Meta Delays AI Rollout in EU Due to Regulatory Uncertainty

Meta will delay latest AI in EU over 'unpredictable' regulation

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Meta on Thursday said it would delay the release of its most powerful generative artificial intelligence (AI) models in Europe because of what it called unpredictable European Union (EU) regulation. The EU has passed a raft of tech rules in recent years, posing an unprecedented list of do's-and-don't for the mostly US-based tech giants as they expand their services and offer new products. In the generative AI race, Meta has designed Llama, AI models that are designed to offer the same capabilities as the technology behind OpenAI's ChatGPT. The next wave of these models are going to be multimodal, meaning that they can accept prompts and make content in text, video or audio. But Meta said that Europeans would be denied the innovations. "We will release a multimodal Llama model over the coming months, but not in the EU due to the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment," Meta said in a statement. Meta said that the issue was over how to abide by the GDPR, the EU's data privacy legislation that carefully dictates how companies handle the data of European users. EU authorities are also preventing Meta from using public data to train its models, something it says its rivals Google and OpenAI, which is backed by Microsoft, have been able to do. The company said that decision would be especially felt in upcoming updates to its Ray Ban smart glasses that would feature AI-amped abilities, such as translating signs or helping to engage in foreign languages in everyday settings. Meta and other tech giants have increasingly delayed their latest offerings in Europe, citing the need to find legal clarity with EU authorities before they get released. Last year, Meta delayed the release of its Twitter alternative Threads by several months in the EU. Google has similarly held back the release of its own AI tools in the EU for several months. The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but has always stood by its commitment to implement its new arsenal of tech rules. In a policy paper laying out her plans for her new five-year term, EU commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the commission would "ramp up and intensify our enforcement" of tech regulation. "Tech giants must assume responsibility for their enormous systemic power in our society and economy," she said.

Meta will delay latest AI in EU over 'unpredictable' regulation - ET Telecom

Meta on Thursday said it would delay the release of its most powerful generative AI models in Europe because of what it called unpredictable EU regulation. The European Union has passed a raft of tech rules in recent years, posing an unprecedented list of do's-and-don't for the mostly US-based tech giants as they expand their services and offer new products. In the generative AI race, Meta has designed Llama, AI models that are designed to offer the same capabilities as the technology behind OpenAI's ChatGPT. The next wave of these models are going to be multimodal, meaning that they can accept prompts and make content in text, video or audio. But Meta said that Europeans would be denied the innovations. "We will release a multimodal Llama model over the coming months, but not in the EU due to the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment," Meta said in a statement. Meta said that the issue was over how to abide by the GDPR, the EU's data privacy legislation that carefully dictates how companies handle the data of European users. EU authorities are also preventing Meta from using public data to train its models, something it says its rivals Google and OpenAI, which is backed by Microsoft, have been able to do. The company said that decision would be especially felt in upcoming updates to its Ray Ban smart glasses that would feature AI-amped abilities, such as translating signs or helping to engage in foreign languages in everyday settings. Meta and other tech giants have increasingly delayed their latest offerings in Europe, citing the need to find legal clarity with EU authorities before they get released. Last year, Meta delayed the release of its Twitter alternative Threads by several months in the EU. Google has similarly held back the release of its own AI tools in the EU for several months. The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but has always stood by its commitment to implement its new arsenal of tech rules. In a policy paper laying out her plans for her new five-year term, EU commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the commission would "ramp up and intensify our enforcement" of tech regulation. "Tech giants must assume responsibility for their enormous systemic power in our society and economy," she said.

Meta is pumping the brakes on rolling out its AI

Meta quickly shifted away from the metaverse to generative artificial intelligence, and now it's pumping the brakes on some of its efforts amid regulatory scrutiny. On Wednesday, Meta said it was pausing the use of its generative AI tools in Brazil due to opposition from the country's government over the company's privacy policy on personal data and AI, according to Reuters. Meta was banned from training its AI models on Brazilians' personal data by the country's National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) earlier this month. The Facebook-owner had updated its privacy policy in May to give itself permission to train AI on public Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram data in Brazil. The ANPD said Meta's privacy policy has "the imminent risk of serious and irreparable or difficult-to-repair damage to the fundamental rights of the affected data subjects," according to the Associated Press. Meanwhile, Meta has decided to not release its upcoming and future multimodal AI models in the European Union "due to the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment," the company said in a statement shared with Axios. The company's decision follows Apple, which said in June it would likely not roll out its new Apple Intelligence and other AI features in the bloc due to the Digital Markets Act. Even though Meta's multimodal models will be under an open license, companies in Europe will not be able to use them over the company's decision, Axios reported. And companies outside of the bloc could reportedly be blocked from offering products and services on the continent that use Meta's models. However, Meta has a larger, text-only version of its Llama 3 model that will be made available in the EU when it's released, the company told Axios. In June, Meta said it would delay training its large language models on public data from Facebook and Instagram users in the European Union after facing pushback from the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC). "This is a step backwards for European innovation, competition in AI development and further delays bringing the benefits of AI to people in Europe," Meta said.

Meta's AI Retreat May Signal EU Regulatory Minefield

Facebook parent Meta's decision to withhold its latest multimodal artificial intelligence (AI) model from the European Union highlights the growing chasm between Silicon Valley innovation and European regulation. Citing an "unpredictable" regulatory environment, per a report from The Verge, Meta joins Apple in pulling back AI offerings in the region. The move comes as Brussels prepares to enforce new AI legislation, raising concerns about potential impacts on innovation and competitiveness in the EU's digital economy. Meta's retreat stems from uncertainties surrounding compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), particularly regarding AI model training using user data from Facebook and Instagram. "Under GDPR, an individual essentially has the right to challenge any automated decision. But as AI has grown exponentially, human knowledge and understanding has not kept pace," David McInerney, commercial manager at Cassie, a consent and preference management platform, told PYMNTS. A critical issue facing companies like Meta is their ability to explain AI decision-making processes. "Businesses can say they trained their AI, and it made an automated decision. But if companies aren't able to properly explain how that decision was made, they cannot fulfill their legal obligation in the GDPR," McInerney said. Some experts say major tech companies like Meta and Apple's retreat from offering advanced AI services in the EU could significantly impact commerce by limiting the availability of cutting-edge tools for businesses operating in the region. This regulatory-induced technology gap may hinder EU companies' ability to compete globally, potentially slowing innovation in areas such as personalized marketing, customer service automation and AI-driven business analytics that are crucial for modern commerce. On July 12, EU lawmakers published the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), a pioneering regulation aimed at harmonizing rules on AI models and systems across the EU. The act prohibits certain AI practices and sets out regulations on "high-risk" AI systems, AI systems posing transparency risks and general-purpose AI (GPAI) models. The AI Act's implementation will be phased, with rules on prohibited practices taking effect from February 2, obligations on GPAI models from August 2, 2025, and transparency obligations and rules on high-risk AI systems from August 2, 2026. Notably, there are exceptions for existing high-risk AI systems and GPAI models already on the market, with extended compliance deadlines. This regulatory uncertainty could have far-reaching implications for the EU's tech landscape. Despite these challenges, the situation also presents an opportunity for tech industry leadership. "Meta has the opportunity to change the narrative and set the tone for Big Tech by prioritizing consumer privacy in a way that hasn't been done by many large tech companies," McInerney noted. The tech industry is watching closely as the EU continues to grapple with balancing innovation and regulation. The outcome of this regulatory tug-of-war could shape the future of AI development and deployment in Europe, with potential ripple effects across the global tech ecosystem. EU officials assert that the AI legislation is designed to foster technological innovation with clear regulations. They highlight the dangers of human-AI interactions, including risks to safety and security and potential job losses. The drive to regulate also stems from concerns that public mistrust in AI could hinder technological progress in Europe, leaving the bloc behind superpowers like the U.S. and China. In a related development, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called for a new approach to competition policy, emphasizing the need for EU companies to scale up in global markets. This shift aims to create a more favorable environment for European companies to compete globally, potentially easing some of the regulatory pressures on tech firms. However, it remains to be seen how this will balance with the stringent AI regulations already in motion. As the implementation of the AI Act approaches, the Commission is tasked with developing guidelines and secondary legislation on various aspects of the Act. The tech industry awaits these guidelines, particularly those on implementing the AI system definition and prohibited practices, expected within the next six months.

Meta to not provide future multimodal AI models in EU amid lack of regulatory clarity

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) will not offer its multimodal AI model to customers in the EU due to a lack of clarity from regulators in the region, Axios reported. Meta said that it would release a multimodal Llama model over the coming months, but not in the EU due to the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment, the report added. Last month, Meta said it will delay the launch of its artificial intelligence assistant Meta AI in Europe as it deals with a request from the Irish privacy regulator on using content from Facebook and Instagram as training data. The social media giant also saw advocacy group NOYB file complaints with 11 European nations alleging that the company plans to use personal data to train its AI models without seeking user consent. Similarly, last month, Apple (AAPL) noted that it was delaying the release of several of its AI features in the EU due to the Digital Markets Act, or DMA, a legislation that establishes a set of objective criteria to qualify a large online platform as a "gatekeeper" and ensure that they behave fairly online and leave room for contestability. Meta intends to incorporate the new multimodal models, which are able to reason across video, audio, images and text, in several products, including smartphones and the company's Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses. Meta noted that its decision also means that Europe-based companies will not be able to use the multimodal models despite them being launched under an open license, the report added. The move could also hinder companies outside the EU from providing products and services in Europe which use the new multimodal models. The Facebook parent also intends to launch a larger, text-only version of its Llama 3 model soon. This will be made available for customers and companies in the EU, according to the company. Training AI model require large amounts of data, and companies in the EU have to comply with the bloc's rule on how to collect and process user's personal data. Meta announced in May that it intends to use publicly available posts from users of Facebook and Instagram to train future models. The company said it informed EU regulators months in advance of that announcement and received only minimal feedback, which Meta says it addressed. In June, the Irish Data Protection Commission, on behalf of the European Data Protection Authorities, asked Meta (META) to delay training its large language models, or LLMs, using public content on Facebook and Instagram. A couple of weeks later, the company received several questions from data privacy regulators from across the region. Meta noted that it has not seen the same level of regulatory uncertainty in the U.K. and intends to launch its new model for U.K. users, the report added. The EU regulators are taking more time to interpret the current rules than their counterparts in other regions, a Meta representative told Axios. However, the company noted that training on EU data was vital to ensure that its products properly reflect the terminology and culture of the region, the report added.

Meta pulls plug on release of advanced AI model in EU

'Unpredictable' privacy regulations prompt Facebook owner to scrap regional plans for Llama model Mark Zuckerberg's Meta will not release an advanced version of its artificial intelligence model in the EU, blaming the decision on the "unpredictable" behaviour of regulators. The owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp is preparing to issue its Llama model in multimodal form, meaning it is able to work across text, video, images and audio instead of just one format. Llama is an open source model, allowing it to be freely downloaded and adapted by users. However, a Meta spokesperson confirmed the model would not be available in the EU. The move underlines tensions between big tech and Brussels amid a tougher regulatory environment. "We will release a multimodal Llama model over the coming months - but not in the EU due to the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment," the spokesperson said. Brussels is introducing the EU AI Act, which comes into force next month, while new regulatory requirements are being put in place for big tech firms in the form of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). However, Meta's decision on the multimodal Llama model relates to whether it complies with data regulations under GDPR (general data protection regulations). Meta has been ordered to stop training its AI models with posts from Facebook and Instagram users in the EU due to concerns it might violate privacy rules. Ireland's Data Protection Commission, which oversees Meta's compliance with GDPR, said it was continuing discussions with the company over its model training. However, Meta is concerned that other EU data watchdogs can intervene in the regulatory process and bring the approval process to a halt. Text-based versions of Llama are available in the EU and a new text-only version of Llama will be released in the EU soon - but those models were not trained on EU Meta user data. The move follows Apple's announcement last month that it will not roll out some of its new AI features in the EU due to concerns about complying with the DMA. Meta had been planning to use its multimodal Llama model in products such its Ray-Ban smart glasses and on smartphones. The Llama decision was first reported by Axios. Meta also announced on Wednesday that it had suspended use of generative AI tools in Brazil after the government raised privacy concerns over the use of user data to train models. Meta said it had decided to pause use of the tools while it held talks with Brazil's data authority.

Meta will not launch multimodal Llama AI model in EU

The Facebook parent joins a growing list of Big Tech companies delaying or avoiding product launches in the EU citing strict and unfavourable regulations. Meta said it will not release its planned multimodal Llama AI model in the EU because of the bloc's "unpredictable" regulatory environment. Multimodal AI models are those that can deal with multiple formats, such as text, images, audio and video, at the same time for enhanced performance. Meta unveiled its latest large language model (LLM) called Llama 3 in April and said at the time that a multimodal version of it was to be made available in the coming months. Now, the company looking to establish a strong presence in the race to build the most advanced generative AI models has said that its latest technology will not see the light of day in the EU. "We will release a multimodal Llama model over the coming months, but not in the EU due to the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment," Meta said in a statement. Llama 3 When Meta first revealed Llama 3 in April, it claimed the models show "state-of-the-art" performance on various industry benchmarks and come with new capabilities such as "improved reasoning". Meta gave a teaser about the power of Llama 3 earlier this year, when the company said it was using two "data centre scale" clusters that both contain more than 24,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs to develop Llama 3. Meta claimed the models are a "major leap" from Llama 2 and that the company's goal was to create open models that are "on par with the best proprietary models available today". Apple Intelligence Meta is not the only Big Tech company deciding to skip a major product launch in the EU market citing tough regulations. Apple recently unveiled its own AI advancements under the banner of Apple Intelligence due to launch in the US later this year. The iPhone maker said that Apple Intelligence is not expected to launch in the EU until 2025 - citing similar reasons as Meta. While Meta's objections with the EU pertain to GDPR (and will likely also be in friction with the upcoming AI Act), Apple has a problem with requirements of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to increase competition in the bloc and prevent anti-competitive behaviours. The DMA requires companies to make their products interoperable with those made by competitors, which Apple argues puts its users' privacy and security at risk. EU leaders are not convinced. "I find that very interesting that they say, 'we will now deploy AI where we're not obliged to enable competition'," EU competition chief Magrethe Vestager said recently upon being asked about her thoughts on Apple's postponement decision. "I think that is the most stunning, open declaration that they know 100pc that this is another way of disabling competition where they have a stronghold already." Meta launched X competitor Threads last July, making it available in most major markets, including the UK, US and India. However, the company withheld launching the app in the EU because of its strict regulations. It was eventually launched in the EU in December. Find out how emerging tech trends are transforming tomorrow with our new podcast, Future Human: The Series. Listen now on Spotify, on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

Meta stops EU roll-out of AI model due to regulatory concerns

The company already faced data protection complaints in several EU countries. US tech giant Meta will not roll-out multimodel AI models - so-called virtual assistants - in Europe due to regulatory unpredictability, a company spokesperson confirmed to Euronews today (18 July). "We will release a multimodal Llama model over the coming months, but not in the EU due to the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment," a Meta spokesperson said. The news, first reported by Axios, comes as the company had already paused the roll-out of its AI assistant in Europe after the Irish Data Protection Commission told Meta to postpone its plan to use data from Facebook and Instagram adult users to train large language models (LLMs). Meta updated its privacy policy asking to take all public and non-public user data - with the exception of chats between individuals - for use in current and future AI technology, which was due to take effect on 26 June. In response, Austrian privacy organisation NOYB filed complaints with privacy watchdogs in eleven EU member states, alleging Meta's practices were not compliant with the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). NOYB requested an "urgency procedure" under the EU's data protection rules. It claims the change is worrying because it involves the personal data of about 4 billion Meta users. Describing it as a "step backwards" for European innovation, Meta said at the time that it remained highly confident that its approach complies with European laws and regulations. The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) told Euronews in June that "Meta delayed the launch following a number [of] enquiries from the DPC which have been addressed". Meta gave users four weeks' notice ahead of the initial training, the DPC said. Meta has its own large language model called Llama, the latest version of which (Llama 3) was released in April and is used to power its assistant Meta AI.

Meta Follows in Apple's Footsteps by Restricting AI Releases in EU Countries

Katie a UK-based news reporter and features writer. Officially, she is CNET's European correspondent, covering tech policy and Big Tech in the EU and UK. Unofficially, she serves as CNET's Taylor Swift correspondent. You can also find her writing about tech for good, ethics and human rights, the climate crisis, robots, travel and digital culture. She was once described a "living synth" by London's Evening Standard for having a microchip injected into her hand. Meta's upcoming multimodal AI models won't be available in EU countries due to the bloc's strict regulations, the company confirmed on Thursday. The tech giant's next model is expected to work across text, video, audio and images to enable next-level chatbots, content generation, translation and much more. But not for people living in the European Union. "We will release a multimodal Llama model over the coming months, but not in the EU due to the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment," a spokesperson for the company said in a statement to CNET, confirming an Axios report. Every big tech company's take on AI is different. Meta's approach has been to build accessible, open-source models that can be used by all sorts of companies and research institutions, and also integrated into its own platforms, including Facebook and WhatsApp. The news about the lack of availability in the EU may come as a blow to those who were keenly anticipating the next Llama release, and it may also have a knock-on impact on Meta's products within Europe. But Meta isn't the only company forced to restrict European users' access to upcoming AI products. Last month, Apple said its upcoming release of Apple Intelligence won't be available in the EU when it's released in the US later this year. Both companies are wary of European regulations, which have already tripped them up this year, with potential penalties threatening their wallets and their ongoing activity within the region. Big tech companies welcome government regulation in theory, as they say it shouldn't be their job to regulate themselves. But that doesn't mean they agree with all the contents of those regulations. Some of the regulations put in place by Europe to protect users and the wider business environment are incompatible with the latest products that tech companies are developing. In the case of Meta, the issue is Europe's long-standing set of privacy rules, known as the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, which came into force in 2018. These rules are designed to protect the data of European internet users, giving them the power to say how their data is held and used. Companies that fail to comply, or violate people's privacy by misusing their data, face fines of up to 4% of their annual turnover. Apple, meanwhile, is concerned about another set of rules, Europe's Digital Markets Act. This law is designed to prevent large tech companies, known as "gatekeepers" (of which Apple is one), from stymying the growth of competitors in ways that might negatively impact Europeans. Apple has been obliged to comply with the regulation since May, but in June, EU regulators said the company was breaking the law with its App Store rules. Apple, though, said the rules were in compliance. No other companies have said at this stage that their future AI releases may not be available in the EU, but it's safe to say that where Apple and Meta lead, others may follow. Their willingness to withhold products will also be noted by regulators -- both within Europe and elsewhere -- as those lawmakers try to put appropriate safeguards around this new technology, which increasingly seems to be creeping into every corner of our lives.

Meta Is Keeping Its Next Big AI Update Out of the EU

So far, the EU's increasing regulations on big tech have threatened Apple, Meta, and Microsoft with fines in the billions, plus forced Apple to allow third-party app stores and payment methods in the EU. Companies looking to operate in the region have little choice but to cooperate, but Facebook parent company Meta has a solution: It's taking its ball and going home. In a statement to The Verge, Meta spokesperson Kate McLaughlin said that the company's next-gen Llama AI model is skipping Europe, placing the blame squarely on regulations. "We will release a multimodal Llama model over the coming months," Mclaughlin said, "but not in the EU due to the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment." A multimodal model is one that can incorporate data between multiple mediums, like video and text, and use them together while calculating. It makes AI more powerful, but also gives it more access to your device. The move actually follows a similar decision from Apple, which said in June that it would be holding back Apple Intelligence in the EU due to the Digital Markets Act, or DMA, which puts heavy scrutiny on certain big tech "gatekeepers," Apple and Meta both among them. Meta's concerns here could be less related to the DMA and more to the new AI Act, which recently finalized compliance deadlines and will force companies to make allowances for copyright and transparency starting August 2, 2026. Certain AI use cases, like those that try to read the emotions of schoolchildren, will also be banned. As the company tries to get a hold of AI on its social media platforms, increasing pressure is the last thing it needs. How this will affect AI-forward Meta products like Ray-Ban smart glasses remains to be seen. Meta told The Verge that future multimodal AI releases will continue to be excluded from Europe, but that text-only model updates will still come to the region. While the EU has yet to respond to Meta's decision, EU competition regulator Margrethe Vestager previously called Apple's plan to keep Apple Intelligence out of the EU a "stunning open declaration" of anticompetitive behavior.

Meta won't release its multimodal Llama AI model in the EU

Meta says it won't be launching its upcoming multimodal AI model -- capable of handling video, audio, images, and text -- in the European Union, citing regulatory concerns. The decision will prevent European companies from using the multimodal model despite it being released under an open license. "We will release a multimodal Llama model over the coming months, but not in the EU due to the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment," Meta spokesperson Kate McLaughlin said to The Verge. Just last week, the EU finalized compliance deadlines for AI companies under its strict new AI Act. Tech companies operating in the EU will generally have until August 2026 to comply with rules around copyright, transparency, and AI uses like predictive policing. That still leaves a difficult situation for companies outside the EU who were hoping to provide products and services that use these models, as they'll be prevented from offering them in one of the world's largest economic markets. The EU hasn't commented on Meta's decision at the time of writing. Apple's decision to potentially restrict its AI deployment was blasted by the EU's competition commissioner Margrethe Vesteger.

Meta's Llama multimodal AI may not be deployed in the EU

Meta plans to withhold its future multimodal AI models in the European Union due to lack of clarity from regulators, according to an Axios report. Multimodal models can process images and audio and power AI applications on Meta as well as on Ray Ban smart glasses. The company confirmed their decision in a statement to the outlet saying, "We will release a multimodal Llama model over the coming months, but not in the EU due to the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment." The EU is particularly concerned about how Meta and other AI companies will train their AI models using data from customers while complying with their data protection law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Meta says it may block news from Facebook in Australia Meta also shared that they still plan to release their next text-only model, Llama 3 in the EU. (For top technology news of the day, subscribe to our tech newsletter Today's Cache) Earlier in May, Meta said that it plans to train its AI models on publicly available posts of European users on Facebook and Instagram. But the company had to quickly halt this after criticism from data privacy regulators in the region. Apple has made a similar choice after it recently announced that will avoid releasing Apple Intelligence in Europe due to regulatory concerns. Read Comments

Meta Suspends AI Tools in Brazil Amid Privacy Policy Dispute

Meta has reportedly suspended its generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools in Brazil after one of the country's regulators objected to part of the company's privacy policy. Earlier in July, Brazil's National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) suspended the validity of Meta's new privacy policy, saying the company would have to exclude the section about the processing of personal data for generative AI training, Reuters reported Thursday (July 17). "We are committed to bringing Meta AI, along with the models that power it, to more people around the world, including in Europe," Meta said in a June 14 update to an earlier blog post. "But, put simply, without including local information we'd only be able to offer people a second-rate experience. This means we aren't able to launch Meta AI in Europe at the moment." On June 6, Vienna-based privacy group NOYB -- the European Center for Digital Rights -- said it filed complaints with 11 European countries, arguing that Meta's use of user data in its proposed AI practices violates the European Union's (EU) General Data Protection Regulator (GDPR). "Meta is basically saying that it can use 'any data from any source for any purpose and make it available to anyone in the world,' as long as it's done via 'AI technology,'" NOYB founder Max Schrems said at the time in a press release. "This is clearly the opposite of GDPR compliance." Reached for comment by PYMNTS at the time, a Meta spokesperson pointed to a company blog post that said that the company's approach is "consistent with how other tech companies are developing and improving their AI experiences in Europe."