EU legislation.
- We commend EU lawmakers’ strong support for regulatory sandboxes. However, they should acknowledge that testing in real-life situations in a controlled environment, will allow AI developers and deployers of AI to identify the risks and make the necessary adjustments, to improve their AI applications and make them safer. The EU should not be afraid of experimentation and bolstering innovation.
- Trade secrets should be properly protected. The AIA should not fuel a business-adverse environment for the most innovative companies.
