The European Commission has issued proposals to ease some of its tech regulations, including some of its more contested points of the AI Act, following push back from big tech.

Since the issuing of the AI Act, which is the world’s first attempt at formally regulating AI, large tech companies have targeted Europe’s tech regulations, claiming that it would hurt Europe’s ability to stay competitive in the AI and wider tech market.

The EU seems to be curtailing a number of laws – it recently diluted some of its environmental regulations following criticisms from businesses and the US government.

Despite pressure from these sources, the EU assures that it is not lessening any of its laws, but rather simplifying its regulatory stance.

“Simplification is not deregulation. Simplification is not deregulation. Simplification means that we are taking a critical look at our regulatory ‍landscape,” a Commission official said in a briefing.

However, the changes mean that the EU has delayed some major decisions concerning the regulation of AI in what it deems as more ‘high risk’ applications, from August 2026 to December 2027.

These decisions are encompassed in a ‘Digital Omnibus’, which is yet to be debated and voted on by member countries, and which aims to simplify some of the tenants of the AI Act.

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The package will focus on more controversial applications of AI, such as in biometrics identification, utilities, job applications, health services, law enforcement, and credit checks.

It will also touch on Cookie policy and GDPR, a longstanding pain point for many large tech companies looking to train their AI models on EU personal data.

The Digital Omnibus will also affect legislation such as the e-Privacy Directive and the Data Act, as well as other EU digital regulations.