OpenAI CEO warns of exiting EU in the face of tighter regulations

• OpenAI to try and comply with the guidelines before suspending operations in Europe.
• CEO said the current draft of the EU AI Act would over-regulate.

According to a recent Reuters report, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has warned that the firm behind ChatGPT may leave the European Union (EU) if it is unable to comply with pending EU AI laws.

“There’s so much they could do, like changing the definition of general-purpose AI systems,” said Altman. “There’s a lot of things that could be done.”

The fundamental concern, according to Altman, is a requirement in the EU AI Act that would force corporations to disclose copyrighted content used in the development of generative AI tools.

Altman told the publication that the current draft of the EU AI Act would over-regulate, but it is also possible that the rules will be scaled back.

He stated during a panel discussion at University College London on Wednesday that OpenAI will try complying with the guidelines before deciding to suspend operations in Europe.

The CEO added,

“Either we’ll be able to solve those requirements or not. If we can comply, we will, and if we can’t, we’ll cease operating.”

The EU member states ratified a version of the AI Regulation Act in December 2022.

European countries battling the expansion of AI

The Future of Life Institute published a report analyzing the EU AI Act, defining general purpose AI as AI systems that can be used for a variety of purposes, both intended and unplanned by the developers.

Last month, a group of European Parliament legislators urged U.S. President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to host a global summit to create a set of guiding principles for the development, control, and deployment of AI.

Since its public launch in November, many countries have confronted the quick expansion of ChatGPT. While many have begun probing OpenAI’s practices, other countries such as Italy have outright banned the tool due to privacy concerns.

However, ChatGPT has tried to address these concerns by introducing several updates, even allowing users to delete their history.