The EU’s industry chief is calling on the US to adopt new technology rules and support a single digital market

PARIS: The European Union’s industry chief has urged the United States to adopt new technology rules in hopes of fostering a coherent digital market across the Atlantic.

The EU is widely considered a leading authority in regulating technology, having passed wide-ranging legislation scrutinizing the practices of major companies such as Google and Meta, including the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act.

The United States has relied heavily on existing legislation to regulate the business practices of tech giants.

In March, for example, the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, accusing the iPhone maker of violating established monopoly rules. Apple rejected this claim and asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit.

“We need the same digital regulations. It would be fantastic to have a global digital marketplace. Not only the EU, not only the US, but the EU and the US,” said Thierry Breton.

Amid public outcry over the potential dangers of rapidly developing artificial intelligence systems, U.S. President Joe Biden issued a series of executive orders on artificial intelligence last year, requiring developers to subject their systems to security testing and introducing guidelines to help root out deepfake images.

“It is extremely important that we adapt now,” Breton added. “We share the same values ​​in the U.S. and Europe and that would be fantastic.”

Breton was speaking at the annual “Viva Technology” conference in Paris, which this year featured top tech executives and political figures such as former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and former US climate envoy John Kerry.