EU questions dozens of companies using new AI powers

On Tuesday, the European Commission announced it had initiated new regulatory procedures under the AI Act by sending information requests to more than 30 companies within the AI sector. This follows a series of incidents this summer that underscored the potential dangers posed by advanced AI models. The EU's AI Act, the most comprehensive set of rules globally to govern the technology, entered into force in 2024, with compliance obligations unfolding over several years.

The Commission's vice president for tech sovereignty and security, Henna Virkkunen, emphasized the goal of ensuring AI's safe and transparent development, release, and use in Europe, promising to take all necessary steps to enforce compliance with the AI Act. The Commission has not disclosed the identities of the targeted companies, but Virkkunen noted they are located worldwide.

The focus of the questionnaires sent to the companies primarily centers on safety measures and adherence to copyright regulations. Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier stated that the incidents, such as the unauthorized access reported by OpenAI and Anthropic, are taken very seriously by the Commission, which maintains close ties with the companies involved.