Web Summit tackles AI regulation

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Kuo Zhang, President of Alibaba.com, speaks during the Web Summit, in Lisbon, Portugal, November 14, 2023. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes

As the momentum of artificial intelligence accelerates, so do efforts to catch up and regulate it. With countries striving to establish their own regulatory framework, potentially contributing to the increased fragmentation of the global digital market, experts gathered to hash it out at the Web Summit in Lisbon.

70,000 people descended upon Lisbon for Europe’s largest technology conference. At the repurposed Expo ’98 site, digital experts in varying sectors discussed ideas and the latest tech this week, with generative AI already stealing the show, across every field, from Adtech to MedTech.

The imperative to address the risks linked to AI, such as misinformation, employment challenges, bias, and other concerns, serves as motivation for the push toward regulation.

Attendance suffered setbacks with Meta, Google notably absent, and Web Summit founder, Paddy Cosgrave, having resigned following backlash from a social media post referring to “war crimes” in the Israel-Hamas war.

Web Summit 2024 will be held in Doha for the first time in February.

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