International Treaty on AI Hits Roadblock on Coverage of Private Companies
Summary
The Council of Europe, a 46-member human rights body, has been attempting to negotiate the world’s first Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law since establishing a Committee on AI in 2022. While the Council has set a deadline to finalize the Convention by March, its efforts hit a major roadblock at its January 23-26 plenary meeting, when a U.S.-led effort to limit the treaty’s obligations to public bodies led to a stalemate in the talks. While only participating as observers, the United States and allies like Canada, Israel, Japan and the U.K. have threatened not to sign the Convention if the treaty applies to private companies. The U.S.-led coalition instead wishes for the Convention to allow signatories to “opt-in” their private companies. The EU, meanwhile, has pushed for an option to allow signatories to “opt out” of the Convention’s provisions applying to private companies. It is now largely left to the EU and United States to resolve the dispute before the Council’s next plenary meeting in mid-March 2024, or the Convention’s future as a binding international treaty may be put at risk.
