BRUSSELS — The European Commission is “still assessing” a delay in the implementation of the Artificial Intelligence Act, the head of the EU executive’s AI Office Lucilla Sioli told a POLITICO event today. Some EU countries have been pushing to delay the implementation of the landmark regulation, fearing that it would slow down the bloc’s innovation and competitiveness. The possible delay would be particularly for the rules on high-risk systems, Sioli told POLITICO’s Competitive Europe Summit in Brussels. These systems need a set of standards to be compliant with the regulation. But there has been a “little delay” in developing these standards, Sioli acknowledged, so the Commission is in discussions with the standardization organizations on the exact timing of the standards and whether a delay is necessary. “It’s not about pausing the whole AI Act, it’s about checking if and when the standards can be delivered and to organize ourselves around that,” she said. Sioli declined to quantify what possibility there is in a delay, merely saying the Commission is “still assessing.”

EU governments are worried criminal networks are exploiting emerging technologies — like phone software updates — faster than lawmakers and police can keep up with. “Even the stupidest of criminals today can avoid law enforcement just by using an iPhone,” Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard told reporters after a meeting with his European counterparts in Copenhagen on Wednesday. Ministers floated potential improvements to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — the EU’s main privacy law — that could give authorities “more potent resources and tools” to investigate wrongdoing. Referencing television show The Wire to illustrate how technology has far outpaced law enforcement’s capabilities, Hummelgaard warned that upcoming iPhone updates could enable encrypted AI-generated messages, making criminal investigations even harder.  “Sometimes I fear criminals are laughing their socks off because we are not sufficiently able to neither within our nation states, but also on a global or even an EU level, to provide the necessary provisions that can give law enforcement the right tools,” he said. EU Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath said the Commission will now weigh the ministers’ suggestions.