Silicon Valley Versus Europe on AI
Silicon Valley Versus Europe on AI
To hear US tech companies tell it, the artificial intelligence technology that they're developing will change how people around the world live, work and play.
Just maybe not people in Europe.
At least for now, Europeans won't get the latest advanced features on Apple Inc.'s iPhones. Meta Platforms Inc. also hasn't included the continent in the release of its most powerful AI model, which the tech giant has been promoting as a way for other businesses to make their own AI products. The moves this summer came about a year after Sam Altman, OpenAI's chief executive officer, caused a stir by saying the company might leave Europe if the regulatory regime there became unworkable.
Altman at the Microsoft Build conference in Seattle on May 21, 2024. Photographer: JASON REDMOND/AFP/Getty Images
OpenAI walked back Altman's remarks and is still operating normally in the European Union, as are most US-based AI companies. Still, Apple and Meta's decision to withhold key products is an ominous escalation of a long-running conflict between Silicon Valley and the European Union, which has established itself as the global leader for tough tech regulations and antitrust scrutiny.
US companies have generally framed their criticism not as an objection to regulation overall but to what Meta has described as the "unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment." The companies argue that European policymakers are threatening to stunt the progress of a fantastically useful technology, while European officials say taking a lax approach could compound the damage that Silicon Valley's dominance over global technology is already causing.
To hear US tech companies tell it, the artificial intelligence technology that they're developing will change how people around the world live, work and play.
Just maybe not people in Europe.
At least for now, Europeans won't get the latest advanced features on Apple Inc.'s iPhones. Meta Platforms Inc. also hasn't included the continent in the release of its most powerful AI model, which the tech giant has been promoting as a way for other businesses to make their own AI products. The moves this summer came about a year after Sam Altman, OpenAI's chief executive officer, caused a stir by saying the company might leave Europe if the regulatory regime there became unworkable.
Altman at the Microsoft Build conference in Seattle on May 21, 2024. Photographer: JASON REDMOND/AFP/Getty Images
OpenAI walked back Altman's remarks and is still operating normally in the European Union, as are most US-based AI companies. Still, Apple and Meta's decision to withhold key products is an ominous escalation of a long-running conflict between Silicon Valley and the European Union, which has established itself as the global leader for tough tech regulations and antitrust scrutiny.
US companies have generally framed their criticism not as an objection to regulation overall but to what Meta has described as the "unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment." The companies argue that European policymakers are threatening to stunt the progress of a fantastically useful technology, while European officials say taking a lax approach could compound the damage that Silicon Valley's dominance over global technology is already causing.
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