As a long-standing technology partner to Europe, Microsoft seeks to ensure that the continent benefits from artificial intelligence (AI), while continuing to respect the rights of EU citizens online.
AI is no longer a distant prospect but a present reality, reshaping business, healthcare, and scientific discovery across the EU. Yet, as with any transformative technology, AI brings significant challenges as well as immense opportunities. As a technology provider, we bear a responsibility to make sure that the solutions we deliver are deserving of public trust.
As President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said, “Europe is leading the way in making AI safer and more trustworthy, and on tackling the risks stemming from its misuse”. In this pursuit, however, the EU should not lose sight of AI’s role in driving the continent’s digital transformation and economic growth. Indeed, the EU should “focus on becoming a global leader in AI innovation,” as emphasized by President von der Leyen in her political guidelines.
Advancing innovation and safety will require a balanced, whole-of-society approach. The EU is already at the forefront of creating robust legal and regulatory frameworks, making industry players accountable for the development of safe online products, including AI. Microsoft recognizes the legislative developments undertaken during the previous EU mandate and stands ready to engage in dialogue with EU stakeholders on implementing these in a simplified, effective and proportionate way. We also see a need for modernized criminal and other laws to help address the misuse of AI.
Advancing innovation and safety will require a balanced, whole-of-society approach.
Our annual safety research reveals the scale of the potential challenge. Certain societal groups are disproportionately at risk from deliberate misuse of this technology. We therefore see a need for practical steps to protect people — most notably children, women, and older adults — from the harms that arise from abusive AI-generated content.
In our white paper, we outline steps that Microsoft is taking to address this harm, as well as policy recommendations, which in the spirit of simplification offer to to build on the existing rules that address these issues.
Central to our recommendations is the need to establish clear and proportionate rules that protect individuals while enabling Europe to innovate. In our paper, we advocate for the EU to integrate provenance tools, strengthen appropriate existing legal frameworks, and enhance measures that put victim-based decision making at the forefront.
As a company, we know we need a strong safety architecture for our services, grounded in safety by design, and incorporating durable media provenance and watermarking. Equally, we must continue to safeguard our services from abusive content and conduct (whether synthetic or not), through robust cross-sectoral collaboration, supported by ongoing education and public awareness efforts.
In the context of the EU’s mature regulatory landscape, we center our recommendations on enhancing the response to the misuse of AI, through the lens of three key risk areas:
- Protecting children from online exploitation.
- Safeguarding women from non-consensual intimate imagery.
- Safeguarding older adults, especially against AI-enabled fraud
The challenges we face are significant, but so is the opportunity. By proactively addressing these issues, we can build a future where AI enhances human creativity, protects individual privacy, and strengthens the foundations of our democracy.
At Microsoft, we are committed to playing our part, but we recognize that we cannot do it alone. We welcome engagement and feedback from stakeholders across the EU’s digital ecosystem. It is essential that we get this right, and that means working together.
Click here to read our full report
Sign up to The Parliament's weekly newsletter
Every Friday our editorial team goes behind the headlines to offer insight and analysis on the key stories driving the EU agenda. Subscribe for free here.