Adam Leon Smith

Is AI harder than cement? Is the EU AI Act being delayed? Based on recent reports, the EU AI Act isn't being delayed, yet, but there are significant delays in the harmonised technical standards that companies rely on for compliance guidance.

adamleonsmith.substack.com/p/is-ai-hard...

Task-level AI assurance The missing piece in the conversation

I wrote something for the first time in a while.

AI assurance needs to move beyond generic process frameworks into task level measures:

open.substack.com/pub/adamleon...

FACT: Conformity assessment bodies can carry out their activities on the territory of third countries. The NANDO database shows that they can also based in other countries - e.g. Australia, Canada and Japan

"Decision 768/2008/EC sets out that conformity assessment bodies must be located in the EU in order to test to EU regulations"

FACT: This is true. National accreditation bodies are non-profit regulators, they "check the checkers". Why would anyone benefit from regulators being competitive?

"Regulation 765/2008 requires each Member State to appoint a single national accreditation body that can accredit conformity assessment bodies and prohibits competition among Member States’ national accreditation bodies."

FACT: That's not a real policy.

"new policies implemented by the European Commission, such as a refusal to reference underlying standards developed outside of Europe"

FACT: As a non-EU national participating in the standards drafting process, along with many others, I beg to differ.

"[European standards organisations] generally exclude non-EU nationals from participating in their standard-drafting process. In the limited instances where non-EU nationals do participate, they are not allowed to vote."

FACT: Cooperation between ISO/IEC and CEN-CENELEC is codified in the Vienna and Frankfurt agreements, which can and DO allow for parallel development and identical adoption as harmonised standards.

"[European standards] can only be developed through three European Standards Organizations (ESOs)"

FACT: European standards place exactly the same burden on all producers.

"U.S. workers and exporters thus face additional burdens in accessing the EU market not faced by domestic producers in the EU and often not faced by EU exporters when accessing the U.S. market."

FACT: The application of harmonised or other standards remains voluntary, and the manufacturer can always apply other technical specifications to meet the requirements. The presumption of conformity is optional, but a highly beneficial tool for reducing compliance costs for EVERYONE.

"Products regulated by the EU must conform to these EU-specific regional standards in order to benefit from a 'presumption of conformity' with the EU’s essential regulatory requirements."

The US has published its 2025 Foreign Trade Barriers report. It takes a hard swipe at the European Standardisation system. I appreciate that it covers a wide range of topics, from bananas to AI, but there are a few statements in there that really need correction.

ustr.gov/sites/defaul...

France and Germany unveil Docs, a homegrown alternative to Google Docs The Trump administration has set out to drastically reshape the relationship between the US and Europe. In response, Brussels is scrambling to adapt to this new reality,...

I have said before that many services provided by US big tech firms can be easily replaced, given enough motivation.

search.app/rDp29

This has to be right. Starmer's summit on Sunday has become a potentially decisive moment. If Europeans don't throw their weight behind Ukraine and behind a massive and immediate increase in their defence efforts (& damn the deficits), Europe will find itself at the mercy of Putin & Trump.

BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT Uk opts not to sign Al agreement - what does this mean for global Al ethics? The UK has chosen not to sign the international Al agreement at the Paris Al summit saying it "did not provide enough practical clarity on global governance, nor sufficiently addressed harder questions around national security and the challenge Al poses to it". Adam Leon Smith DEng FBCS, Al expert at BCS, commented: "When we surveyed technology experts last year, 88% said it was important that the UK government takes a lead in shaping global ethical standards in Al and other high-stakes technologies. Whether that's through a declaration or not, the world's richest countries will ultimately need to show they can put geo-politics aside, balance Al innovation with safety, and be responsible enough to work together at this critical moment in human history." What's your view? Should the UK take a stronger stance on global Al governance? Let us know in the comments. #AI #Artificiallntelligence #AlEthics #TechLeadership

BREAKING NEWS UK OPTS NOT TO SIGN INTERNATIONAL AI DECLARATION BCS RESPONDS

UK opts not to sign AI agreement – what does this mean for global AI ethics?

#BCS #AI #AIEthics

When do we get Proton Maps?

So Pedro, where does Meta publish this information exactly? Posting a link would totally prove your point

When you realise you are arguing about US social media with the global policy director of Meta...

Or someone with the same name and identical lobby positions.

Is there a block list for US big tech employees?

I am interested whether you work for a US social media company, Pedro

Agreed, and US companies can also block EU users if they don't want to play by the rules.

I see. I wonder if this is a reaction to ISO and IEC suing the EC?

As a consumer I'm quite happy with the outcome in my example.

I don't know much about US law but it says that congress can approve an extension based on certification from the president. Surely that won't happen so quickly?

Also can an executive order really override primary legislation?

But on the other hand, that means TikTok will still be accessible through a browser without risk of fines! Unless browsers are considered distribution...

Ah, you are right:

Providing services to distribute, maintain, or update such foreign adversary controlled application (including any source code of such application) by means of a marketplace (including an online mobile application store).