EU AI Act a 'rigidity trap', University of Exeter study warns

A University of Exeter study finds the EU's 2024 AI Act a "rigidity trap" that cannot absorb rapid technological change, already superseded by the 2026 AI Simplification Act before full implementation. The research shows US sector-specific, risk-triggered regulation has proved more concrete and enforceable than the EU's comprehensive framework. If you're building AI in Europe, the rulebook just changed twice in two years—the one you built compliance for is already dead. The US playbook of sector-specific rules that tighten when real harm surfaces is now the evidence-backed path, and the UK's bet that existing regulators can enforce piece by piece just got ammunition.