Currently, Microsoft is striving to position its AI in compliance with the future planned EU AI Act that will impose several significant requirements in 2025. This law, which is believed to be the first in the world, seeks to set up a framework to govern the use of AI technologies. In this way, Microsoft is becoming one of the key leaders of how businesses can continue the use of innovative AI solutions while also respecting the guidelines within this evolving regulatory sphere.
Late in the year, Microsoft set out on an AI Tour across three cities in Europe namely Brussels, Paris, and Berlin with an aim of working with other entities in the region. The goal of this tour was to showcase the newer AI-related developments by Microsoft, and highlight its commitment to following the provisions given in the EU AI Act. Realizing the need for equal measures with innovation and regulation, the company is focusing on creating AI lively that complies with the guidelines set by the Act. Furthermore, Microsoft is also offering its customers tools and assistance to help them meet the EU regulations that are in place.
Management at Microsoft has integrated regulations for compliance into the processes of development and governance. So, as to meet the requirements of the EU AI Act, they developed a Responsible AI Standard as the foundational framework for the teams working on AI engineering. There are cross-functional groups in the company from the governance, engineering, legal, and public policy teams, all of which implement the standards and protocols set by the Act within the company. This involves updating documentations, technical policies, and contracts including the Generative AI Code of Conduct which has prohibited the use of generative AI for social scoring.
The provisions of the Act include a ban on certain practices involving AI that will come into force in February 2025. As such, Microsoft has conducted internal debates within its organization, noting where improvements are needed in the AI systems. By asking compliance questions as part of its core process, the company guarantees that new AI systems are checked for compliance issues. In addition, the ‘internal guidelines and procedures’ have been modified to ban problematic practices, while ‘sales communications have been adapted to meet regulatory requirements.
Microsoft is very much concern in making sure that AI solutions are used responsibly, including on their customer support. They understand that the EU’s artificial intelligence regulation assigns the responsibilities of compliance to both sellers and end-users of AI systems. To help their clients fulfill these requirements, Microsoft provides tools like the AI Customer Commitments and articles on their Trust Centre website. These tools and guidelines have been designed to assist organisation’s to cope with the ever-shifting legal requirements, governing the use of artificial intelligence in enterprise.
Transparency has always been considered an important element in microsoft’s activity. Since 2019, the company has published 33 Transparency Notes specifying the opportunities and limitations of AI solutions. Such notes are merged with regularly asked questionaries and professional applications including Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager, Azure AI Content Safety, and PyRIT that is the Python Risk Identification Tool. These resources are to help customers build a good governance framework and also prevent some risks that might occur due to the application of high risk AI applications.
Microsoft has also engaged with policy makers on how the Act should be implemented. The company is currently participating in more than sixty secondary regulatory proceedings, and is in the process of coordinating on this with the EU’s main AI Office and with European standards bodies to contribute its expertise and experience. Moreover, Microsoft is involved in developing codes of conduct for the general-purpose AI models to sell by companies and to harmonize the global standards with the European goals.
In the future, Microsoft will continue to devote more resources inclusive of products, tools, and governance to support the development of AI that is trustworthy. With compliance deadlines around the corner, the company is focusing on optimizing it for compliance and ensuring its compatibility. This will allow businesses around the globe to apply AI responsibly based on the EU AI Act. This is why, by partnering with regulators, customers, and other members of the tech industry, Microsoft strives to create a future where advancement in AI does not have to happen at the cost of compliance with regulatory norms.
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