CEOs of Meta and Spotify criticize European authorities for “suppressing” AI improvements

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Spotify CEO Daniek Ek have criticized European lawmakers for their “stifling” and “inconsistent” regulation that hinders the growth of technology companies.

“Instead of clear rules that help guide and support companies across the continent in their operations, our industry is faced with overlapping regulations and inconsistent guidance on how to comply with them,” the couple wrote in a op-ed Wednesday. “If Europe does not act immediately, it will miss this unique opportunity.”

This opportunity is of course offered by the rise of artificial intelligence. More specifically, open-source AI – such as Meta’s Llama LLM – is releasing publicly under a license. Europe with its huge pool of open source developersis uniquely positioned to succeed in this area.

But according to the tech billionaires, regulatory inconsistencies, such as in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), are hindering the development and use of artificial intelligence.

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They use the example of the EU forceing Meta delay the LLM training on content from Facebook and Instagram users in the block due to privacy concerns.

“DDelaying the use of data routinely used in other regions means that the most powerful AI models will not reflect Europe's collective knowledge, culture and languages ​​- and Europeans will not be able to use the latest AI products,” Zuckerberg and Ek wrote.

At that time, the Austrian non-profit Noah criticized Meta calls the delay a collective punishment. “Meta could introduce AI technology in Europe if it only bothered to ask people for their consent, but it seems that Meta is doing everything it can to never get opt-in consent for any processing,” it says.

Even though Meta may be exaggerating in this case, the fact that European innovation lags behind is undeniable. While Spotify, currently rated was very successful with 68 billion dollars, but is more the exception than the rule. Almost all the most valuable startups in the world are based in the USA and Asia.

“Europe needs a new approach with clearer guidelines and more consistent enforcement,” said the two founders. “With the right ambition and some of the world's best AI talent, the EU would have a real chance of leading the next generation of technical innovation.”