European Parliament approves draft laws to regulate Artificial Intelligence

European Parliament lawmakers passed groundbreaking legislation on artificial intelligence on Wednesday.

The proposal passed 499 to 28, following a series of amendments.

93 members of European Parliament abstained from the vote.

A controversial amendment that would have allowed law enforcement to collect real-time biometrics was rejected.

The passing of the legislation follows a yearslong effort by Brussels to draw up guardrails for AI.

The measure, first proposed in 2021, will govern any product or service that uses an artificial intelligence system.

The act classifies AI systems according to four levels of risk, from minimal to unacceptable.

Riskier applications, such as for hiring or tech targeted to children, will face tougher requirements, including being more transparent and using accurate data.

Violations will draw fines of up to 30 million euros ($33 million) or 6% of a company’s annual global revenue, which in the case of tech companies like Google and Microsoft could amount to billions.

There is now a blanket ban on facial recognition systems in public spaces.