EU lawmakers float product liability rules to help avert AI disaster

BRUSSELS — European lawmakers are pushing to expand the EU’s flagship AI regulations to hold American tech companies liable for the risks their most advanced models pose to humanity, according to correspondence seen by POLITICO. The proposal by four senior lawmakers in the European Parliament would add new rules to the EU's landmark 2024 AI Act to ensure that companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic could be held liable when their technology is deployed in unforeseen ways. The move shows Brussels is waking up to a reality in which AI-powered harm is already happening, and risks are multiplying — and marks the first concrete effort within the EU to respond to fears over AI safety that are dominating the global political agenda.