INDUSTRIES, TECHNOLOGY | Draft Law on AI approved by Italian Senate

On 20 March 2025 the Italian Senate (i.e. the upper chamber of the Parliament) approved the Draft Law no. 1146/2024 (the “Draft AI Bill”) on the harmonisation of national legislation with the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (“AI Act”).

In analogy with the AI Act, the Draft AI Bill focuses on the transparent, responsible, anthropocentric and fundamental rights-compliant development and use of AI systems across different sectors of society, including healthcare and scientific research, the labor market and intellectual professions, the judiciary, public administration and national security.

The Draft AI Bill also tackles upon sensitive issues related to the spread of AI-based products and services, such as copyright law. In this respect, Article 25 of the Draft AI Bill regulates the copyright protection of works generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence, clarifying that such works are also protected by copyright, provided that they are the result of the author’s intellectual effort. Furthermore, in accordance with Articles 70-ter and 70-quater of the Italian Copyright Law, the Draft AI Bill also allows the reproduction and extraction from works or other materials available online or in databases to which there is lawful access, carried out through the use of AI models and systems, including generative AI tools.

The approval of the Draft AI Bill followed an extensive parliamentary debate, which also involved the audition of experts and stakeholders. The text is now under the evaluation of the Camera dei Deputati (i.e. the lower chamber of the Parliament).   

Newsletter n. 106 – April 2025