By Jean-Marc Leclerc | Director of EU Affairs, IBM

“IBM applauds EU negotiators for reaching a provisional agreement on the world’s first comprehensive AI legislation. We have long urged the EU to take a carefully balanced approach, focused on regulating high-risk applications of AI while promoting transparency, explainability, and safety among all AI models. As lawmakers work through the remaining technical details, we encourage EU policymakers to retain this focus on risk and accountability, rather than algorithms. 

We share the goals of enabling AI’s safe and trustworthy development and creating an open, pro-innovation AI ecosystem, and recognize that both government and industry have roles to play. Recently, IBM announced watsonx.governance to provide organizations with the toolkit they need to manage risk, embrace transparency, and anticipate compliance with AI-focused regulation like this. IBM looks forward to working with the EU institutions, governments, and other stakeholders to support the responsible uptake and governance of AI so its benefits are enjoyed broadly across business and society.”