UPDATED: EU countries, lawmakers halt 22-hour long AI talks, to continue on Friday

BRUSSELS, Dec 7 (Reuters) – EU countries and lawmakers on Thursday halted negotiations on landmark rules governing artificial intelligence after failing to find consensus on key points despite 22 hours of discussions, saying talks would resume on Friday.

“Lots of progress made over past 22 hours on the #AIAct. Resuming work with EU Parliament and Council tomorrow at 9:00 AM (0800 GMT),” EU industry chief Thierry Breton said on X social platform.

EU lawmakers and governments were wrangling on Thursday morning over several key issues on landmark rules governing artificial intelligence, two sources familiar with the matter said, as marathon overnight talks entered their second day.

The two sides agreed on how to regulate fast-growing generative AI systems such as ChatGPT in the early hours of Thursday, a source told Reuters.

But several key issues such as its use in law enforcement and source code access were yet to be debated after 17 hours of talks, according to two sources familiar with the matter. They declined to be identified because the talks are confidential.

The Council of the European Union on Thursday postponed a press conference scheduled for 0700 GMT until further notice as negotiations continue after 17 hours which included tense debates and frustration with a broken coffee machine.

The discussion between EU governments and lawmakers started at 1400 GMT on Wednesday.

EU countries and lawmakers have been trying to finalise details of the draft rules proposed by the European Commission two years ago but have struggled to keep up with the rapidly evolving technology. That made a consensus hard to achieve.

The new law could become the blueprint for other governments as countries seek to craft rules for their own AI industry, providing an alternative to the U.S.’ light-touch approach and China’s interim rules.