G7 agree: they will promote the responsible use of Ki

G7 agree: they will promote the responsible use of Ki

Tokyo, May 3, 2023

The digital ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) countries have agreed to adopt “risk-based” regulations for AI.

The government officials stated that all regulations are based on democratic values and will maintain „an open and conducive environment“ for AI development in their respective countries.

During a two-day meeting in Japan, ministers agreed to promote responsible use of AI. This includes talks on AI risk assessment and an international agreement that would speed up the flow of data across borders.

They acknowledged that the “policy tools” to pursue a common goal of trustworthy AI might differ across the G7 countries.

The digital ministers oversee technology issues for each of the advanced nations of the G7: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to discuss AI rules with global leaders during the annual G7 summit in late May.

The Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Margrethe Vestager, welcomed the G7 agreement. It shows that the EU is not alone in its efforts to regulate AI. Previously, Vestager said she expects the EU to finalize an agreement on its AI law this year. This is the world’s first comprehensive legislation regulating AI.

The European Union pointed out that 19 major tech platforms, including Apple, Facebook and Twitter, must comply with stricter rules on algorithmic risk, content recommendations and more. The companies, described as „very large“ online search engines or platforms with more than 45 million monthly active users, have four months to comply with the EU’s entire new Digital Services Act (DSA), lawmakers said. Failure to do so could result in fines of up to 6% of annual sales or a temporary ban.

The EU has selected 19 online platforms that have exceeded the threshold of 45 million users. Most companies are based in the US, although Chinese-owned platforms TikTok and AliExpress are also mentioned.

Under the broader rules, platforms must inform their online users why they are receiving certain recommendations and give them the opportunity to opt out.

The terms and conditions in contracts require summaries in „plain language“ and all EU languages.

The DSA requires platforms to remove illegal content faster and share information about their content recommendation algorithms and efforts to combat harmful content and online misinformation.

The rules address several issues, including banning online platforms from targeting children with ads and banning platforms from relying on algorithms that use data to target users based on gender, race and religion.