It risks falling behind because of incoherent and complex regulation, say the two tech CEOs

This is an important moment in technology. Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform the world—increasing human productivity, accelerating scientific progress and adding trillions of dollars to the global economy.

But, as with every innovative leap forward, some are better positioned than others to benefit. The gaps between those with access to build with this extraordinary technology and those without are already beginning to appear. That is why a key opportunity for European organisations is through open-source AI—models whose weights are released publicly with a permissive licence. This ensures power isn’t concentrated among a few large players and, as with the internet before it, creates a level playing field.

The internet largely runs on open-source technologies, and so do most leading tech companies. We believe the next generation of ideas and startups will be built with open-source AI, because it lets developers incorporate the latest innovations at low cost and gives institutions more control over their data. It is the best shot at harnessing AI to drive progress and create economic opportunity and security for everyone.

Meta open-sources many of its AI technologies, including its state-of-the-art Llama large language models, and public institutions and researchers are already using these models to speed up medical research and preserve languages. With more open-source developers than America has, Europe is particularly well placed to make the most of this open-source AI wave. Yet its fragmented regulatory structure, riddled with inconsistent implementation, is hampering innovation and holding back developers. Instead of clear rules that inform and guide how companies do business across the continent, our industry faces overlapping regulations and inconsistent guidance on how to comply with them. Without urgent changes, European businesses, academics and others risk missing out on the next wave of technology investment and economic-growth opportunities.

Spotify is proud to be held up as a European tech success but we are also well aware that we remain one of only a few. Looking back, it’s clear that our early investment in AI made the company what it is today: a personalised experience for every user that has led to billions of discoveries of artists and creators around the world. As we look to the future of streaming, we see tremendous potential to use open-source AI to benefit the industry. This is especially important when it comes to how AI can help more artists get discovered. A simplified regulatory structure would not only accelerate the growth of open-source AI but also provide crucial support to European developers and the broader creator ecosystem that contributes to and thrives on these innovations.

Regulating against known harms is necessary, but pre-emptive regulation of theoretical harms for nascent technologies such as open-source AI will stifle innovation. Europe’s risk-averse, complex regulation could prevent it from capitalising on the big bets that can translate into big rewards.

Take the uneven application of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This landmark directive was meant to harmonise the use and flow of data, but instead EU privacy regulators are creating delays and uncertainty and are unable to agree among themselves on how the law should apply. For example, Meta has been told to delay training its models on content shared publicly by adults on Facebook and Instagram—not because any law has been violated but because regulators haven’t agreed on how to proceed. In the short term, delaying the use of data that is routinely used in other regions means the most powerful AI models won’t reflect the collective knowledge, culture and languages of Europe—and Europeans won’t get to use the latest AI products.

These concerns aren’t theoretical. Given the current regulatory uncertainty, Meta won’t be able to release upcoming models like Llama multimodal, which has the capability to understand images. That means European organisations won’t be able to get access to the latest open-source technology, and European citizens will be left with AI built for someone else.

The stark reality is that laws designed to increase European sovereignty and competitiveness are achieving the opposite. This isn’t limited to our industry: many European chief executives, across a range of industries, cite a complex and incoherent regulatory environment as one reason for the continent’s lack of competitiveness.

Europe should be simplifying and harmonising regulations by leveraging the benefits of a single yet diverse market. Look no further than the growing gap between the number of homegrown European tech leaders and those from America and Asia—a gap that also extends to unicorns and other startups. Europe needs to make it easier to start great companies, and to do a better job of holding on to its talent. Many of its best and brightest minds in AI choose to work outside Europe.

In short, Europe needs a new approach with clearer policies and more consistent enforcement. With the right regulatory environment, combined with the right ambition and some of the world’s top AI talent, the EU would have a real chance of leading the next generation of tech innovation.

We believe that open-source AI can help European organisations make the most of this new technology by levelling the playing field, and we hope that the EU doesn’t limit the possibilities that we are only starting to explore. Though Spotify and Meta use AI in different ways, we agree that thoughtful, clear and consistent regulation can foster competition and innovation while also protecting people and giving them access to new technologies that empower them.

While we can all hope that with time these laws become more refined, we also know that technology moves swiftly. On its current course, Europe will miss this once-in-a-generation opportunity. Because the one thing Europe doesn’t have, unless it wants to risk falling further behind, is time. 

Mark Zuckerberg is the founder and chief executive of Meta. Daniel Ek is the founder and chief executive of Spotify.

Originally published in The Economist © The Economist Newspaper Limited, London, 2024

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