Antoaneta Roussi / Politico: Study: Palantir's European units made €440.5M in 2024 revenue but reported sharply lower margins than its US operations, helping cut its European tax bill — A new study finds that Palantir, which boasts of high profit margins in the U.S., barely scrapes a margin in Europe, which helps slash its tax bill.
Mathieu Pollet / Politico: The EU Commission unveils its tech sovereignty package, including the EU's Cloud and AI Development Act, in a bid to reduce its reliance on US tech companies — The European Commission's so-called tech sovereignty plan aims to boost domestic champions rather than shut out American competitors.
Pieter Haeck / Politico: The Dutch government blocks the acquisition of authentication IT supplier Solvinity by US-based Kyndryl, citing “a possible risk to the public interest” — BRUSSELS — The Dutch government is blocking a United States-based company's attempts to acquire a key online identification IT supplier.
Océane Herrero / Politico: Sources: Meta, Google, and Amazon execs met Vatican officials on April 29, as part of a quiet lobbying push ahead of Pope Leo XIV's first AI encyclical — As Leo XIV prepares his first encyclical, technology firms and Western diplomats have worked to make their case inside the Vatican.
Pieter Haeck / Politico: Legislators and experts criticize the EU's €20B sovereign compute data center plan, questioning whether there is demand and the plan's reliance on Nvidia GPUs — BRUSSELS — A €20 billion European Union plan to build massive artificial intelligence computing hubs is drawing widespread criticism ahead of launch.
Politico: A look at EU efforts to cut reliance on US tech; study: Amazon, Microsoft, and Google hold ~70% of EU cloud and US vendors get 80% of enterprise software spend — Thanks to Trump, EU governments are trying to break their overreliance on U.S. technology. It won't be cheap or easy.
Politico: Cyber experts say the EU's age verification app has glaring privacy and security problems; after saying it was ready, EU officials say the app is “still a demo” — BRUSSELS — The European Union's unveiling of a mobile app to check people's age online has quickly turned sour …
Ellen O'Regan / Politico: Survey of 6,698 people across six EU countries: around 84% said they don't trust US tech companies with their personal data; 93% don't trust Chinese companies — Europe is rolling out measures to keep data local and reduce reliance on foreign tech. — More than 8 in 10 Europeans …
Sam Clark / Politico: EU legislation allowing voluntary CSAM scanning by tech and social media companies expired April 3 after lawmakers failed to agree on the terms of an extension — Scanning private online spaces for child abuse material becomes illegal in Europe on Saturday.
Eliza Gkritsi / Politico: The European Commission opens a DSA investigation into Snap for failing to protect kids on Snapchat, including whether it does enough to assess its users' ages — Investigation comes amid growing scrutiny of the impact and liability of technology platforms towards kids.
Mizy Clifton / Politico: Ofcom fines 4chan £520K for OSA violations, including a £450K penalty for failing to implement age assurance checks, giving it until April 2 to implement them — 4chan has until 2 April to implement age assurance, carry out a “suitable and sufficient” illegal harms risk assessment …
Mathieu Pollet / Politico: Huawei dominated MWC as the largest exhibitor, illustrating the challenge facing the EU as it pushes to outlaw the Chinese supplier from European networks — BARCELONA — Huawei is blacklisted in several European capitals over cybersecurity and alleged bribery concerns …
Wojciech Kość / Politico: Poland's President Karol Nawrocki vetoes legislation meant to enforce the EU's DSA in Poland, arguing it would grant excessive powers to government officials — Nawrocki called EU social media law “Orwellian,” echoing Washington's main line of attack. — WARSAW — Poland's nationalist …
Francesca Micheletti / Politico: The EU opens investigations into Temu and airport scanner maker Nuctech to assess whether they unfairly penetrated the EU market thanks to Beijing subsidies — The Commission is probing whether the companies receive unfair support from Beijing when they operate in Europe.
Politico: French President Emmanuel Macron criticizes the EU for being too slow to act on probes into Big Tech companies, attributing the delay to US pressure against DSA — French President Emmanuel Macron said Brussels is too slow in its handling of probes into American Big Tech companies due to U.S. pressure over the EU's digital laws.
Politico: EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera accuses the US of using “blackmail” to strong-arm the EU into watering down its tech rulebook during trade negotiations — BRUSSELS — Europe's antitrust chief Teresa Ribera has unleashed a blistering attack on the Trump administration …
Politico: French lawmakers vote to raise France's digital services tax on US tech giants to 6%, up from 3%; the French government opposes the move, fearing US retaliation — PARIS — French lawmakers are moving ahead with plans to double a tax on big tech firms — backing away from a more aggressive push amid fears …
Eliza Gkritsi / Politico: The EU accuses Meta and TikTok of violating their obligations to give researchers adequate access to public data on their platforms under the DSA — Move comes as EU faces pressure over enforcing its tech lawbooks. — BRUSSELS — The European Commission on Friday accused Meta and TikTok …
Sam Clark / Politico: A website set up by a Danish software developer floods EU lawmakers with emails opposing planned EU “Chat Control” laws to fight CSAM by scanning encrypted apps — A software developer from Denmark is having an outsized influence on a hotly debated law to break open encrypted apps.
Ellen O'Regan / Politico: The European Commission considers simplifying the 2009 rule that plastered the internet with cookie consent banners, as it seeks to reduce regulatory burdens — In a bid to slash red tape, the European Commission wants to eliminate one of its peskiest laws: a 2009 tech rule that plastered …
Sam Clark / Politico: Microsoft says it didn't cut services to the International Criminal Court, after an AP report in May said it “cancelled” the email of ICC prosecutor Karim Khan — Chief prosecutor's email issues have spurred fears in Europe that Trump could trigger a “kill switch” through U.S. tech giants abroad.
Politico: France says it banned Telegram founder Pavel Durov on May 12 from going to the US for “negotiations with investment funds”, after arresting him in August 2024 — The Russian-born entrepreneur is not allowed to leave France without permission following his August arrest.
Mathieu Pollet / Politico: Doc: the EU's draft International Digital Strategy, set for June 4, acknowledges that decoupling from US tech is “unrealistic” and calls for strategic alliances — The European Union is set to admit that untangling from the dominance of U.S. tech companies is “unrealistic” …
Mathieu Pollet / Politico: Huawei says it “terminated the employment of two individuals” on April 1 and suspended a third on April 2 for their alleged involvement in EU political bribery — BRUSSELS — Huawei has fired two employees and suspended a third for their alleged involvement in a bribery investigation surrounding …
Joseph Bambridge / Politico: OpenAI and Google reject the UK's proposal to allow training AI on copyrighted work without permission unless rights holders opt out to “reserve their rights” — The U.K. government's AI copyright plans can't seem to please anyone. — LONDON — Leading AI companies OpenAI …
Politico: European authorities raided 21 addresses, arrested several people, and sealed two offices in the EU Parliament, as part of a spiraling bribery probe into Huawei — Chinese tech giant's offices raided and Parliament offices sealed in case that echoes the 2022 Qatargate investigation.
Mathieu Pollet / Politico: The EU unveils e-commerce shipping rules that would add more customs checks and fees, potentially impacting Chinese platforms like AliExpress, Shein, and Temu — The European Commission plans more customs checks and fees to stem flood of low-value parcels from China.
Aitor Hernández-Morales / Politico: Zuckerberg urged Trump to stop the EU from fining US tech companies, which he says were forced by EU to pay $30B+ for legal violations over the past two decades — Comparing the bloc's antitrust penalties to tariffs, the Meta boss argued that Brussels is “screwing with” American industry.
Politico: In a weird X Spaces conversation, Elon Musk and Alice Weidel, the leader of the German far-right party AfD, pushed disinformation about Hitler, migrants, more — God! Martians! A “communist” Hitler! It was heavy on oddness and light on policy as the X owner and the AfD co-leader hit it off.
Mathieu Pollet / Politico: In a risk assessment submitted to the EU in September 2023, X defended its new approach to content policing and “mission to promote open conversation” — The Elon Musk-owned social media platform touts its moderation efforts in a risk assessment submitted to the Commission.
Politico: Sources: in digital euro negotiations, Germany, France, and others say the European Central Bank has gained too much power over how much users' wallets can hold — Politicians are vying with technocrats for control of a revamp of the single currency that both say poses serious economic risks.
Stefan Boscia / Politico: The UK's defense ministry is using an AI model created by Palantir to sift through submissions for a comprehensive review of the country's defense capabilities — LONDON — The U.K. government is using artificial intelligence to help put together its landmark review of Britain's armed forces …
Politico: Nick Clegg criticized Rishi Sunak's doomerism after the PM held a summit on AI safety, saying Britain “wasted a huge amount of time” focusing on the risks of AI — The Meta exec and former deputy PM said Britain had “wasted a huge amount of time” focusing on the gloomy risks of artificial intelligence.
Eva Hartog / Politico: A profile of Pavel Durov's older brother Nikolai, who is reportedly still in Russia and is responsible for Telegram's encryption standard MTProto protocol — Nikolai Durov, who is also wanted by cops in France, is responsible for the messaging app's encryption standard.
Politico: French administrative document: alongside Pavel Durov, French authorities issued an arrest warrant for his Telegram co-founder brother Nikolai in March 2024 — PARIS — French authorities issued arrest warrants for Telegram CEO Pavel Durov and his co-founder brother Nikolai in March …
Politico: In France, Telegram is avidly used within political and media circles, including by President Emmanuel Macron, who has used the app for nearly a decade — PARIS — Open the Telegram chat of anyone in the French political orbit and you'll notice lawmakers, cabinet members and presidential advisers online or recently connected.
Clothilde Goujard / Politico: The Irish Data Protection Commission says X has agreed to pause training Grok using millions of Europeans' public posts it collected between May 7 and August 1 — X will pause training its artificial intelligence chatbot Grok with some European users' posts, according to Europe's chief privacy watchdog.
Clothilde Goujard / Politico: EU diplomats: an EU Council vote to amend a draft law that would have forced WhatsApp and Signal to scan images and links for CSAM was removed from the agenda — Countries clash over how to safeguard privacy when rooting out illegal pictures and grooming on private chat apps.
Politico: Sources: Microsoft is discussing a deal with CISPE, which could include a multimillion-euro payment to get the cloud lobby to drop its EU antitrust complaint — Possible deal involves a multimillion-dollar payout to cloud association backed by Amazon. — Microsoft is closing …
Politico: A look at UK-based Faculty, which has been awarded UK government contracts for AI safety work without competition, raising questions about its political links — LONDON — Early 2000s, University College London: Four bright young things meet and bond over their shared love of physics and neuroscience.
Politico: Critics warn the French government's first-of-its-kind move within the EU to suspend TikTok in New Caledonia amid widespread protests sets a dangerous precedent — PARIS — In a first-of-its-kind move within the European Union, the French government has moved to block TikTok in one of its overseas territories amid widespread protests.
Pieter Haeck / Politico: The EU's crackdown on Huawei shows an EU-wide TikTok ban will likely take years of diplomacy, as the bloc lacks a formal say over national security concerns — Of all the shots Europe is firing at China, the threat of a blanket TikTok ban is likely to only scuff Beijing.
Pieter Haeck / Politico: EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says a TikTok ban is “not excluded” and “we know exactly the danger of TikTok” during a 2024 election debate — The remark comes amid a streak of bad news for TikTok in Europe. — Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hinted …
Clothilde Goujard / Politico: The EU Commission says Shein will have to comply with DSA rules for content handling, starting August 2024, as the retailer has more than 45M users in the EU — BRUSSELS — Chinese-founded fashion app Shein will face stringent rules on how it handles content on its platform starting in late August, the European Commission said Friday.
Politico: A look at the international battles to regulate AI, as nations, lobbyists, and tech companies vie for influence over the future of AI policy — Inside the shadowy global battle to tame the world's most dangerous technology — Can anyone control AI? — By Mark Scott, Gian Volpicelli, Mohar Chatterjee, Vincent Manancourt,
Clothilde Goujard / Politico: Analysts warn that welcoming TikTok, Temu, and Shein to Ireland's low-tax jurisdiction could backfire, as the country tries to reduce reliance on US tech giants — Analysts warn that welcoming TikTok, Temu and Shein to Dublin's low-tax tech paradise could backfire. — DUBLIN — Maybe they didn't get the notification.
Clothilde Goujard / Politico: Sources and filings: Pornhub, Xvideos, and Stripchat challenge the EU over new DSA moderation rules; porn platforms must submit compliance plans by April 20 — Feud heats up between adult websites and Brussels. — Two of Europe's largest porn companies have challenged the European Union …
Clothilde Goujard / Politico: A year after EU governments moved to restrict TikTok over security concerns, politicians are flocking to the app to attract the youth vote in upcoming elections — A year after banning the Chinese-owned app, Europe's politicians are popping up on TikTok to fight for re-election.
Nicholas Vinocur / Politico: Internal note: the European Commission plans to “temporarily suspend advertising” on X over disinformation concerns and to avoid “reputational damage” — Ads on Musk-owned social media site risk causing ‘reputational damage’ to the EU, its executive says in internal note.
Politico: UK PM Rishi Sunak announces plans for a new UK-based AI Safety Institute and a new AI research network, modeled on the IPCC, ahead of the AI Summit in November — British PM defended seeking Chinese buy-in for a bevvy of new AI governance initiatives he is set to launch next week.