European Union wants to set standards for AI, despite lagging behind the United States and China

By Armin Sijamić

The European Union has begun regulating the work of companies dealing with artificial intelligence (AI). In a pioneering endeavor, Brussels may know what it wants, but it is unclear to anyone how it will achieve it.

In May last year, the Council of the European Union adopted the Artificial Intelligence Act with the aim of regulating this area, at least in parts where it seems possible. It was the first law of its kind in the world, and with it, the European Union showed its intentions to influence technological development, which is happening faster than laws are being adopted.

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Artificial intelligence is a new field of confrontation for great powers and affects all areas of our lives

By Armin SijamićTechnological progress of a state is often the best indicator of that state's development. This particularly applies to industry and the military, but in recent decades, it has extended to almost all areas of life. The development of technologies will be further accelerated by the development of

From Brussels, they announced at the time that their goal was to introduce regulations to reduce potential harm from the use of AI technology, meaning that EU legal acquis would protect individuals and companies, protect copyrights, and ensure transparency in operations. The European Union, as announced, wanted to stimulate investment and innovation, which would ultimately help its economy.

The law was also conceived as a prerequisite for a global standard in artificial intelligence regulation, which will undoubtedly be an important topic.

The Law (Did Not) Enter into Force

The adopted law last year gave member states time to adapt. At the beginning of August this year, the law entered into force, and now member states have undertaken obligations to monitor everything related to artificial intelligence, and companies providing services using this technology have been placed under the scrutiny of state regulators.

The law has stipulated penalties for those who violate the rules, so offenders can be fined up to 35 million euros or seven percent of their global annual turnover.

In July, the European Commission published a Code of Practice on General Purpose Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) and offered it to companies to sign. This particularly applies to the most well-known language models such as Google's Gemini, X's Grok, and OpenAI's ChatGPT.

American technology company Meta stated that it would not sign this code, claiming that regulation stifles innovation and the development of artificial intelligence. Meta also complained about the ambiguity of the rules, as those who were on the market by August 2nd have a two-year period for adaptation, while those who start operating after that date must immediately comply with the rules. Ultimately, on August 2nd, 2027, the Artificial Intelligence Act will be fully applicable throughout the European Union.

A new chapter in the application of rules in the field of artificial intelligence came just a few days before OpenAI presented its new GPT-5 model, for which the company's CEO Sam Altman said, "you really feel like you're talking to an expert on any topic," and then praised its achievements, but also admitted that in the development of these models, "we are still missing something crucial."

On the same day, Elon Musk, the owner of the company developing Grok and a former founder of OpenAI, and now an adversary of the aforementioned Altman, wrote on his social network X that "OpenAI will eat Microsoft."

The world is changing, but how to regulate the state and society?

Musk, the richest man in the world, is a particularly important player in AI development. Before American companies "drove the world crazy" with their AI chatbots, he called for them not to enter the market until the necessary legal regulations were in place. As the founder of OpenAI, which he envisioned as a platform within a non-profit organization, he warned that artificial intelligence, among other things, would lead to the elimination of entire professions, only to later claim that states would have to devise professions for those whose work would no longer be needed. Shortly thereafter, Grok saw the light of day.

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The battle of American and Chinese technology companies is shaping the future of the world

By Armin SijamićIn a few days, the Chinese company DeepSeek erased billions of dollars in value from its American competitors. The background of the story is akin to the space race between Washington and Moscow during the Cold War, and the implications could be significant.

Musk was not the only one to speak about the dangers of technological development. The nexus of large companies and states, and the rapid intrusion of certain technology companies into the daily lives of people worldwide, has been termed "techno-feudalism," as part of the changes occurring in the so-called "Fourth Industrial Revolution."

This societal transformation is happening before our eyes, while only a small number of countries and companies are managing to keep pace. The application of artificial intelligence is already occurring in the economy, state governance, the military, entertainment, transportation, intelligence operations, etc.

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Leading intelligence officials announce new Western policy and show how quickly the world is changing

By Armin SijamićIt is rare for the director of an intelligence service to write articles in which they leave no doubt about who the enemies of their country are. It is even rarer for two of them to do so together. From the pages of the Financial Times on Saturday, they addressed the public

Some authors will say that technological development is accelerating because discoveries in this field are more frequent than before. However, even if such an assessment may not hold true, it does not diminish the lag that countries have behind technology companies. Bureaucracies, even the most efficient ones, are unable to keep up with the pace of development of these technologies, although there are examples where technological achievements are sought to be applied in the development of countries and cities.

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From Canada to China: For the benefit of humanity or towards complete control?

By Armin SijamićIn recent years, one of the more important topics in social sciences and politics has been the cities of the future, i.e., the creation of urban entities where concern for climate change will be placed at the top of the priority list, even in everyday life.

Since the European Union is lagging in the field of artificial intelligence and that at the moment the United States and China are far ahead – practically alone in the race – the intention to regulate the development and use of AI is a brave move, although it is clear to everyone that this regulation will have to be changed soon if it is to keep pace with the times.

The European Union's move is all the braver, especially considering that Brussels insists on sustainable policies and long-term plans. In this area, the European Union has no precise long-term plans and, more damagingly, currently lacks the capacity to keep up with the United States and China. This practically means that the European Union could condition those whose services it needs through its legislation.

However, the attempt to regulate artificial intelligence opens up a more important question, and that is the future of society and the state. What kind of society and state do those at the helm of powerful companies want, and what kind of society do political leaders and the people they represent want? There are no answers to these questions. Moreover, there is no serious debate that would include those far from the centers of decision-making. Those who have mastered these tools have been saying, more or less openly, for years that this is a competition for only a few major players.