AI Featured Estonian ambition to leverage AI: 50% GDP increase by 2035 Estonia just launched eesti.AI project, targeting +25% GDP by 2030 and +50% by 2035, by pairing AI with its digital-state know-how and public-private partnerships to deliver scalable AI applications .
AI Featured Who uses AI in Europe - and where it’s still taboo The EU is funding AI adoption, drafting preparedness plans, and issuing ethics guidance, but AI tool use remains uneven and sometimes taboo. With 64% of Europeans saying AI literacy will be essential by 2030, the real test is turning ambition into measurable, high-scale outcomes.
AI Featured Europe has both a competitiveness and a fantasy-thinking problem As EU governments discuss the Digital Omnibus, Europe is divided: some see the Omnibus as a necessary step to help European companies, while others cling to rules like the GDPR and the AI Act.
AI Featured Data centers: too many blank spots in the CEE The IEA's data center map shows that Central and Eastern Europe remains underserved by data centers, despite favorable conditions. As the EU prepares €20B AI Gigafactories, Poland and the Baltics push to secure investment and strengthen the region’s digital sovereignty.”
Best practices Featured AI desks go live in Germany, Austria; EU’s price tag: €2M Germany and Austria have launched simple AI service desks to guide companies under the AI Act. The EU’s €2M version, expected by August 2025, will rely on human staff for general guidance (not thorough legal advice) and respond in 12 EU languages within 2 days.
AI Featured Trump’s AI Action plan: European reflections The American AI Action Plan pushes for “global dominance”, and the EU should follow suit where possible, particularly with regulatory feedback loops and stronger military AI capacity at the Member State level.
AI Featured Russia to develop “traditional Values” AI, take jabs at Grok and China Russia and Belarus plan to build “traditional values” - based AI to counter U.S. and Chinese influence. While still reliant on Chinese tech, Russia ranks low in global AI indexes. Sanctions, brain drain, and chip dependency drive its $2.5B push for AI self-reliance.
AI Featured US-EU 90-day tariff pause ends tomorrow As the US-EU 90-day tariff pause nears its end, digital tensions remain unresolved. Despite growing pushback from startups and Member States, the European Commission stays firm on its digital agenda - from the DMA and DSA to the AI Act's rollout.
AI Featured “Don’t regulate it into the ground”: European startups and VCs push to pause the rollout of the AI Act Yesterday, Sifted reported that nearly 30 industry leaders and 20 venture capital firms across Europe sent a letter to the European Commission, urging a delay in the AI Act's implementation.
AI Featured "Stop the clock" for the AI Act: the momentum builds (in the North) Momentum grows for delaying the AI Act as smaller EU states, Baltic tech groups, and Sweden raise concerns over unclear rules and readiness. While the Commission races to meet the August 2025 deadline, calls to “Stop the Clock” are getting harder to ignore.
AI Featured Is the EU’s deregulation for tech in the room with us? The EU talks simplification, not deregulation. Despite promises to cut red tape, major digital laws like the GDPR and AI Act are likely to remain largely untouched. Cosmetic tweaks and harmonization are the focus, while new regulatory layers resurface under fresh labels.
AI Featured EP’s IMCO rejects AI Liability Directive, calling it a gateway to “predatory litigation” Yesterday, the European Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) adopted its opinion on the AI Liability Directive (AILD), calling it “premature and unnecessary”.
AI Featured Changes to US AI diffusion incoming? 'Alienating allies' is not good policy, after all Last week, David Sacks called for scrapping the AI diffusion rule, warning it alienates allies and risks pushing them toward China. The policy has faced a modest EU backlash.
AI Featured GPAI Code of Practice: reactions on the 3rd draft and consumer perspective The EU’s GPAI Code of Practice aims to guide AI development, but critics argue it goes beyond the AI Act, increasing compliance costs and risking exposure of trade secrets. As the final draft approaches, tensions remain between creators, industry, and regulators.
AI Featured Europe’s AI Continent action plan: too lean on the simplification and data part Last week, the EU Commission unveiled its AI Continent Action Plan to boost AI adoption and leadership. While it generated buzz, much of it echoes earlier proposals—and key measures on simplification and red tape, especially around the AI Act and GDPR, remain thin.
AI Featured European AI whirlwind week: Paris AI summit, Le Chat, AI Liability, and GPAI Code of Conduct European AI Whirlwind Week: Paris AI Summit focused on business, JD Vance criticized Europe’s AI stance, EU pledged €200B, while the U.S. and UK refused to sign an AI declaration. Mistral AI launched Le Chat, the AI Liability Directive was dropped, and the GPAI Code sparked regulatory concerns.
AI Featured The future of AI regulation in the US: will Musk change his approach? Elon Musk's position on AI regulation aligns more closely with the EU than with the general MAGA narrative. Time will tell whether this stance was principled and continues or whether it was aimed at certain industry players with whom Musk has had disagreements.
AI Featured AI & EU: time to empower innovators Inspired by an open letter "Europe needs regulatory certainty on AI" Countries can be leading in culture and sciences before they fall back for decades or even centuries. The Roman Empire is one of the many examples of human history that could see the rise and fall of
AI Featured AI Treaty set for signing in Vilnius: what it means for global AI governance On Thursday, September 5, 2024, within the framework of the Council of Europe, the AI Treaty, officially known as the “Convention on Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy, and the Rule of Law”, will be signed in Vilnius, Lithuania.
AI Featured The new UK Government needs to be careful with its AI regulation ambition Last week, various media outlets reported that the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Keith Starmer, will include an AI bill to the King's Speech later this week, following in the footsteps of the European Union’s AI Act.
Featured EU's degrowth policies fence Europeans off from benefits of open source AI Irish privacy rulings on Meta's AI rollout threaten open source AI and innovation for European consumers.
Featured EU and global AI race: an evaluation The race for dominance in Artificial Intelligence (AI) is heating up, with the European Union (EU) struggling to keep pace with the US and China.
Featured Why the UK is immune to the 'Brussels AI effect'? Having pioneered the first two industrial revolutions, the UK seems on track to deliver on the fourth, or is it?
AI Four global families of AI regulation: strict, soft, purpose-driven and the undecided The world continues to search for a wise balance between maximizing the open window of opportunity to foster AI innovation and ensuring sufficient guardrails for the use of AI technology.
