On Wednesday 2 April, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) announced that it was leaving the ‘General-Purpose AI (GPAI) Code of Practice’ discussions, stressing “the absence of safeguards for the right to information and the tech industry’s overwhelming influence in the process”.
RSF denounces the disregard for information protection, information issues and the risks of deepfakes and massive disinformation associated with the “unregulated development of AI”.
“The protection of fundamental rights, such as dealing with systemic risks AI could have on democratic elections, have been relegated to an appendix, and their consideration is optional”, accuses RSF.
The Code, which was intended to “address gaps in AI regulation and oblige AI developers to mitigate the systemic risks to the information space”, is an ”exercise now doomed to fail”, says Thibaut Bruttin, the association’s director general.
In its press release, RSF stated that it had “tried everything” to make its voice heard, “without success”.
The final version of the Code is expected on 2 May (see EUROPE 13610/3). (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)