Instead of creating specific regulations for the technology, policymakers should update existing privacy, competition and other rules where necessary, and recognize voluntary standards developed by industry, the commerce company said in a post Monday. Shopify also wants governments to “reject duplicative or jurisdiction-specific” statutes and requirements in favour of rules that are compatible around the world, and to avoid making firms audit and get pre-approval to launch their AI applications. (The Logic)

Talking point: “Every proposed AI law should answer one question: does it make it easier or harder to start a business?” Alexandra Clark, Shopify’s vice-president of public affairs, said in a LinkedIn post. The firm argues all such laws do the latter, by adding compliance costs. Shopify’s stance on AI regulation mirrors that of U.S. tech giants, which have similarly opposed U.S. states’ attempts to make their own AI laws, with some success. Those tech companies have also pushed for global harmonization and called for AI rules to focus on the riskiness of AI applications rather than the sectors or tasks in which they’re used. Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke previously criticized Ottawa’s approach to AI regulation, and a set of voluntary generative AI guardrails signed onto by several other Canadian tech firms.