Beyond just regulation: Opportunities and risks in the AI landscape

While the AI Act has taken centre stage in the EU's discussions around Artificial Intelligence, advanced generative AI models are transforming the sector, and the revolutionary technology has acquired a strategic dimension for the world's superpowers.

The EU's approach to Artificial Intelligence was initially driven by the complementary aspects of regulating risky uses and fostering investments and uptake of the emerging technology.

However, amid the inactivity of EU countries in putting in place coherent national strategies on AI, the industrial policy aspect has given way to a solely regulatory approach.

In a soon-to-be-published study, PromethEUs, a network of think tanks from Southern European countries, outlines the economic potential of AI but also the limitations in uptaking this complex technology in a fragmented single market dominated by SMEs.