— We cannot afford to depend on others for the technologies that keep our hospitals running, our energy grids stable and our services secure, Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen says in a statement.
Continue reading “The EU plans for «technological sovereignty» with huge investments”
For the first phase, SoftBank is offering €45 billion to build 3.1 GW of capacity at various sites in the Hauts-de-France region by 2031, ramping up at a later date.
— SoftBank Group’s AI data centers will support growing demand for high-performance computing from AI companies, cloud providers, enterprises, public institutions and research organizations, they write in their release.
France was selected because of its wide manufacturing base, but another important factor is it advanced power grid, fueled by generous amounts of nuclear energy.
SoftBank will partner with Schneider Electric on the project, which will also create «thousands» of advanced, high-skilled jobs, requiring local universities, engineering schools, and training institutions to step up.
SoftBank is a major investor in OpenAI and is deeply involved in the Stargate program to build out compute capacity. This effort seems separate from both.
Read more: SoftBanks release, Reuters, and TechCrunch.
Under the Digital Markets Act, Google isn’t just another vendor — it’s one of seven dominant platforms, deemed «gatekeepers» to other services. That means it has to behave like a platform, like Windows, and offer equal access to its services.
The European Commission lists letting competing AI assistants have easy access to functions like sending emails, sharing and editing photos — and have system level access to control apps. It should also provide Android API access and support for free, they say.
Continue reading “The European Union starts process to open up Android to AI competitors”
The platform has 3 billion users, and is considered a «gatekeeper» in EU laws, subject to demands for equal access.
The compromise Meta is rolling out is that rival chatbots will be allowed on the platform, but have to pay their way.
The fees range from €0.0490 to €0.1323 for «non-template messages.» That could ratchet up quickly, considering that chatbot sessions cover multiple messages across millions of users, writes TechCrunch.
The European Commission is said to be «analyzing» how this move «might affect its interim measures» as well as the broader investigation, Reuters reports.
Read more: Reuters and TechCrunch.
2,000 eligible artists will be randomly selected to get €325 per week, after the pilot found that for every €1 invested, society received €1.39 in return.
It’s not enough to live on, but it is enough to see artists through their arts without taking on side gigs and onerous secondary jobs.
During the pilot, artists reported they had more time for their art, produced more work, experienced a boost in well-being, had greater life satisfaction and that it reduced their anxiety.
— The BIA [Basic Income for Artists] pilot research has consistently demonstrated both the positive impact it has had on those in receipt of it and how difficult it is to work as an artist in Ireland, says Culture Minister Patrick O’Donovan.
This is the first such officially enacted Government-based basic income program in the world, O’Donovan says.
Read more: Irish Government announcement, writeups on IrishCentral and The Guardian.
Meta banned all AI chatbots other than Meta AI from WhatsApp on January 15th, and while the EU can take a long time to investigate antitrust allegations — they are considering issuing an early order to «avoid Meta’s new policy irreparably harming competition in Europe,» says Teresa Ribera, The EU’s Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition.
WhatsApp has over 3 billion users worldwide and qualifies as a gatekeeper in EU parlance, subject to rules on equal access.
Meta says that «There are many AI options and people can use them from app stores, operating systems, devices, websites, and industry partnerships,» in a statement to Reuters.
The process following this formal notification is that parties can examine the EU’s files, reply in writing and then receive a hearing. After that, the Commission will consider «interim measures,» such as restoring access for competitors, even as the case moves forward in their systems.
Read more: Statement by the EC, writeup on Reuters.
It’s an investigation («proceeding») started under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), made to ensure major platform owners don’t abuse their power, and Google now has six months to find a workable solution.
Gemini enjoys system-level and app-level access on Android, and many competitors have flagged this as a violation of the DMA.
— We are concerned that further rules which are often driven by competitor grievances rather than the interest of consumers, will compromise user privacy, security, and innovation, says Clare Kelly, Google’s Senior Competition Counsel to Reuters.
If no relief is found on the issue, the DMA allows for fines of up to 10% of a company’s global revenue.
Read more: The Commission’s statement, Engadget, Reuters.
The idea is to ensure that people’s identities are protected against use in deepfakes, which is defined as very realistic digital representations of real people, including their appearance and voice, writes The Guardian.
Continue reading “Denmark’s new copyright law offers protection against deepfakes”