The effect of the GDPR on AI innovation.
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2025-07-03
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en
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With growing attention and discussion of the GDPR's impact on innovation and the position of the EU in the global digital market, this is a tangent problem for the EU to tackle. This study investigates the effect of the GDPR on AI innovation in the EU. Existing studies showed contradictory findings, underscoring the complexity and context-dependent relationship between privacy regulations and innovation. This thesis employs panel data regression and an SCM, utilizing multiple data sources such as OECD, OpenAlex, and Preqin, from 2014 to 2020. The outcomes investigated in this study are AI and data patents, AI-related publications, AI knowledge flows, VC investments in AI and data startups, as well as in different sectors, supplemented with regular R&D data. The findings are that the GDPR is associated with a negative yet non-significant effect on most outcomes. This study is one of the first to examine and find that the effects of the GDPR differ based on national technological capabilities and governance structures. The results highlight the need for further research into the specific effects per country. Such insights could help steer the European Commission in refining its policy approach to mitigate any unintended negative consequences of the GDPR.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen