EU lawmakers support ban on AI apps generating explicit images

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS, ‌March 18 (Reuters) - ​Key ​EU lawmakers, who are influential in shaping changes to Europe's AI Act, on Wednesday backed a ‌ban on AI apps which create unauthorised sexually explicit ⁠images and urged that the bloc's landmark rules agreed two years ago ‌include this ban.

The move ‌comes a week after EU countries voted on a similar proposal ahead of talks between the lawmakers and EU ​governments on the European Commission's plan to water down parts of the AI Act so as not to ⁠lose ground in the global tech race.

The European Parliament will vote on the group's ​proposal on March 26. Lawmakers and EU governments will then have to thrash out their differences ​before the changes proposed by the ‌EU executive can be implemented.

"A proposal to ban so-called nudification apps I believe is something ⁠that our citizens expect of the co-legislators," said lawmaker Michael McNamara, who is leading the forthcoming discussion with EU countries.

Sexually explicit ⁠content generated by Elon Musk's xAI chatbot Grok on X, as well ​as sexually intimate deepfakes produced by Grok, have triggered a crackdown by governments and regulators from Europe to Asia.

The lawmakers also voted to ‌delay certain rules on high-risk AI systems to December 2 next year, saying that key ‌standards may not be finalised by August 2, which could ⁠create uncertainty for companies. This ‌was in line ​with EU countries' position.

The AI Act will be implemented in phases.

(Reporting by Foo Yun CheeEditing by Bernadette ‌Baum)

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