🤖 As artificial intelligence continues its meteoric rise across Europe, a growing chorus of voices from the tech industry is calling for a strategic pause.
Italian ICT companies, represented by Anitec-Assinform, have formally requested a two-year delay in the application of the European Union’s AI Act, citing concerns over regulatory readiness and the potential impact on innovation.
The Heart of the Debate
The AI Act, hailed as the world’s first comprehensive framework for regulating artificial intelligence, aims to ensure safety, transparency, and ethical standards across AI systems.
But while its goals are widely supported, the timeline for implementation is raising alarms.
- 🧩 Technical Standards Not Ready: According to CEN-CENELEC, the European standards bodies, the technical specifications required for compliance won’t be finalized until early 2026.
- 🏗️ SMEs at Risk: Smaller companies, which make up a significant portion of Europe’s digital economy, may struggle to meet compliance requirements without clear guidance.
- 📉 Innovation Slowdown: Industry leaders fear that premature enforcement could stifle AI development, especially in high-growth sectors like health tech, finance, and logistics.
Italy’s AI Boom
Italy’s AI market is thriving, with a 38.7% growth rate in 2024 and a total valuation of €935 million. The digital sector overall contributes nearly €82 billion to the national economy and employs around 700,000 people.
This momentum, however, could be jeopardized if companies are forced to comply with regulations that are still in flux.
Massimo Dal Checco, president of Anitec-Assinform, emphasized that while regulation is necessary, “the new compliance profiles are unprecedented, and companies need more time to adopt them effectively.”
A Call for Strategic Patience
The proposal to “stop the clock” on the AI Act doesn’t seek to undermine its importance—it aims to ensure that its rollout is practical, inclusive, and innovation-friendly.
By aligning enforcement with the availability of technical standards, the industry hopes to avoid a regulatory bottleneck that could disadvantage European firms on the global stage.