Currently, the digital economy is becoming increasingly independent from the traditional economy. While the traditional economy is linked to countries, their territories and state organisations, the digital economy has become independent from these existing determinants. A trend in the digital economy is the growing role of artificial intelligence – an advanced tool that is being perfected using the vast amount of material available on the Internet. So far, this has been done with virtually no regard for copyright issues and the payment of appropriate fees for the use of valuable training materials. The longer the training materials are and the more interesting the vocabulary used by their authors, the more valuable they are. Artificial intelligence incorporates copyrighted material into its models and then presents the generated content.
Two years ago, a meeting was held between US authorities and representatives of creative circles. During the Senate hearing, there were calls for legislation to protect creators from artificial intelligence. There were demands for regulations to be introduced to ensure transparency in artificial intelligence learning processes. In turn, more than 10,000 authors from around the world signed a petition to oblige creators of tools using artificial intelligence to obtain consent from authors before including their works in generative models. The initiators of the appeal suggested that evading this obligation would result in severe financial penalties. In the middle of this year, several popular writers sued a technology company for copying their works without consent for the purpose of training generative artificial intelligence. The writers are also appealing to publishers not to publish books created by artificial intelligence.
The fact is, however, that companies that were quick to recognise the potential of artificial intelligence can now impose certain conditions on the market and reap considerable profits from this. If so, they should pay taxes. And here an intriguing question arises: to which country and in what amount will these taxes be paid, because state budget revenues come largely from taxes levied on companies. At the same time, the state should be viewed from different perspectives. The easiest way is to view it as a sovereign entity, a monolith. From this perspective, it seems to be obvious: the state wants as much money as possible to go into the budget. Companies that pay high taxes are therefore particularly valuable. In practice, the state must also be viewed as an arena for the struggle to maintain or gain power. In this respect, the electorate is key. This gives rise to complex relationships that are difficult to unravel. Economic entities employ people who are at least potential voters and who, through their family and social circles, can influence the electoral decisions of others.
Two in one: sources generating significant budget revenues and a numerically significant potential electorate are something to be reckoned with when planning the political future. This is the source of the American authorities' concern that GAFAM/GAMAM companies should not pay digital tax in European Union Member States. In turn, these states, viewed both from the perspective of monolithic states and internal groups competing for voter recognition, recognise and intend to solve the social problems resulting from the development of the digital economy. This is to be achieved through the implementation of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Solving existing problems may indeed win over potential voters. According to the European Union, the regulations are non-discriminatory. However, the big five American tech companies are continuing their efforts to maintain a status quo that is convenient for them. That is why the President of the United States has threatened to impose tariffs on products originating in EU Member States. In these circumstances, the President of France has suggested the possibility of retaliatory measures against American digital giants... This is how artificial intelligence has become the source of another serious political dispute between the United States and the European Union. IIn the longer term: there are fears that public sector institutions could be destabilised and the competitiveness of the SME sector could be radically reduced. This would allow tech giants to take over the service space that remains after the crisis.
Kinga Machowicz