Actualités juridiques
An audience of AI enthusiasts from various sectors met today at the House of Startups. The dynamic and rapid evolutions in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) sandboxes were at the centre of discussions amongst experts and practitioners.
Such AI sandboxes are controlled testing environments for innovative AI products and are a valuable tool for companies to bring new AI products to the Market. They can either provide the technology and infrastructure necessary to test new AI products or, in the case of regulatory sandboxes, the right support to help them comply with the applicable legal norms.
This topic was discussed at a critical juncture: According to the European Union’s (EU) AI regulation, Luxembourg, as well as all other EU member states, should soon set up at least one AI regulatory sandbox to foster innovation in AI.
Anne-Sophie Theissen, Director of the Legal Department of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, took the floor to open the discussion by underlining how, in an era of increasing regulatory complexity, AI regulatory sandboxes can offer a unique opportunity, especially for SMEs and Startups, to test new AI products hand-in hand with the regulator.
The discussion that followed, moderated by Kelly Xintara, Legal advisor at the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, was rich in ideas and proposals.
The round table started with a presentation by Daniele Pagani, Lead Partnership Officer at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST). He shared the LIST’s experiences when recently in putting in place the first AI sandboxes in Luxembourg. As explained, these AI sandboxes can help perform independent assessment of AI systems to detect several forms of social bias.
“The Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT) of the European Commission then presented the toolkit that the EU has put in place to help companies bring robust and safe AI products to the market. Yordanka Ivanova, Legal and Policy officer, explained that by 2026, all member states should set up at least one AI regulatory sandbox and provided some key points on how they should function, according to the AI Regulation. A second type of testing environment, the sectorial “Testing and Experimentation Facilities” (TEFs) was then presented by Jan Hückmann, Policy Officer. This presentation included a clear overview of their functioning and practical information on how a company can apply to use them. Evangelia Markidou, Head of Sector, then took the floor to give information on the European Commission’s AI innovation package, aimed at boosting the development and deployment of trustworthy AI in the EU. This package includes AI factories, providing computing capacity to facilitate the development of trustworthy large AI models, important funding and investment opportunities in the field of Generative AI through the “GenAI4EU” initiative, as well as the brand-new AI Office, which will play a crucial role in the implementation of the AI Regulation.”
Emilia Tantar, Chief Data and AI Officer at Black Swan LUX and President of the National Mirror Committee on AI Standardization, Chanukya Patnaik, Founder and CEO of AI Planet and Alexis Delaforge, Zortify Labs Director, intervened throughout the discussion to express their views on the opportunities and challenges that AI Sandboxes present from developers of AI systems. They moreover made some concrete proposals on practical aspects of their functioning.
The session ended with some reflections towards a future where the Luxembourgish digital landscape could potentially be marked by several parallel sandbox initiatives and how this could work in practice for companies.
Discussions continued during a pleasant afterwork cocktail.
We would like to thank all speakers for their insights, as well as the audience for its active participation which helped create a vibrant and collaborative atmosphere.
Are there any other topics in the field of AI you would like us to address us in the next Ready4AI conferences? Don’t hesitate to let us know: secretariat.aaj@cc.lu. / Kelly.xintara@cc.lu.
