Disagreements with Irish Data Protection Commission force Meta to postpone the launch of Meta AI in EU

The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has recently asked Meta to postpone training its AI on user data from the European Union. According to Yaroslav Bogdanov, founder of GDA Group, this is yet another disagreement between the business and the regulator, which deprives an entire continent of progressive achievements.

Meta has been forced to suspend development until European regulators allow it to train its large language models (LLMs) on local user data. Meta had already been fined €1.2 billion in May 2023 for sending European user data to the US.

This time, the company issued a statement notifying that until Meta is allowed to use Europeans’ information to train its LLMs, it will not launch Meta AI in Europe.

As Yaroslav Bogdanov pointed out, the EU, which has refused Meta to develop AI on its users’ data, is demonstrating a selective approach. Europe does not refuse to actively implement the latest technologies in relation to citizens of other non-EU countries. For example, tourists from the UK have been warned that a “lie detector” test using AI technologies may be waiting for them at the entrance to the EU.

At the same time, NATO, which established its Innovation Fund (NIF) two years ago, has confirmed that it has invested in four European technology companies that the alliance’s leadership says will help it address defense challenges. These include Fractile AI, a London-based computer chip maker working to accelerate computational processes in LLM training. At the same time, the European Union has been reluctant to let LLM from Meta in.

“Absolute majority of NATO countries are members of the European Union – 23 out of 32 countries. Thus, on the one hand, the EU invests in AI development. On the other hand, only selected market players are allowed to engage in LLM development and training. This once again proves how the lack of a global regulator in the field of development and implementation of artificial intelligence affects both progress and access to advanced technologies for users of the whole continent, as exemplified by the territories of EU member states,” said Yaroslav Bogdanov to LAFFAZ

The founder of GDA Group is sure that without a global regulator, the number of such incidents will increase. This is not just about allowing “obnoxious” and “undesirable” players to enter the market. However, this causes serious damage to business with the capitalization of the AI market, which is already in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

“Humanity may stall in its development if such artificial barriers are put in the way of innovations. The legal regulation of the AI market includes various aspects such as data protection, liability for the use of AI, and ethical and legal norms. Every country today is developing its own rules and laws to regulate the development and utilization of the latest technology. At the international level, solving disputes in the legal field is now impossible. This is a serious issue that should be raised on all major world platforms,” Yaroslav Bogdanov concluded

Meta faced pushback from the regulator last month after complaints and a call by advocacy group NOYB to data protection authorities in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Spain to act against the company.

Meta, however, confirmed that the company will not launch its AI product in the EU market for now.

The company said that the pause will allow it to address requests from Britain’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as well. The ICO said that it will continue to monitor major developers of generative AI, including Meta to ensure that the information rights of UK users are protected.

At the same time, Max Schrems, chairman of NOYB addressed Meta’s move by saying,

“So far there is no official change of the Meta privacy policy, which would make this commitment legally binding. The cases we filed are ongoing and will need a determination,” said Schrems in a statement

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