The European Commission’s move comes amid intense lobbying by big tech companies and criticism from the US administration against the AI Act passed last year, which applies risk-based rules to artificial intelligence.
The EU’s chief technical officer, Henn Virkunen, will present the so-called digital omnibus on November 19, according to the Commission’s agenda. Before that, the document could still be changed.
“The Commission proposes targeted simplification measures aimed at ensuring timely, smooth and proportionate implementation,” said the draft Digital Omnibus document seen by Reuters.
The changes include exempting companies from registering their AI systems in the EU’s high-risk systems database if they are only used for narrow or procedural tasks, and introducing a one-year grace period where authorities can only levy fines from 2 August 2027.
The document says that the requirement for AI system providers to label their products as AI-generated content to address issues such as counterfeiting and misinformation will be subject to a transitional grace period.
In recent weeks, the EU executive has relaxed important environmental rules following a backlash from companies and the US government.
