Over 150 businesses executives, including from Meta and Renault, signed a letter warning that Europe could be left behind as a result of the new draft EU AI bill.

Executives from Siemens in Germany and Airbus in France were also signatories of the letter which claimed Europe would jeopardise their competitiveness through the law’s regulations.

The EU AI Act is currently rounding its final legislative stage, and would introduce hallmark regulations such as forcing companies to disclose AI-generated content, restricts the use of biometric AI surviellence by law enforcement, and designates certain applications of AI – such as in healthcare or hiring practices – as high risk and requiring further regulations.

In the letter, executives warned that companies developing AI technology in the EU would face more burdensome liability risks and higher compliance costs than their global counterparts, making it more difficult to compete in a wider market.

Companies said the regulations could force some of them to move abroad to develop their AI technology with less stringent regulations.

The letter pushed for a risk-based approach over the current legislation, which they claimed to call for “rigid compliance,” as quoted by the Financial Times.

Further, the letter called for a body of industry experts to monitor the law and its implementation rather than law makers.

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This letter is in contradiction to an earlier open letter signed by major players in AI, including Elon Musk and Sam Altman from OpenAI, stating that researchers needed to hault development of generative AI in order for regulations to catch up.

It has recently been revealed in a Time report, however, that OpenAI actively lobbied the EU to exclude their generative AI model ChatGPT from being classified as “high-risk” and therefore requiring harsher regulations.

It appears that many companies are backtracking this earlier call to regulate AI as fears mount that it could slow their development and deployment.

A study from Standford University investigated the major large language AI models currently available and if they complied with the new EU act’s regulations – none of the models were found to be fully compliant.

Failing to comply could result in major fines and even outright bans until companies get their technology in tow – developers in Europe are showing their apprehension to the first attempt to regulate AI.