Government & Policy

UK data protection watchdog ends privacy probe of Snap’s GenAI chatbot, but warns industry

The UK’s data protection watchdog has closed an almost year-long investigation of Snap’s AI chatbot, My AI — saying it’s satisfied the social media firm has addressed concerns about risks to children’s privacy. At the same time, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued a general warning to industry to be proactive about assessing risks to […]

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EU Council gives final nod to set up risk-based regulations for AI

It’s a wrap: European Union lawmakers have given the final approval to set up the bloc’s flagship, risk-based regulations for artificial intelligence. In a press release confirming the approval of the EU AI Act, the Council of the European Union said the law is “ground-breaking,” and that “as the first of its kind in the

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Microsoft dodges UK antitrust scrutiny over its Mistral AI stake

Microsoft won’t be facing antitrust scrutiny in the U.K. over its recent investment in French AI startup, Mistral AI, with the country’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Friday concluding that the partnership “does not qualify for investigation under the merger provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002.” The decision comes three weeks after the CMA

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EU opens child safety probes of Facebook and Instagram, citing addictive design concerns

Facebook and Instagram are under formal investigation in the European Union over child protection concerns, the Commission announced Thursday. The proceedings follow a raft of requests for information to parent entity Meta since the bloc’s online governance regime, the Digital Services Act (DSA), started applying last August. The development could be significant as the formal

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Temu accused of breaching EU’s DSA in bundle of consumer complaints

Consumer protection groups around the European Union have filed coordinated complaints against Temu, accusing the Chinese-owned ultra low-cost e-commerce platform of a raft of breaches related to the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA). Temu only launched in the region about a year ago but recently reported blasting past 75 million monthly users. Penalties for confirmed

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Senate study proposes ‘at least’ $32B yearly for AI programs

A long-running working group in the Senate has issued its policy recommendation for federal funding for AI: $32 billion yearly, covering everything from infrastructure to grand challenges to national security risk assessments. This “roadmap” is not a bill or detailed policy proposal, but nevertheless it gives a sense of the scale lawmakers and “stakeholders” are

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AWS confirms will launch European ‘sovereign cloud’ in Germany by 2025, plans €7.8B investment over 15 years

Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon’s cloud computing business, has confirmed further details of its European “sovereign cloud,” which is designed to enable greater data residency across the region. The company said that the first AWS sovereign cloud region will be set up in the German state of Brandenburg, and will go live by the end

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Booking latest to fall under EU market power rules

Booking.com has been designated a gatekeeper under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), meaning the online travel agency will face regulation under the bloc’s market fairness and contestability framework — with the risk of major fines (of up to 10% or even 20%) for non-compliance. The travel platform has been given six months to comply

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