Emrys Schoemaker

EU pushes new AI strategy to reduce tech reliance on US and China Brussels to unveil plan targeting digital sovereignty as it warns technology can be ‘weaponised’ by geopolitical rivals

Finally - but focusing on the AI stack limits attention to all the wider forms of dependency the EU should also be addressing:

EU pushes new AI strategy to reduce tech reliance on US and China

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

as a girl with a PhD in natural language processing and machine learning it's actually offensive to me when you say "we don't know how LLMs work so they might be conscious"

I didn't spend 10 years in mines of academia to be told ignorance is morally equal knowledge.

We know exactly how LLMs work.

Israel accused of detaining Greta Thunberg in infested cell and making her hold flags Activist tells Swedish officials she has been subjected to harsh treatment, including insufficient food and water

““They dragged little Greta [Thunberg] by her hair before our eyes, beat her, and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag. They did everything imaginable to her, as a warning to others,” the Turkish activist ErsinÇelik, a participant in the Sumud flotilla, told Anadolu news agency.”+

Six years ago, almost to the day, Apple removing a similar app from the Hong Kong App Store was seen as such a breach that Tim Cook wrote an all staff email to defend it www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Great brief thread on what we mean / is actually feasible / desirable in pursuit of ‘digital sovereignty / autonomy’:

It gradually begins to dawn that replacing web sites with apps distributed through easily-controlled chokepoints was a terrible idea

I feel like it’s been a while since the Green Party was the subject of FT articles…

Two Cables and the Hidden Subsea Battle Between US and China A high-stakes rivalry is playing out over a vast but vulnerable web of underwater cables that carry nearly all global internet traffic.

A high-stakes rivalry is playing out over a vast but vulnerable web of underwater cables that carry nearly all global internet traffic.

Read more ⤵️

Hugely important perspective from Max.

The EU may not be directly seizing the Russian assets. The link to the Russian bank deposits in Euroclear is political I think.

But the glass is still more than half full - 140 billion in Ukraine funding is as big a deal as it sounds.

🔥🔥🔥

This is a great thread on why technocratic politics fails to deliver against populism:

AI Data Centers Are Sending Power Bills Soaring Wholesale electricity costs as much as 267% more than it did five years ago in areas near data centers. That’s being passed on to customers.

Electricity now costs up to 267% more than it did five years ago in areas near data centers.

www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

ICE to Buy Tool that Tracks Locations of Hundreds of Millions of Phones Every Day Documents show that ICE has gone back on its decision to not use location data remotely harvested from peoples' phones. The database is updated every day with billions of pieces of location data.

Either real-time bidding data or app SDK data is being bought and used by ICE to seize people from the streets. If you didn’t believe that the adtech stack is a human rights concern, I’m not sure what more evidence you need. www.404media.co/ice-to-buy-t...

The thing is, if they wanted to accurately reflect what immigrants coming here on work visas look like, they would be showing pictures of people queuing up at the airport. But then migrants would look so... normal. They'd look exactly like everyone else. And we can't have that, can we?

👏👏👏

Finally, a breakthrough! Following a letter I initiated in February, @ec.europa.eu is backing the #Eurostack initiative to develop alternative European digital solutions.

Looking forward to seeing this turned into concrete action to break free from Trump and tech oligarchs.

The collision of DPI, sovereignty and trade

Trump demands Microsoft fire its head of global affairs : Alleges bias and security problems

🤔

In my History & Film classes I talk about the Robin Hood paradigm, where new RH movies/shows come out during times of economic crisis & government mistrust, and Law & Order-type shows in times of prosperity. If L&O is framing ICE as Bad Guys rather than Good Cops, nobody thinks they're the heroes.

Pro-EU party secures majority in high-stakes Moldovan election The parliamentary election comes amid reports of an “unprecedented” Russian hybrid interference campaign.

🚨🚨Excellent and important news: The pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) secured a majority in a pivotal #Moldovan election that is set to keep the country on track to joining the #EU amidst massive Russian interference campaign. 🧵
www.politico.eu/article/poll...

AI Coding Is Massively Overhyped, Report Finds The AI industry's claims about AI coding assistants boosting productivity significantly appear to be massively overblown, per a new report.

“In a new report, management consultants Bain & Company found that despite being ‘one of the first areas to deploy generative AI,’ the ‘savings have been unremarkable’ in programming.”

See also:

🤔

To be read alongside the reporting of Ellison’s funding of the Tony Blair Institute’s advisory / advocacy efforts:

www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...