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Introduction

Following the political agreement reached on the terms of the EU’s AI Act in December, the EU seems set to lead the way in adopting a novel regulatory framework to regulate the use and development of artificial intelligence (AI). Whilst the spotlight has largely focused on the AI Act, the EU’s AI regulatory framework will extend beyond just that piece of legislation. 

Back in September 2022, the EU Commission published a proposed package of additional regulatory measures to support the rollout of AI within Europe. This package comprised of:

  1. the proposed AI Liability Directive (AILD)
… Continue Reading Beyond the AI Act: The AI Liability Directive & the Product Liability Directive

On 27 November, the final text of the EU’s Data Act (the Act) was formally approved by the European Parliament and the European Council. 

It will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the EU’s official journal, which is expected in the coming days. However, the majority of its provisions will only apply 20 months after it enters into force.

Scope of the Act

The Act, which takes the form of a directly applicable EU regulation, has three central focuses:

  1. remove obstacles to the process of switching between providers of “data processing services”  and the
… Continue Reading Final text of the EU’s Data Act approved

At the start of November, the UK government hosted an AI Safety Summit, intended to provide a forum for in-depth discussions on the challenges and opportunities of AI technology. It attracted a wide array of senior stakeholders from across policy, business, academia and government and appears to show a UK desire to lead in this area.

The opening day of the Summit saw the unveiling of the Bletchley Declaration (the Declaration) – a non-binding commitment agreed by the 27 countries whose delegates attended the Summit including USA, China, India and the EU.

Although a voluntary declaration, lacking any real “legislative…

Continue Reading The Bletchley Declaration: further evidence of the global legislative focus on Artificial Intelligence

This is Part 1 in our series focused on tracking the development of the EU’s AI Act. The series will provide updates and commentary as the AI Act moves through the EU’s legislative process.

To set the scene, the EU Commission first adopted its Proposal for a Regulation laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (the Proposed Act) back in April 2021. In ways a ground breaking piece of draft legislation, it was one of the first attempts to implement a regulatory framework which was specific to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. This article aims…

Continue Reading Tracking the AI Act: Part 1 – How the EU is thinking about regulating the AI sector

The Irish Government published its Autumn Legislative Programme on 26 September and the eagerly awaited Digital Services Bill (the DSB) is included as one of the 27 bills to be prioritised for publication this session. This is somewhat unsurprising given that the DSB was previously listed in the Government’s Summer Legislative Programme as a bill to prioritise. However, there is one interesting contrast between the descriptions of the DSB provided in the Government’s Summer and Autumn Programmes.

The Autumn Programme describes the purpose of the DSB as:

“To implement Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 on a Single Market for Digital Services

… Continue Reading Government’s Legislative Programme indicates there may be a role for CCPC in regulating aspects of the DSA

Following the consultation, the Coimisiún na Meán (CnaM) has today, 14 August 2023, published notice of the designation of video-sharing platform services (VSPSs) as a category of relevant online services the providers of which are under the jurisdiction of Ireland. This designation becomes effective on 11 September 2023.Continue Reading Coimisiún na Meán publishes notice of the designation of video-sharing platform services under the OSMR

On 6 June 2023, the European Commission (the Commission) launched a consultation on the template for the compliance report that designated “gatekeepers” will be required to submit annually under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Compliance Report for Gatekeepers

A “core platform service” for the purposes of the DMA (for example, online search engines, web browsers and social networks) will qualify as a gatekeeper if it has:

  • at least 45 million monthly end
    • … Continue Reading DMA: Consultation on the form of compliance report for gatekeepers now open

    The Commission has published a draft delegated act on audits to be performed very large online platforms (“VLOPs“) and very large online search engines (“VLOSEs“) pursuant to Article 37 of Digital Services Act Regulation (“DSA“) for public feedback.Continue Reading Commission publishes Draft Delegated Act in respect of Audits conducted under DSA

    Following the first designation of Very Large Online Platforms (“VLOPS“) and Very Large Online Search Engines (“VLOSEs”) under the Digital Services Act Regulation (“DSA“) on 25 April 2023, the European Commission has now announced a call for evidence from stakeholders to inform proposed delegated acts on data access mechanisms.Continue Reading Commission Calls for Stakeholder Views on Data Access Mechanism under DSA

    Yesterday, 01 February 2023, the Commission published guidance on how online platforms and search engines within the scope of the Digital Services Act (DSA) should comply with their obligation to report user numbers in the EU.

    As highlighted in our recent update, the DSA requires providers of online platforms and of online search engines to publish, by 17 February 2023, information on the average monthly active recipients of their services in the EU, on their publicly available online interfaces. The number must be calculated as an average over the period of the past six months.

    Online platforms/search engines, whose numbers reach the threshold of 45 million average monthly active recipients in the EU, will be designated by the Commission as very large online service providers (VLOPs) or very large online search engines (VLOSEs). However, the Commission is not bound by information provided by online service providers, – it may use other available data or request additional information.

    While the guidance is not ground breaking, it provides a helpful interpretation of certain provision of the DSA.

    In relation to the calculation of active recipients of the service, the guidance stipulates the following:Continue Reading DSA: Commission issues guidance on the requirement to publish user numbers in the EU