On February 20, 2025, with the entry into force of Article 7.2 of the EU AI Act, the entire AI field in Europe has witnessed a compliance storm. According to the regulations, all generative AI systems operating in Europe must submit a special "white paper" by February 22. This white paper contains a lot of key information, including the ethical path of algorithm design, that is, how the AI system follows ethical guidelines during the design process to ensure that no discriminatory, privacy - invading and other adverse consequences occur; the source of training data, which requires clarifying the data collection channels to ensure the legality and compliance of data acquisition; and the user profiling logic, which explains how the AI system constructs accurate user profiles through analyzing user behavior, preferences and other data for services such as content recommendation.
Under this new regulation, the internationally renowned social platform TikTok is facing unprecedented challenges. A leaked internal risk assessment report of TikTok has exposed all the problems in its AI algorithm. First of all, the sources of some training data are not disclosed. At a time when data privacy and security are highly concerned, the opacity of the sources of training data has made users and regulatory authorities deeply question the compliance of TikTok's data use. Whether these undisclosed data sources involve privacy infringement and whether they are obtained from legal channels have become mysteries.
Secondly, TikTok has been accused by the French regulatory authorities of using "neuro - language confusing technology" to enhance user stickiness. This technology conducts complex analysis and processing of the language input by users, and uses ingenious algorithm strategies to push more attractive content, so that users spend more time on the platform. However, regulatory authorities believe that this technology may mislead users, overly interfere with users' independent choices, and go against the principles of fair and transparent market competition.
If TikTok fails to submit a compliant white paper on time, it will face extremely serious consequences. On the one hand, it may be fined 6% of its global revenue. As a globally popular social platform, TikTok has a huge user base and high revenue. Such a high - amount fine will undoubtedly deal a heavy blow to its financial situation and affect subsequent business such as technology research and development and market expansion. On the other hand, it may even completely withdraw from the European market. The European market is extremely important for TikTok, with a large number of active users. Once it loses the European market, it will not only cause huge economic losses but also have a negative impact on its global brand image, triggering a trust crisis among users and partners in other regions.
The challenges faced by TikTok this time also reflect the increasingly strict global trend of AI technology regulation. With the wide application of AI technology in various fields, the risks and problems it brings are gradually emerging. The EU has introduced the EU AI Act to regulate the development of AI technology and protect user rights and market fair competition. For TikTok and other AI enterprises operating in Europe, how to continue to innovate and develop within the framework of compliance will be a key issue to be considered and solved in the coming period.
