Europe and the United States want a “code of conduct”

2023-05-31 18:35:32

Washington and Brussels want to unite an alliance of democracies in the face of these new technologies.

Gathered in Sweden for the fourth edition of the Trade and Technology Council, the United States and the European Union pleaded on Wednesday for the rapid establishment of a ” code of Conduct ” volunteer on artificial intelligence. The players in the sector would thus undertake to respect certain principles and guarantees in the development of their technologies. Such a device should see the light of day ” in a few weeks “European Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager said as Brussels prepares legislation on artificial intelligence and facial recognition (AI Act), which, given its legislative process, would not take effect for two to three years. . ” It’s obviously much too late “, emphasizes Margrethe Vestager, with regard to “incredible acceleration”of the development of these applications, such as ChatGPT, from the OpenAI company, whose promoters it calls on to ” responsibility ” .

“It is important that we see that democracies can act”, she underlines, referring to an alliance on the subject with Canada, Japan or India. The American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, abounds, evoking ” the crying urgency »to meet this challenge with other countries sharing the same approach. The EU wishes to define, together with the United States, the standards imposed on this new technology.

Read alsoDoctors, lawyers, journalists… Will artificial intelligence replace us?

The Trade and Technology Council (TTC), created in 2021, brings the two powers together twice a year to coordinate their trade policies and technology standards. It was then a question of trying to put an end to years of transatlantic friction, in particular under the Donald Trump era. Margrethe Vestager boasts of positive results, including the definition of a common standard on chargers for electric vehicles.“Our interests are aligned” , said Gina Raimondo, US Secretary of Commerce. Antony Blinken rents a «  remarkable convergence” views between the two partners.

Strong disagreements

Behind these commitments, disagreements remain sharp between Americans and Europeans, in a context of growing geopolitical tensions and renewed protectionism. If Europeans had welcomed with relief the arrival of Joe Biden at the White House, who had been full of declarations of friendship towards them, the reality remains that the slogan “America First” is more de rigueur than ever. . For months, Europe has been beefing up its response to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a law adopted in August 2022 by the American Administration aimed at subsidizing, with 369 billion dollars of public money, the companies involved in the climate transition.

Between the lines of these rivalries between Western allies is also their respective approach vis-à-vis China. The Americans have recently moderated their discourse on the “decoupling”economic invoked with the Beijing regime.“None of us are looking for a new cold war or decoupling, but a reduction of risk in our supply chains”,assures Antony Blinken, taking up a rhetoric from Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.