Policy
EU Rewrites AI Law to Shield German Industrial Giants
Germany is set to secure a machinery exemption from the EU AI Act, according to five EU diplomats who spoke to Politico. EU ambassadors backed the move Wednesday morning under the Cypriot presidency. Chancellor Friedrich Merz personally lobbied German CEOs on the effort.
This is the first significant rollback of EU digital rules. The original law was designed to cover all sectors without carve-outs. The deal also delays restrictions on high-risk AI uses by more than a year and gives companies a grace period to meet AI content watermarking requirements.
Watch whether other member states use Germany's win as a template for their own sector exemptions. The EU built a universal framework. Industry is now dismantling it one vertical at a time.