Europe is About to Lose the Global AI Race – Thanks to GDPR

As Nick Wallace writes for Euractiv, the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) imposes such tight restrictions on the use of personal data that Europe will be unable to keep up with other parts of the world as they use AI to streamline their economies. The United States, China, and other countries are pursuing strategies to become global leaders in AI. The EU cannot expect to compete with a regulatory framework that is out of date before it even comes into force, nor can the EU hope to shape AI ethics if it leaves others to lead the technology’s development. If the EU persists in subjecting AI to such stringent regulation so early on, it will find itself out of the AI race that has barely started. The sooner the EU can countenance reforming the GDPR, the better - and in the meantime, EU policymakers should not introduce any more unnecessary restrictions on this important technology.