FACTBOX-Governments race to regulate AI tools

Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) such as Microsoft-backed OpenAI's ChatGPT are complicating governments' efforts to agree laws governing the use of the technology.

Here are the latest steps national and international governing bodies are taking to regulate AI tools: AUSTRALIA

* Seeking input on regulations The government is consulting Australia's main science advisory body and considering next steps, a spokesperson for the industry and science minister said in April.

BRITAIN * Planning regulations

The Financial Conduct Authority, one of several state regulators that has been tasked with drawing up new guidelines covering AI, is consulting with the Alan Turing Institute and other legal and academic institutions to improve its understanding of the technology, a spokesperson told Reuters. Britain's competition regulator said in May it would start examining the impact of AI on consumers, businesses and the economy and whether new controls were needed.

Britain said in March it planned to split responsibility for governing AI between its regulators for human rights, health and safety, and competition, rather than creating a new body. CHINA

* Implemented temporary regulations China issued a set of temporary measures on July 13 to manage the generative AI industry, requiring service providers to conduct security assessments and perform algorithm filing procedures. A day before, billionaire Elon Musk hailed the country's interest in a cooperative international AI framework.

China's cyberspace regulator had in April unveiled draft measures to manage generative AI services, saying it wanted firms to submit security assessments to authorities before they launch offerings to the public. EUROPEAN UNION

* Planning regulations EU lawmakers agreed in June to changes in a draft of the bloc's AI Act. The lawmakers will now have to thrash out details with EU countries before the draft rules become legislation.

The biggest issue is expected to be facial recognition and biometric surveillance where some lawmakers want a total ban while EU countries want an exception for national security, defence and military purposes. EU tech chief Margrethe Vestager said in May that the U.S. and EU should push the AI industry to adopt a voluntary code of conduct within months to provide safeguards while new laws are developed.

FRANCE * Investigating possible breaches

France's privacy watchdog CNIL said in April it was investigating several complaints about ChatGPT after the chatbox was temporarily banned in Italy over a suspected breach of privacy rules. France's National Assembly approved in March the use of AI video surveillance during the 2024 Paris Olympics, overlooking warnings from civil rights groups.

G7 * Seeking input on regulations

Group of Seven leaders meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, acknowledged in May the need for governance of AI and immersive technologies and agreed to have ministers discuss the technology as the "Hiroshima AI process" and report results by the end of 2023. G7 nations should adopt "risk-based" regulation on AI, G7 digital ministers said after a meeting in April.

IRELAND * Seeking input on regulations

Generative AI needs to be regulated, but governing bodies must work out how to do so properly before rushing into prohibitions that "really aren't going to stand up", Ireland's data protection chief said in April. ISRAEL

* Seeking input on regulations Israel has been working on AI regulations "for the last 18 months or so" to achieve the right balance between innovation and the preservation of human rights and civic safeguards, Ziv Katzir, director of national AI planning at the Israel Innovation Authority, said in June.

Israel published a 115-page draft AI policy in October and is collating public feedback ahead of a final decision. ITALY

* Investigating possible breaches Italy's data protection authority plans to review other artificial intelligence platforms and hire AI experts, a top official said in May.

ChatGPT became available again to users in Italy in April after being temporarily banned over concerns by the national data protection authority in March. JAPAN

* Investigating possible breaches Japan expects to introduce by the end of 2023 regulations that are likely closer to the U.S. attitude than the stringent ones planned in the EU, an official close to deliberations said in July, as it looks to the technology to boost economic growth and make it a leader in advanced chips.

The country's privacy watchdog said in June it has warned OpenAI not to collect sensitive data without people's permission and to minimise the sensitive data it collects. SPAIN

* Investigating possible breaches Spain's data protection agency said in April it was launching a preliminary investigation into potential data breaches by ChatGPT. It has also asked the EU's privacy watchdog to evaluate privacy concerns surrounding ChatGPT.

UNITED NATIONS * Planning regulations

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in June backed a proposal by some AI executives for the creation of an AI watchdog like the International Atomic Energy Agency, but noted that "only member states can create it, not the Secretariat of the United Nations". Guterres has also announced plans to start work by the end of the year on a high-level AI advisory body to regularly review AI governance arrangements and offer recommendations.

U.S. * Seeking input on regulations

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has opened an expansive investigation into OpenAI on claims that it has run afoul of consumer protection laws by putting personal reputations and data at risk, the Washington Post reported on July 13. Generative AI raises competition concerns and is a focus of the FTC's Bureau of Technology along with its Office of Technology, the agency said in a blog post in June.

Senator Michael Bennet wrote to leading tech firms in June to urge them to label AI-generated content and limit the spread of material aimed at misleading users. He had introduced a bill in April to create a task force to look at U.S. policies on AI. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, a non-regulatory agency that is part of the Commerce Department, will launch a public working group of expert volunteers on generative AI to help address its opportunities and develop guidance to confront its risks, it said in June.

President Joe Biden said in the same month he would seek expert advice on the risks of AI to national security and the economy. 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)