In this funders’ briefing, the European AI & Society Fund sets out how civil society groups are rallying rapidly to respond to the EU’s deregulation push to ensure hard-won public safeguards are maintained – through campaigning, advocacy and allying across causes such as climate and labour, that also face sweeping cuts in protections.

As part of a wider deregulatory push, Europe’s groundbreaking regulations on artificial intelligence are under attack. The European Commission’s Digital Omnibus initiative launched in Autumn 2025 to ‘simplify’ the rulebook reverses protections that safeguard people from high-risk uses of AI, secure their privacy and uphold their rights. This rewriting of freshly passed laws is creating legal uncertainty for business, undermining Europe’s role as a global leader on regulation, and casting doubt on other countries’ efforts to build regulations along the European model.

Funders can resource public interest voices working at both European and national levels to not only respond immediately to the EU’s Digital Omnibus proposals, but also keep standing up for safeguards. Funder support is also needed to enable coordination across the field in the face of deregulation, and to build proactive strategies that promote a clear public interest agenda on AI in the long-term.