The Commission this week set out its position that the AI Act should be added to Annex 2 of the Windsor Framework, which a leading AI law expert warned could see AI businesses in Northern Ireland face tougher regulation than in the rest of the UK.

William Fry partner Dr Barry Scannell said yesterday that such a move would deepen a “regulatory gulf between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK”, especially “given the deregulation route the UK is taking with AI”.

However, the UK government insists that Northern Ireland will benefit from its AI strategy.

“The government is committed to ensuring the UK remains a leading AI nation and Northern Ireland will benefit from our plan to exploit the economic growth that AI will drive forward,” a spokesperson for the UK government told ILN yesterday evening.

They did not say whether or not the UK government would agree to adding the AI Act to Annex 2 of the Windsor Framework when the matter is discussed in the joint EU-UK committee.

“Substantive provisions of the EU AI Act do not apply in Northern Ireland and could only apply with UK government agreement at the Withdrawal Agreement joint committee, subject to the safeguards in schedule 6B of the Northern Ireland Act 1998,” the spokesperson said.