European Parliament Advances Landmark AI Regulation With Broad Bans
European lawmakers push the AI Act forward by approving strict rules that ban biometric surveillance, emotion recognition, and predictive policing. The legislation establishes a risk-based framework to ensure artificial intelligence remains safe, transparent, and human-centric.
European Parliament committees officially move the AI Act closer to becoming law by adopting a draft negotiating mandate with overwhelming support. Lawmakers amend the original proposal to ensure artificial intelligence systems remain safe, transparent, traceable, non-discriminatory, and environmentally friendly. The updated text also provides a uniform, technology-neutral definition of AI so the rules apply effectively to both current and future systems.
The regulation relies on a risk-based approach that strictly prohibits AI systems posing an unacceptable threat to public safety. Members of the European Parliament expand the list of banned practices to include real-time remote biometric identification in public spaces, predictive policing algorithms, and emotion recognition tools used in law enforcement, education, and the workplace. The new rules also outlaw social scoring, exploitative manipulative techniques, and the indiscriminate scraping of biometric data from social media or CCTV footage.
In addition to these bans, the legislation introduces tailor-made regimes for general-purpose AI and foundation models like GPT. The updated mandate guarantees citizens the right to file complaints about AI systems, ensuring a human-centric approach to technological development. As the Parliament prepares for upcoming negotiations, these comprehensive rules set the stage for the world's first major legal framework governing artificial intelligence.