Google says it will sign EU’s AI code of practice

Google has confirmed it will sign the European Union’s general purpose AI code of practice, a voluntary framework that aims to help AI developers implement processes and systems to comply with the bloc’s AI Act.

Notably, Meta earlier this month said it would not sign the code, calling the EU’s implementation of its AI legislation “overreach” and stating that Europe was “heading down the wrong path on AI.”

Google’s commitment comes days before rules for providers of “general-purpose AI models with systemic risk” go into effect on August 2. Companies likely to be affected by these rules include major names such as Anthropic, Google, Meta, and OpenAI, as well as several other large generative models, and they will have two years to comply fully with the AI Act.

In a blog post on Wednesday, Kent Walker, president of global affairs at Google, conceded that the final version of the code of practice was better than what the EU proposed initially, but he still noted reservations around the AI Act and the code.

“We remain concerned that the AI Act and Code risk slowing Europe’s development and deployment of AI. In particular, departures from EU copyright law, steps that slow approvals, or requirements that expose trade secrets could chill European model development and deployment, harming Europe’s competitiveness,” wrote Walker.

By signing the EU’s code of practice, AI companies would agree to follow a slate of guidelines, which include providing updated documentation about their AI tools and services; no training AI on pirated content; and complying with requests from content owners to not use their works in their datasets.

A risk-based regulation for AI applications, the EU’s landmark AI Act bans some “unacceptable risk” use cases, such as cognitive behavioral manipulation or social scoring. The rules also define a set of “high-risk” uses, including biometrics and facial recognition, and the use of AI in domains like education and employment. The act also requires developers to register AI systems and meet risk- and quality-management obligations.