META AND SPOTIFY CEOS CRITICIZE AI REGULATION IN THE EU
By Sarah Perez
7:53 AM PDT • August 23, 2024
Meta and Spotify are once again joining forces, this time regarding open-source (or specifically, open-weight) AI, which both companies claim is being hindered by regulatory measures. In joint statements published on their respective websites, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Spotify CEO Daniel Ek argue that EU privacy regulations surrounding AI are stifling innovation. Meta highlights that it has been barred from training its AI models on public data from Facebook and Instagram due to a lack of regulatory clarity.
“In the short term, delaying the use of data that is routinely used in other regions means the most powerful AI models won’t reflect the collective knowledge, culture, and languages of Europe—and Europeans won’t get to use the latest AI products,”
warns Meta’s blog post. It also emphasizes that Europeans will miss out on the latest open-source technology and will be left with AI solutions not tailored for them.
The post further verified prior reports that Meta will withhold its next multimodal AI model from users in the European Union due to regulatory ambiguities. Meta notes it cannot release models like the Llama multimodal, which includes image comprehension features.
Meanwhile, Spotify asserts that its early investment in AI technology has been crucial for its streaming service’s success, offering a personalized experience for each user.
“As we look to the future of streaming, we see tremendous potential to use open-source AI to benefit the industry. This is especially crucial for helping more artists get discovered,” states its post. A simplified regulatory structure would not only boost open-source AI growth but would also support European developers and the wider creator ecosystem that thrives on these innovations.
Reading between the lines, it’s easy to see that Spotify wishes to leverage Meta’s AI technology to enhance its offerings but faces similar challenges due to unclear AI regulations in the EU.
Notably, both companies do not oppose regulation when it works to their benefit. They share a common adversary in Apple—particularly its App Store monopoly. EU regulators have labeled Apple a Big Tech “gatekeeper,” compelling it to allow alternative app stores and payment systems. Zuckerberg criticized Apple’s new business rules for EU developers under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), expressing doubt that any developer would opt-in due to the onerous nature of the requirements. Spotify has previously termed Apple’s compliance plan as “extortion” and a “total farce.”
Meta and Spotify have collaborated over the past few years on various music initiatives, such as a miniplayer on Facebook that streams Spotify directly within the app.
