Adapting to AI regulations in the U.S. and Europe: Impacts on CIOs and global enterprises

AI regulations are becoming increasingly important, requiring CIOs to navigate diverse regional requirements to ensure compliance and protect human rights while fostering innovation.

Governments around the world are developing AI laws and regulations, which will bring increasing complexity for CIOs whose businesses are engaged across multiple jurisdictions.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is an increasingly large portion of information technology investments and societal discussions. Many governments have started to define laws and regulations to govern how AI impacts citizens with a focus on safety and privacy; IDC predicts that by 2028 60% of governments worldwide will adopt a risk management approach in framing their AI and generative AI policies (IDC FutureScape: Worldwide National Government 2024 Predictions). This article focuses on nascent regulations in Europe and the U.S. and implications for CIOs.

AI regulations in Europe

In late 2023 the European Union (EU) created a draft AI Act, which was subsequently approved by the EU Parliament on March 13, 2024. As one member noted, the EU now has the first binding law on artificial intelligence that will protect the human rights of workers and citizens. The regulation will fully come into effect 24 months after its publication. The Act balances the need to protect democratic rights, rule of law, and environmental sustainability while encouraging innovation, particularly in Europe. AI applications that threaten citizens’ rights, such as predictive policing or untargeted scraping of internet facial images, are banned. Similarly, law enforcement’s use of biometric information systems is prohibited.

The EU AI Act will require member states to create a database of high-risk AI systems to monitor activities in the EU market. National governments will be required to enforce regulations and monitor AI market developments.[…]