The European Parliament has published the
final text of the Artificial Intelligence Act
, based on an agreement reached last December 2023 by EU countries, which establishes obligations for AI based on its potential risk and level of impact, and subsequently approved unanimously by Coreper last February, after the obstructionist rotation of some countries. In the morning, at noon, the MEPs of the Council, with 523 votes in favour, 46 against and 49 abstentions, approved the law on artificial intelligence in plenary. Its final approval by the European Parliament is expected on 24 April 2024. In this morning’s press conference, the Honorable Brando Benifei, co-rapporteur on the vote in plenary of the AI Act, underlined how the long negotiations that took place, especially in December, were fundamental to protect the important priorities of the European Parliament and in fact “in the final text all the part of the prohibitions has been strengthened in the sense that the parliament wanted, Including the part written by us, the one about safety and the most powerful models”. Benifei added that all the work done “also includes environmental objectives.” But what is worrying is not so much the text itself, but, as Benifei explained, “the implementation, and the accompaniment of voluntary compliance by companies and institutions.” Italy seems to be no different. Turning the lens, yesterday on the occasion of the event Artificial Intelligence for Italy, the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, intervened by entering the discourse on the Italian agenda and the risks and challenges that AI entails in the human-work paradigm, where what worries is no longer the replacement of physical work by technology, but the risk of human intellect, that is, what has always distinguished us from machines. Meloni then stressed that “the positive potential” of AI can only exist “if its development moves within a perimeter of ethical rules that put the person, his rights and needs at the center.” And for this reason, the Government has made use of a Committee (Coordination Committee for the updating of the national strategy with Father Benanti) which in these months has worked “to define a document to support the definition of the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence, which is the document from which we start to do the work we are carrying out”. The work Meloni is talking about is a legal provision “which aims to establish some principles, determine the rules complementary to those of the European regulation that is being approved and identify the most effective measures to stimulate our productive fabric. And, in addition, we are working to identify the most suitable body to carry out the functions of competent authority on the use of technologies based on artificial intelligence”, as required by the AI Act.
Loans managed by CDP VC
Among the reception of the AI Act, the work of the Italian Committee, the Government’s legislative measure, to be added to the Strategy intended by Meloni we find CDP Venture Capital which “thanks to their commitment it will be possible to invest one billion euros in artificial intelligence, both by creating a new investment fund of its own specialized in artificial intelligence, and by using investment funds that are already active but involving this technology. It is a mechanism that clearly starts to create a multiplier and that serves to attract further investments”. The billion mentioned by Meloni, to relaunch Italian investments in AI and compete with other countries, would seem to derive from the
fund promoted in December by Butti worth 600 million
euros and managed by CDP Venture Capital in favor of national AI startups – later increased to 800 million euros. To reach the indicated quota of one billion, funds will also be drawn from the 150 million euro “treasury” allocated by the government in the latest decree law dedicated to the PNRR, launched on February 26 in the Council of Ministers, with which Palazzo Chigi authorized its Department for Digital Transformation and the National Cybersecurity Agency (ACN) “to sign, in equal measure, units or shares of one or more venture capital funds” established by CDP venture capital worth “€90 million for the year 2024 in emerging artificial intelligence technologies“. If it is true that Italy seems to be keeping up with the AI Act, with an “Italian way to artificial intelligence, an Italian way to the government of artificial intelligence” (Giorgia Meloni), it will be necessary to find this billion as soon as possible. And to date, as also reiterated by Benifei, unlike other countries, such as Germany and France, Italy continues to not have (yet) a startup already identified as a leader in the AI sector. (Photo by Shane Rounce on Unsplash)
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