EU presents first regulatory sandbox on artificial intelligence

With the pilot project of a first regulatory sandbox for artificial intelligence (AI), the European Commission is aiming to bring authorities that will potentially be responsible for AI issues in the future closer to private sector companies involved in AI issues. The aim of the project, which was initiated jointly with the Spanish government, is to define reliable procedures that can provide targeted support for the implementation of the European Commission’s future AI regulation(Artificial Intelligence Act) so that the law can be successfully put into practice in two years’ time. The regulatory sandbox is intended to provide an opportunity to bring together innovators and regulators to provide a controlled environment for their cooperation, which can both facilitate the development, testing and validation of innovative AI systems and at the same time ensure compliance with the requirements of the AI Regulation. The results of the Sandbox will then be made available as future-proof best practice guidelines and other supporting materials to facilitate compliance with the AI Regulation, especially for SMEs and start-ups. In order to strengthen cooperation between all possible stakeholders at European level, participation in the Sandbox is also open to other EU Member States. Funding for the AI test field will come from the recovery and resilience funds allocated to the Spanish government, through the Spanish Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and primarily through the Spanish National AI Strategy. The total budget for the pilot project is approximately 4.3 million euros. The tests will begin in October 2022 and the first results will be presented during the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2023. The experience gained during the test will be published in the form of implementation guidelines and made available to all member states so that they can use the results obtained to prepare for the implementation of the future AI regulation.