IKV Chairperson Ayhan Zeytinoğlu made a statement regarding the entry into force of the EU's Artificial Intelligence regulation. Chairperson Zeytinoğlu said the following:

“The EU Artificial Intelligence regulation came into force on 1 August 2024. The most important aspect is that the EU is the first actor in the world to establish binding rules related to artificial intelligence. The EU's AI regulation analyses the risks and opportunities associated with using AI. It introduces measures specifically concerning individual rights and the health and safety of users. Accordingly, the use of artificial intelligence in the EU is examined under different categories depending on its risk. Some applications, such as social scoring AI, systems that manipulate human behaviour, emotion recognition systems, and remote biometric identification for predictive policing, are banned due to violations of fundamental rights. Strict rules are also applied to specific systems used in health, recruitment, and credit application assessments. In such high-risk applications, requirements such as risk prevention systems, high quality data sets, user information, human control, and rules on cyber security are introduced. For AI applications like chatbots used in online shopping, users must be warned that they are interacting with a machine. When video, photo or voice is manipulated with “deep fake” technology, it must be reported, and users must be informed when biometric data-based classification or emotion recognition and detection systems are used. Applications like spam filters or video games are considered low-risk and do not have specific conditions.

The AI Act also establishes rules for general-purpose AI models. Member States are responsible for implementing AI rules and will appoint national authorities to enforce market surveillance mechanisms by 2 August 2025. The European Commission's AI Office will be responsible at the EU level. The European AI Board will ensure the uniform application of the AI Act across all Member States. Violations of rules for high-risk AI applications can result in fines of up to 7% of global annual turnover. Provisions for AI with unacceptable risk will be enforced within six months, rules for general-purpose AI models will apply within 12 months, and all other provisions will be in force by 2 August 2026. The European Commission has begun work to establish implementation guidelines for general-purpose AI model providers, with a consultation process involving all NGOs, companies, and experts. The guidelines are expected to be finalized by April 2025.”

IKV Chairperson Ayhan Zeytinoğlu highlighted that the AI regulation, closely related to the EU's digital agenda, imposes significant obligations and emphasized the importance of updating Türkiye-EU relations and reviving the membership perspective in a period where the structure, norms, and rules of the EU Single Market are being rewritten. Chairperson Zeytinoğlu concluded his speech as follows:

“Recently, President Erdoğan introduced the HIT-30 High Technology Investment Program, aiming to make Türkiye a hub for high-tech investments. This program aims to increase high-tech investments and the proportion of high-tech products in our exports. Promoting these goals is very important. At the same time, Türkiye's relationship with the EU process should not be forgotten. Becoming a centre for high-tech investments requires compliance with the most current norms and standards, including digitalization and artificial intelligence.”