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EU to regulate AI’s environmental impact

The European Commission is working on new rules to govern the environmental impact of AI systems through a delegated act under the AI Act. The goal is to monitor and limit the energy consumed by these technologies, particularly large language models such as ChatGPT, Bard and Gemini, which are known for their high energy consumption. During an online event organised by the Commission, Laura Jugel, legal officer of the Commission’s AI Office, said generative AI vendors are required to track energy consumption during the training phase. In addition, standardisation groups are being asked to develop methods to document energy consumption in a comparable way. This process not only aims for transparency but also intends to alleviate high costs for the companies involved.

Kilian Gross, unit head at the AI Office, said once a standard methodology is developed, it can be incorporated into a delegated act. The AI Act, which took effect in August 2023, is based on a human-centred, risk-based approach. However, it currently imposes few obligations on providers of generative AI models in relation to energy consumption. The obligations mainly include recording energy consumption and reporting any direct or indirect damage to the environment to market authorities.

Irina Orssich, head of the Commission’s AI policy area, pointed out that during negotiations with the European Parliament and national governments, the issue of the energy impact of AI came up. However, it has been difficult to define this impact in legally measurable terms. Despite these difficulties, some provisions in the text of the AI Act already require that the environmental impact be considered. Meanwhile, the European Union is also thinking about standards for 6G networks that will be available between 2029 and 2030. ETSI, the European standards body, has announced that preparatory work will begin soon. However, the transition to 6G will represent a gradual evolution of 5G rather than a technological revolution.

Delays in 5G adoption in Europe

As much as they endeavour to develop 6G technology, the European Union is still far away from realising their 5G-powered universal coverage goals set for the year 2023. The European Commission’s report titled ‘State of the Digital Decade’ claims that ultra-fast internet is highly essential for the uptake of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, whose deployment was stalled due to the incompetency of 5G. The EU, US, China and Japan are some of the regions that are being recruited by ETSI, which is partnering with the global 3GPP consortium to develop international telecommunication standards; 30 % of the Requests for Standardisation that are made to ETSI are sent by the European Commission with the majority coming from industry.

The EU Commission wants to regulate the environmental impact of AI with a delegated act
The EU Commission wants to regulate the environmental impact of AI with a delegated act

In the future, some of the main areas in which the Association plans to focus are emphasizing the development of novel tools such as quantum computing and imparting new technology skills to industry workers. ETSI focuses on the redefinition requirements of the Old ones even when it participates in the works dedicated to the implementation of norms, such as the one concerning artificial intelligence; without illusions, the importance of industry is accentuated on such matters.

Private 5G networks until 2029

According to a recent study, the market for private LTE/5G networks is booming and will reach a value of $8.9 billion by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38 per cent, according to a report by Berg Insight. As early as 2024, global revenues for this sector are estimated at $1.8 billion. The number of operational private LTE/5G networks is expected to exceed 4,700 by the end of 2023, excluding demonstration or proof-of-concept projects. Demand is driven by increased spectrum availability and the emergence of new use cases that are driving significant investment from established vendors such as Ericsson, Nokia, and Huawei, as well as new market players. This environment reflects a transition from a supply-driven model based on spectrum licensing to one in which end-user demand dominates.

Antonino Caffo has been involved in journalism, particularly technology, for fifteen years. He is interested in topics related to the world of IT security but also consumer electronics. Antonino writes for the most important Italian generalist and trade publications. You can see him, sometimes, on television explaining how technology works, which is not as trivial for everyone as it seems.