Senior Meta executive Nick Clegg contacted Taoiseach Simon Harris to highlight his view that Europe should “embrace an open approach” to Artificial Intelligence (AI) development.
His remarks came in an email to the Fine Gael leader after the European elections in June and the pair have also since met in Dublin in December.
Mr Clegg, a former British deputy prime minister, is Meta’s president for global affairs.
Meta owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp and has been developing AI products, some of which have been delayed in Europe with the tech giant citing issues with the regulatory system for this.
Woman who went missing 52 years ago is found alive and well in England
Woman (24) spent Christmas in jail for trying to smuggle boyfriend through Dublin Airport while he walked free
Ireland weather update: Significant snow likely as Met Éireann forecasts lows of -10 degrees
Brazilian student deported from Ireland over Christmas claims paperwork error left him ‘helpless’
In June Mr Clegg wrote an online article headlined: “The new European Parliament faces an existential crisis”.
He wrote that “Europe’s regulatory complexity and the patchwork of laws across different member states often makes companies hesitant to roll out new products here.”
Mr Clegg added: “Meta, Google and others have delayed rolling out their AI assistants here, and even European success stories like Volkswagen are increasingly leaving to build and launch their AI products in the US.”
He also wrote that European leaders have stated they want Europe to compete with the US and China in tech but argued “we [Europe] have been held back by our failure to properly complete the digital single market”.
Mr Clegg said a digital start-up in Amsterdam would “have to navigate 27 different intellectual property laws, various rules for the licensing of content, data protection authorities and other obstacles before it could go live across the Continent”.
Records released by the Department of the Taoiseach under the Freedom of Information Act show that Mr Clegg emailed Mr Harris on June 27th to share the article.
Mr Clegg said “Europe is at a turning point” and raised concern that the Continent’s companies “are growing more slowly, reporting lower returns and lagging behind peers in research and development”.
He said: “I believe Europe can change its trajectory by playing to its strength – the European Single Market” and that this “represents over 450 million consumers, but isn’t complete”.
Mr Clegg added: “It should also embrace an open approach to AI development – taking advantage of open source AI models will give European businesses, start-ups and researchers access to tools they wouldn’t otherwise get their hands on.”
He told Mr Harris: “I hope you find it [his article] interesting.”
Meta did not offer comment on Mr Clegg’s contacts with Mr Harris.
A statement from the Department of the Taoiseach said Mr Harris met Mr Clegg in Dublin on December 5th when “the Taoiseach reiterated the Government’s commitment to maintaining Ireland’s position as a digital leader, in Europe and beyond, as outlined in our National Digital Strategy”.
It added: “This includes the Government’s commitment to providing a strong, well-resourced network of regulators to oversee and enforce digital regulations, in a way which ensures the safety of our citizens while also promoting innovation.”
Mr Harris is also said to have reiterated points he made at the US-Ireland Economic Summit hosted in October when he referenced the Draghi Report on EU Competitiveness.
The statement said the report by former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi “highlights a significant opportunity for the EU to lead in the next wave of innovation, in AI and other advanced technologies”.
Mr Harris “welcomed Draghi’s call to accelerate innovation in the EU, to tackle our productivity challenges and to remove barriers that prevent innovative companies from growing and attracting finance”.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
