Top EU data regulator says tech giants working closely on AI compliance

The world’s leading internet firms are engaging extensively with regulators in the European Union to ensure their artificial-intelligence products do not fall foul of the bloc’s strict data protection rules.

The world's leading internet firms are engaging extensively with regulators in the European Union to ensure their artificial-intelligence products do not fall foul of the bloc's strict data protection rules, Ireland's powerful data regulator said.

Ireland's Data Protection Commission, lead EU regulator for Alphabet's Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok and OpenAI, among others, said that its broad powers had not yet been tested on AI and it could in future force changes to business models to ensure data privacy is protected.

AI creates a number of potential issues for data privacy, the two top officials at Ireland's Data Protection Commission said in an interview on Tuesday.

Regulators need to decide whether companies should be allowed to trawl the internet for public data to train AI models, and on what legal basis personal data can be used.

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AI operators also need to explain they can ensure individuals' data rights, including the right to erase their data. The risk of AI models giving incorrect personal data about individuals must also be addressed, the Irish officials said.

"There has been extensive engagement" from leading U.S. tech firms including Google, Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn and OpenAI, said Dale Sunderland, one of the Irish regulator's two Data Protection Commissioners.