The European Union and United States planning to draft a voluntary code of conduct on artificial intelligence within weeks with the hope that fellow democracies will sign on.

After talks with EU officials in Sweden, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that the Western partners felt the fierce urgency to act following the emergence of the technology, in which China has been a growing force.

The voluntary code would be open to all like-minded countries, Blinken adds.

There's almost always a gap when new technologies emerge. The time it takes for governments and institutions to figure out how to legislate or regulate, as per reports.

European Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager added that a draft would be put forward within weeks.

“To do that in the broadest possible circle with friends in Canada, in the UK, in Japan, in India, bringing as many onboard as possible,” adds Vestager.

Sam Altman, whose firm OpenAI created the popular AI-driven ChatGPT bot, took part in the talks of the Trade and Technology Council between the EU and the United States, this year hosted in the northern Swedish city of Lulea.

The forum was set up in 2021 to ease trade friction after the turbulent presidency of Donald Trump but has since set its sights largely on artificial intelligence.

In a joint statement, the two sides called AI a transformative technology with great promise for our people, offering opportunities to increase prosperity and equity.

The European Union and the United States reaffirm their commitment to a risk-based approach to AI to advance trustworthy and responsible AI technologies.