Turns out Brussels' penchant for what is often perceived as overregulation is having a ripple effect well beyond the EU.
Nearly half of the companies referencing the EU's Artificial Intelligence Act in their governance disclosures are not based in the EU at all, according to new research, suggesting Brussels is beginning to set a global standard for AI governance even before the bloc's toughest rules take full effect.
The analysis, published by the Thomson Reuters Foundation using data from its AI Company Data Initiative (AICDI), draws on more than 100,000 data points collected from 2,973 companies worldwide.
It found that 47% of firms citing the Act in their disclosures are headquartered outside the EU.
The report describes this as evidence of a "Brussels Effect" in AI governance, the term used to describe the tendency of EU regulation to become a global benchmark, most notably with the GDPR.
