The AI Pact is an initiative of the European Union meant to encourage trustworthy and safe artificial intelligence practices amongst organisations around the world. It was launched in November 2023, and through it, the Union invites companies voluntarily to commit themselves to the implementation of measures under the AI Act before the legal deadline. The act was imposed on August 1st, 2024.
Companies That Signed The Pact
Many tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Infosys, and others became the first signatories of the EU Artificial Intelligence (AI) pact which aims to:
- Encourage companies to plan for AI Act implementation
- Foster information-sharing and best practices among signatories
- Support the development of trusted and safe AI practices
The EU AI pact pledges all the signatories to commit through at least three actions:
- AI governance strategy to foster the uptake of AI in the organization and work towards future compliance with the AI Act.
- High-risk AI systems mapping: Identifying AI systems likely to be categorized as high-risk under the AI Act.
- Promoting AI literacy and awareness among staff, ensuring ethical and responsible AI development.
AI Pact addresses future risks from AI and aims to promote AI for the betterment of humans. Controls the use of AI for safe surfing over the internet. For these, the AI Office initiated the development of the AI Pact around two pillars:
- Pillar I: gathering and exchanging with the AI Pact network
- Pillar II: facilitating and communicating company pledges
Signatories
As of September 26, 2024, over 115 companies have signed the AI Pact, including:
- OpenAI
- Microsoft
- Amazon
- Palantir
- Aleph
- Alpha
- Infosys
- Wipro
- Many other European and global firms
Not only the big companies but European small and medium enterprises have signed this pact. Companies from various sectors like Health, Telecommunications, IT, Banking, and others have come forward for this pact. After 12 months of commitments, the participating companies provide a public report on the progress of the pact. This will bring transparency among all the firms involved.
This AI pact will establish a great relationship between many of the Tech companies with the common goal of the advancement of AI. Through this, all the participants can exchange ideas and innovations for creating a trustworthy environment in this AI development. This will allow every participant to work together to understand, adapt, and implement the technologies for betterment.
