Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Spotify CEO Daniel Ek have spoken out against European regulation of open-source artificial intelligence, saying complex rules risk leaving the continent behind.
In a joint statement on Friday, the CEOs noted that Europe, which “has more open source developers than the United States,” is well-positioned to ride the wave of open AI.
“However, a fragmented regulatory structure with inconsistent enforcement stifles innovation and holds back developers.”
Instead of clear rules, the CEOs said the European tech industry faces “overlapping regulations and inconsistent guidelines for complying with them.”
A streamlined regulatory framework would accelerate the pace of open-source AI development and also support European developers and the broader creator ecosystem, the researchers said.
In June, Ireland's privacy regulator asked Meta not to launch any AI models in Europe for the time being after it was told by Facebook and Instagram users to postpone plans to use their data.
Under current regulations, Meta is not in a position to release upcoming AI models in Europe, such as Llama multimodal, which can understand images.
This means Europeans will be left with “AI made for others,” the CEOs said.
Spotify touts AI investments as key to its success: Spotify says that early investments in AI to create personalized experiences for users have been a big part of the streaming service's success.
Laws designed to boost European sovereignty and competitiveness have had the opposite effect, they said, adding that Europe should “use the benefits of a single yet diverse market to simplify and harmonise regulations”.
The CEOs concluded that Europe needed a different path, with clearer policies and more consistent implementation, or it would miss a “once in a generation opportunity”.
The European Commission did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
