Europe Opens First AI Act Investigations Against OpenAI and Anthropic
The European Commission announced the launch of the first investigations under the AI Act into cyber incidents involving agents from two major companies, amid a legal dispute over the scope of its authority.
Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Henna Virkkunen stated that the European AI Office will open investigations into recent cyber incidents involving autonomous AI agents working for "OpenAI" and "Anthropic," pursuant to the European AI Act, according to the IAPP Daily Dashboard.
These cases are described as the first major enforcement test of the law, and could set a precedent defining how its rules apply to developers of the most advanced models when security-impacting incidents occur.
In contrast, some legal experts question the Commission's authority to investigate incidents that occurred during the pre-market testing phase, opening a debate over the limits of its temporal jurisdiction.
Alongside the investigations, the Commission launched a public consultation on procedural rules for enforcement regarding Articles 75c and 75d, in a parallel regulatory step defining how punitive proceedings are managed.
What do these terms mean?
Autonomous AI Agents: AI systems that execute tasks and take actions independently without direct human guidance at every step.
Enforcement: Actions taken by a regulatory body to ensure compliance with the law, which may extend to imposing fines.
Pre-market Testing: A phase in which a developer tests the model before making it available to the public, during which incidents may occur when the model is not yet on the market.
Public Consultation: An invitation launched by a regulatory body to gather feedback from stakeholders before finalizing the rules.
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