Some active conversations are happening that cameras are being delayed because of EU regulations that went into effect this year. The two regulations that people are speculating as the cause of delays are the EU USB-C and AI laws.
Common Charger Directive 2022/2380
According to the Common Charger Directive 2022/2380 approved by the Council of the European Union (EU), all devices with wired charging capabilities must feature a USB-C port to be eligible for sale within the EU. The ruling will start on 28 December 2024 and applies to all manufacturers of “small and medium-sized” portable electronics, including:
- digital cameras and video game consoles
- headphones, earbuds and portable loudspeakers
- mobile phones
- portable navigation systems
- tablets and e-readers
- wireless mice and keyboards
We had previously talked about this law back in November, here. And we don't think this is much of a problem, nor should it be for new cameras. As a matter of fact, the only cameras that would have problems with this are older cameras that don't have USB-C charging. The only aspect that Canon may have had to change for new cameras would have been packaging and identification, but Canon had already (and the same with other manufacturers) allowed the cameras to be charged via USB-C.
Artificial Intelligence Act
This law was approved by the EU parliament in March of this year. It will be fully active 2 years from now, with the first of effective date for prohibited AI coming into effect at the end of 2024. The point of the law is to protect the privacy of EU citizens. It's the facial recognition section that I would imagine applies to any of the camera companies, but to be honest, I struggle to classify the AI autofocus and metering systems used by camera manufacturers.
The AI Act classifies AI according to its risk:
- Unacceptable risk is prohibited (e.g. social scoring systems and manipulative AI).
- Most of the text addresses high-risk AI systems, which are regulated.
- A smaller section handles limited risk AI systems, subject to lighter transparency obligations: developers and deployers must ensure that end-users are aware that they are interacting with AI (chatbots and deepfakes).
- Minimal risk is unregulated (including the majority of AI applications currently available on the EU single market, such as AI enabled video games and spam filters – at least in 2021; this is changing with generative AI).
I noticed that some sites took this article and ran with it, confusing deep learning that Canon and other camera manufacturers have been using for the last decade as large-vision model Generative AI. Yeah, it's not the same, but then again, the EU government doesn't know that either.
The deep learning used by camera manufacturers is one-way only and used to determine focus, not capture or personal recognition. The learning modules don't generate, create, or modify any content. If anything, I do believe that this would fall under minimal AI risk. But I'm no lawyer, and reading government laws always makes my teeth ache more than reading patent applications.
Amusingly, the marketing and the need to have the current buzzwords of “AI” and “Artificial Intelligence” in marketing new products may have caused the camera manufacturers more red tape.
No matter what, this is mostly just a paperwork issue for Sony, Canon, Nikon, and the other camera manufacturers to comply with the laws, so while I'm not expecting any actual camera changes, things may be more held up because they need to comply with future regulations.
