Apple and Meta Decline to Join EU 'AI Act Compliance Pact'... 115 Companies Including Samsung and MS Participate

Apple and Meta did not participate in the voluntary compliance agreement for adhering to the European Union (EU) Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act.

According to the list of companies participating in the 'AI Pact' officially announced by the EU Commission on the 25th (local time), neither Apple nor Meta were included among the 115 companies. Mistral, a leading AI startup from France, also did not participate.

A Meta spokesperson explained in an email sent to Bloomberg News the day before that while they may join the AI Pact in the future, "for now, we are focusing on preparations to comply with the regulations before the AI Act comes into effect."

Samsung, Google, and Microsoft were included in the list as initially announced.

This pact is a voluntary pledge by the industry to strive for safe and transparent AI use during the grace period before the EU AI Act is fully enforced. Although it is a non-binding promise, companies that do not participate may face stricter scrutiny from the EU Commission once the AI Act is fully implemented.

Some observers suggest that the refusal of major companies to participate even at the voluntary compliance stage could lead to increased confusion, with these companies potentially disputing the EU Commission’s decisions after the law is enforced.