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The chief executive of French IT company Capgemini has called for the suspension of the EU’s rules on AI, and warned that the bloc should think about tech sovereignty “in an intelligent manner”, writes Adrienne Klasa.
Context: Europe has been lagging behind the US on innovation, prompting calls to promote its technological sovereignty. Reasons for its lag include a more fragmented market, a shallower pool of investment and a tendency towards over-regulation, according to many in the industry.
For Capgemini’s CEO Aiman Ezzat, the EU’s 2024 AI Act is a case in point.
“I think we should really suspend this AI Act, which is really not conceived the right way,” Ezzat told the Financial Times. “You don’t try to really regulate something you don’t understand.”
He argued that AI is evolving so quickly that the regulation no longer makes sense and can’t keep pace with innovations. “I don’t think we can afford any more regulation. I think the only way out for Europe is to deregulate,” he said.
Ezzat said the debate around Europe’s tech sovereignty needed to be more clearly defined. “Absolute tech sovereignty is not feasible in Europe. We don’t have [that] capability,” he said.
“Sovereignty should not become an impediment to technology adoption,” he added. “I think it’s dangerous because it can become the biggest impediment to the adoption of technology which then will hurt competitiveness further in Europe.”
Europe still has a strong industrial base, but one that needs to be leveraged more fully through data and innovation, Ezzat said, pointing out that slower adoption of new technologies has been identified as a drag on Europe’s competitiveness in former Italian premier Mario Draghi’s report on the topic.
“The sovereignty aspect definitely needs to be addressed but it needs to be done in an intelligent manner,” Ezzat said.
ef calls for EU’s flagship rules on AI to be suspended