Maximilian Henning

Read our article at @euractiv.com:

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My colleagues and me had a look at Palantir: We tried to find out in which EU countries the controversial US tech company is working with authorities.

It wasn’t the easiest task. Palantir might specialise in bringing together information for its clients, but it’s also very secretive about itself.

The EU capitals and companies pitching for billions in AI gigafactory funding - Euractiv Governments and businesses around Europe are clamouring to get in on the AI infrastructure race.

Read my article at @euractiv.com:

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We’ve put together a map showing every gigafactory pitch that we know about so far – and written about the haggling that will pick up after the summer.

We’ll update the article as we get more information, so please reach out if you know there’s something missing: maximilian.henning@euractiv.com.

The @ec.europa.eu is planning to plow 20 billion Euros into building five giant AI training hubs – “AI gigafactories” – together with national governments and companies. It hasn’t so far said who is interested in working on these enormous projects.

So we can be glad that others are a bit more open.

Commission publishes full list of AI companies signed up to Code of Practice - Euractiv Nearly all dominant EU and US AI developers have signed up, but – so far – there are none from China.

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Elon Musk’s xAI to sign safety part of EU’s generative AI Code - Euractiv The company behind the Grok AI chatbot hit out at other parts of the EU's GPAI Code as “profoundly detrimental to innovation”.

Elon Musk’s AI company xAI, which runs X’s Grok chatbot, has announced it will only sign the safety part of the EU’s generative AI Code of Practice.

Grok came under scrutiny several weeks ago when it started producing posts seemingly praising Hitler.

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EXCLUSIVE: Commission confirms binning AI liability law - Euractiv Will instead monitor future interplay of existing AI and product liability rules

The @ec.europa.eu has confirmed the withdrawal of the AI Liability Directive to Euractiv.

It will instead monitor how AI Act and Product Liability Directive function in practice, a spokesperson said.

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Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday: "US AI chips will help power our AI gigafactories and help the US to maintain *their* technological edge."

EU factsheet today: "The EU also intends to purchase €40 billion worth of AI chips essential to maintaining *the EU's* technological edge."

Which one is it?

Parliament study pushes to bring AI liability law back from the dead - Euractiv Commission bid to withdraw AI harms proposal garners fresh flak, as study commissioned by MEPs warns that a legal vacuum will encourage EU countries to make their own rules.

That’s the main push of a study released today by the European Parliament. The author says the EU needs to go above and beyond the old proposal. Otherwise, countries will go their own ways, making life harder for companies.

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Europe needs common rules on AI liability – stronger than the @ec.europa.eu’s proposal for an AI Liability Directive and definitely stronger than the _nothing_ left after the Commission announced it would withdraw that proposal.

Are these poll results public anywhere?

Already convinced: Mercedes-Benz and SAP, which say they’re doing their part but think the EU needs to chip in, too. Adriana Groh from Germany’s @sovereign.tech also approved.

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This money should support the often unpaid volunteers thanklessly maintaining critical parts of our modern digital infrastructure, the report suggests – ideally before they come crashing down.

The EU should take a page out of Germany’s book and invest in making #opensource software more secure, @openforumeurope.org suggests in a report released today. Their wish is a dedicated budget line: €350 million over the next seven years.

An unbearably sad statement from the Editorial Committee (SDJ) of the AFP news agency, please read:

"Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die.
AFP has been working with 1 writer, 3 photographers and 6 videographers, all freelance, in the Gaza Strip… /1

Commission sued over withdrawing AI liability, patent laws - Euractiv MEP is taking legal action after the Commission delayed disclosing details of a meeting between its president Ursula von der Leyen and the US Vice President JD Vance.

Social Democrat MEP @woelken.eu is now suing the Commission over getting access to documents on this meeting.

Read the story by @anupriyadatta.bsky.social and me at @euractiv.com:

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Back in February, the Commission announced it would withdraw planned laws on AI liability and on patents. Just before that, US Vice President JD Vance had lambasted Europe’s AI rules – and then met Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The @ec.europa.eu is facing a new transparency lawsuit – this time about whether the US influenced its #AI lawmaking.

Meta won't sign EU’s Code of Practice for generative AI - Euractiv The social media giant's policy chief hits out at the Code as gold-plating the AI Act.

Meta has announced it will not sign the EU's Code of Practice for general-purpose AI, the first large company to do so.

Read my story at @euractiv.com:

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And the actual guidelines are here:

digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/g...

Commission releases AI Act guidelines for general purpose AI models - Euractiv The document spells out which AI providers have to follow the GPAI rules and how they should work with the AI Office.

The @ec.europa.eu has published guidelines on its rules for general-purpose #AI models. They lay out who needs to comply with the relevant rules of the #AIAct and how.

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The final download on the budget numbers for tech - Euractiv What you need to know about how the Commission wants to spend money on digital

The takeaway for tech: If you’re looking for money for digital, you’ll be looking in the Competitiveness Fund. €54.8 billion are meant for “digital leadership”, with much larger sums going to research as well as defence and space.

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Your resident tech reporter went back home very late yesterday, courtesy of the @ec.europa.eu only releasing the actual documents on its multi-year budget way after normal closing hours.

Startups push for founder-friendly "EU Inc" legal reform to go all in - Euractiv In a letter about the "28th regime" startup groups also grumble that Parliament did not involve them enough in key report.

Rapporteur @repasi.bsky.social, who drafted the report the groups are dissatisfied with, says he wants to go for a solution that has a chance of getting member states’ approval.

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Startup groups are not at all happy with the EU Parliament’s plan for a #28thregime – a planned EU-wide legal entity meant to make it easier for companies to expand across the union. In a letter sent today to EU institutions, they call for a more ambitious proposal.

OpenAI wants to have a finger in the European AI Gigafactory pie - Euractiv The ChatGPT developer has also committed to signing the EU's Code of Practice for GPAIs, as has France’s Mistral.

OpenAI also announced it would sign the EU’s Code of Practice for General-Purpose AI, the second company to do so after Mistral.

Read my article at @euractiv.com:

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OpenAI has announced it wants to get involved in Europe’s AI gigafactory project. These are meant to be big AI training hubs for European AI, with the EU and member states chipping in money. Companies are currently negotiating how – and whether – to get involved.

Taking the Pulse: Should the EU Bite the 10 Percent Tariff Bullet With the United States? U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, with their arbitrary announcements and slipping deadlines, challenge global trade. Considering the importance of EU-U.S. commercial relations, should the EU cut ...

"Instead of letting Trump determine events, Brussels should put more energy into concluding trade agreements with other countries and blocs, building coalitions, and rigorously pursuing a deeper European internal market" carnegieendowment.org/europe/strat...

EU's Code of Practice for GenAI draws mixed reactions - Euractiv AI giants – including Google – remain tight-lipped about whether or not they will sign the EU's voluntary AI Code.

Feedback on the @ec.europa.eu's Code of Practice for General-Purpose AI has been decidedly ambivalent. No AI company that I asked wanted to immediately commit to signing.

Read my story at @euractiv.com:

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