The European Union is still seeking more information from Microsoft about some of its generative AI tools and services. Today, the EU"s regulatory body, the European Commission, has requested Microsoft send the info by May 27.
In a press release today, the EC stated that it asked Microsoft earlier this year to send over information on “Copilot in Bing” and “Image Creator by Designer” to see if those services violated the EU"s Digital Services Act. The EC says Microsoft has not yet provided that information and has now set up a new deadline for the company. It added:
The request for information is based on the suspicion that Bing may have breached the DSA for risks linked to generative AI, such as so-called ‘hallucinations", the viral dissemination of deepfakes, as well as the automated manipulation of services that can mislead voters. Under the DSA, designates services, including Bing, must carry out an adequate risk assessment and adopt respective risk mitigation measures.
The EC added that the use of generative AI was especially concerning this year, as it could be used to influence the European Parliament elections in June.
If Microsoft does not provide the requested information about its generative AI tools to the EC before May 27, the regulatory agency could impose fines against the company. Those fines could total up to 1 percent of Microsoft"s total annual income. That same fine could be imposed if Microsoft sends over "incorrect, incomplete, or misleading information" over to the EC.
In December 2023, the EC officially launched a probe of X (formerly Twitter) to see if the social network has violated the Digital Services Act. In April, the EC opened an investigation into TikTok to see if it had violated the DSA due to the launch of TikTok Lite in France and Spain.