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☆ Factbox: Governments race to regulate AI tools
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

CHINA* Planning regulationsThe Chinese government will seek to initiate AI regulations in its country, billionaire Elon Musk said on June 5 after meeting with officials during his recent trip to China. ITALY* Investigating possible breachesItaly's data protection authority plans to review other artificial intelligence platforms and hire AI experts, a top official said in May. ChatGPT became available again to users in Italy in April after being temporarily banned over concerns by the national data protection authority in March. SPAIN* Investigating possible breachesSpain's data protection agency said in April it was launching a preliminary investigation into potential data breaches by ChatGPT. The Biden administration earlier in April said it was seeking public comments on potential accountability measures for AI systems.

Persons: Alan Turing, Elon Musk, Margrethe Vestager, Vestager, CNIL, Dado Ruvic, Ziv Katzir, Israel, ChatGPT, OpenAI, Antonio Guterres, Guterres, Michael Bennet, Biden, Alessandro Parodi, Amir Orusov, Jason Neely, Kirsten Donovan, Milla Nissi Organizations: Microsoft, Authority, Reuters, EU, Key, European Consumer Organisation, Seven, REUTERS, Israel Innovation Authority, UNITED, International Atomic Energy Agency, United Nations, U.S . Federal Trade Commission's, Thomson Locations: AUSTRALIA, BRITAIN, Britain, CHINA, China, Beijing, U.S, FRANCE, Italy, Hiroshima, Japan, IRELAND, ISRAEL, Israel, ITALY, JAPAN, SPAIN, Gdansk

☆ EU antitrust regulators approve Vivendi, Lagardere deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, June 9 (Reuters) - Vivendi (VIV.PA), the French media conglomerate controlled by billionaire Vincent Bollore, on Friday won conditional EU antitrust approval for its acquisition of France's largest publisher Lagardere (LAGA.PA). Vivendi last year announced the deal which would give it control of Lagardere's flagship weekly publications Journal du Dimanche (JDD) and Paris Match. Vivendi said in a statement that it was confident it would finalise those two transactions by the end of October. "The remedies proposed by Vivendi will allow for the preservation of existing competition in those markets, to the benefit of consumers." Reuters reported in April that the remedies were sufficient to help Vivendi gain EU antitrust clearance for the acquisition.

Persons: Vincent Bollore, Margrethe Vestager, Daniel Kretinsky, Yannick Bollore, Foo Yun Chee, Bart Meijer, Sudip Kar, Gupta, Louise Organizations: Vivendi, Paris Match, European Commission, Reuters, Le Monde, TF1, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, EU, Czech, Le

STOCKHOLM, June 6 (Reuters) - Microsoft-backed OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has no plans to go public any time soon, Chief Executive Sam Altman said at a conference in Abu Dhabi. OpenAI has so far raised $10 billion from Microsoft (MSFT.O) at a valuation of almost $30 billion as it invests more on building computing capacity. "We did not threaten to leave the EU," Altman said on Tuesday. There's still more clarity we are waiting for on the EU AI Act, but we are very excited to operate in Europe." Many experts have cited a potential threat to jobs being replaced by AI including in sectors such as transport and logistics, office support and administration, production, services and retail.

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, OpenAI, Thierry Breton, Margrethe Vestager, Supantha Mukherjee, David Goodman, Emelia Organizations: Microsoft, United Arab Emirates, EU, Thomson Locations: STOCKHOLM, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, India, South Korea, EU, Europe, Stockholm

☆ Italian senator reads AI-generated speech in parliament 'to stir debate'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ROME, June 1 (Reuters) - An Italian senator has surprised his colleagues by reading out in parliament a speech drafted by a chatbot, saying afterwards that he pulled the stunt to stir "a serious debate" on risks and opportunities posed by artificial intelligence. "How many of us today are able to distinguish between a text produced by human intelligence and a stream of thoughts ... produced by an artificial intelligence algorithm?" His speech, on the subject of various bilateral deals with Switzerland, was produced by Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O)-backed OpenAI's GPT-4 chatbot, the senator told Reuters on Thursday. He said his staff "took a couple of hours" to feed the necessary information into the software, which then produced the speech "instantaneously". Reporting by Federico Maccioni; Editing by Alvise Armellini and David HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Marco Lombardo, Lombardo's, Carlo Calenda, " Lombardo, Margrethe Vestager, Federico Maccioni, Alvise Armellini, David Holmes Organizations: Microsoft Corp, Reuters, Twitter, European Union, Thomson Locations: Italian, Switzerland, Italy

☆ US, EU agree firm stance on China at trade, tech meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Philip Blenkinsop | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The two partners sought at their Trade and Technology Council in Sweden to find common interests, such as over artificial intelligence and future trade in environmentally-friendly goods, but China proved a pervasive topic. The statement said the EU and the United States were deeply concerned about foreign information manipulation, interference and disinformation. The European Union plans to recalibrate its China policy, recognising coordination with a more hawkish United States is essential. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the EU's and the United States' views of China had increasingly converged, noting neither was looking for confrontation. They also said they were committed to working with the G7 to coordinate action to counteract acts of economic coercion, which would include trade restrictions the EU says China has imposed on EU member Lithuania.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Margrethe Vestager, Jonas Ekstromer, you've, Philip Blenkinsop, Emelia Sithole Organizations: European, Trade, Technology Council, TT News Agency, REUTERS, European Union, TTC, EU, Lithuania, Thomson Locations: Lulea, Sweden, REUTERS LULEA, United States, Ukraine, China, EU, Brussels, recalibrate, Africa, Latin America

☆ EU's Vestager sees draft code of conduct on AI within weeks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LULEA, Sweden, May 31 (Reuters) - European Union tech chief Margrethe Vestager said she believed a draft voluntary code of conduct for generative AI could be drawn up "within the next weeks", with a final proposal for industry to sign up "very, very soon". "Generative AI is a complete game-changer," Vestager, who is a vice president of the European Commission, told a news conference on Wednesday after a meeting of the EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council. "Everyone knows this is the next powerful thing. So within the next weeks we will advance a draft of an AI code of conduct," she said, adding she hoped there would be a final proposal "very, very soon" that industry could sign up to. Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop and Bart Meijer; Editing by Alison WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Margrethe Vestager, Vestager, Philip Blenkinsop, Bart Meijer, Alison Williams Organizations: LULEA, Union, European Commission, EU, U.S . Trade, Technology Council, Thomson Locations: Sweden

☆ EU tech chief calls for voluntary AI code of conduct within months
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Philip Blenkinsop | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LULEA, Sweden, May 31 (Reuters) - The United States and European Union should push the artificial intelligence (AI) industry to adopt a voluntary code of conduct within months to provide safeguards while new laws are developed, EU tech chief Margrethe Vestager said on Wednesday. The European Union's AI Act, with rules on facial recognition and biometric surveillance, could be the world's first comprehensive legislation governing the technology, but is still going through the legislative process. "In the best of cases it will take effect in two and a half to three years time. That is obviously way too late," Vestager told reporters before a meeting of the joint EU-U.S Trade and Technology Council in Sweden. Vestager, a European Commission vice president, said a code of conduct come emerge quickly while governments and legislators from the EU to Canada to India establish rules.

Persons: Margrethe Vestager, Vestager, Thierry Breton, Philip Blenkinsop, Mark Potter Organizations: LULEA, European Union, EU, U.S Trade, Technology Council, European Commission, Thomson Locations: Sweden, United States, European, Canada, India

☆ EU, US to weigh China, AI, trade strains at high-level Sweden talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Philip Blenkinsop | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Trade Representative Katherine Tai and European Commission vice president and trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis will also take part. China will be a major focus of the meeting, even if the word "China" only features twice in the draft joint statement - on non-market practices and disinformation. The gathering in northern Sweden comes just as the European Commission presents its "Economic Security Strategy", expected to contain measures to prevent rivals such as China gaining access to its most sensitive technology. Brussels wants to see cooperation to boost green trade, such as mutual recognition of products, even though the U.S. and EU do not have and do not plan to forge a free-trade agreement. The EU is seeking progress with the U.S. towards an accord on critical minerals used for electric vehicles.

☆ EU will go easy on Indian resale of Russian fuel
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Shritama Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Yet, the risk of an energy inflation resurgence makes a European Union ban on Russian oil reselling a tough call. The war in Ukraine has offered India an opportunity to boost purchases of discounted Russian oil. European imports of oil derivatives jumped to 200,000 barrels per day after the EU banned Russian crude products imports on Feb. 5 from 154,000 barrels previously, according to Kpler data. And New Delhi argues oil products substantially transformed in a third country cannot be subject to EU sanctions. loadingTo avoid an open clash with India, the EU could try to target European companies buying Russian-origin refined oil.

☆ Microsoft wins EU antitrust approval for Activision deal vetoed by UK
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Microsoft logo is seen on a smartphone placed on displayed Activision Blizzard's games characters in this illustration taken January 18, 2022. Microsoft has in recent months signed licensing deals with Nvidia (NVDA.O), Nintendo (7974.T), Ukraine's Boosteroid and Japan's Ubitus to bring Activision games to their platforms should the deal go through. "The European Commission has required Microsoft to license popular Activision Blizzard games automatically to competing cloud gaming services. CLOUD GAMING MARKET GROWTHVestager said the Commission had a different view from UK regulators of how the game streaming market, which accounted for just 1% of the total market last year, would develop. "Microsoft and Activision’s lawyers will also use the decision to provide greater ballast to their appeal of the CMA's decision."

☆ Microsoft wins EU antitrust nod for Activision deal, after UK veto
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, May 15 (Reuters) - Microsoft has won EU antitrust approval for its $69 billion Activision takeover, which was vetoed by Britain, after regulators said its offer of free 10-year licensing deals to gamers and cloud streaming rivals addressed their concerns. The European Commission said on Monday that the biggest-ever deal in gaming was pro-competitive due to Microsoft's (MSFT.O) licensing deals, confirming a Reuters report in March. Such licenses are "practical and effective", European Union antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager told reporters. "Actually they significantly improve the condition for cloud game streaming compared to the present situation, which is why we actually consider them pro-competitive," she added. The EU watchdog said Microsoft has offered 10-year free licensing deals to European consumers and cloud game streaming services for Activision's (ATVI.O) PC and console games.

☆ E.U. Approves Microsoft’s $69 Billion Deal for Activision
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Adam Satariano | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

American and British regulators said Microsoft’s purchase of Activision would undercut this still-developing sector of the gaming industry before it had a chance to bloom. After negotiating the concessions with Microsoft, European Union officials said they concluded that the deal could go through, particularly because the cloud gaming market is still so small. In the European Union, PlayStation has a much larger market share than Xbox. Authorities also noted that Microsoft and Activision have a relatively small market share for mobile games, which accounts for about half of the overall video game market in European Union. The approval is a rare occasion where European regulators appear to be more accommodating to the tech industry than the United States.

☆ Vestager on Microsoft-Activision deal: 'We had a concern about cloud gaming'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailVestager on Microsoft-Activision deal: 'We had a concern about cloud gaming'"We had a concern about cloud gaming, [which is] very nascent right now, but it will grow," Margrethe Vestager, the EU's top competition official, told CNBC's Silvia Amaro on Monday.

☆ EU and US to pledge joint action over China
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Philip Blenkinsop | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, May 13 (Reuters) - Washington and the EU will pledge joint action to tackle concerns focused on China about non-market practices and coordinate their export controls on semiconductors and other goods at a meeting this month, a draft statement showed. Brussels says it considers China a partner in some fields, an economic competitor and a strategic rival. The European Union plans to recalibrate its China policy, recognising coordination with a more hawkish United States is essential. Highlighting the medical devices sector in China, the document said the transatlantic partners are "exploring possible actions" over the threat posed by non-market policies and practices. The two sides also said they were committed to working with the G7 to coordinate action to counteract acts of economic coercion, such as the trade restrictions the EU says China has imposed on EU member Lithuania.

☆ EU's Vestager says 'all options on the table' after Lufthansa/SAS rulings
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The court sided with Ryanair (RYA.I) in annulling the EU's decision clearing the German government's 6-billion-euro ($6.6 billion) rescue package for Lufthansa. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said she was analysing the rulings as a matter of urgency, aware of the uncertainty on the market. "While it is too early to give any indication as to what the appropriate course of action may be, at this stage all options are on the table," Vestager said in a statement. "There is no immediate and direct link between today's judgments and the ongoing work on the future restructuring of SAS." Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska, Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Siemens, SAP say EU draft Data Act puts trade secrets at risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A sign with the logo of Siemens company is on display outside its office in Moscow, Russia, May 12, 2022. REUTERS/Evgenia NovozheninaBRUSSELS, May 8 (Reuters) - German business software maker SAP (SAPG.DE) and German engineering company Siemens (SIEGn.DE) have joined U.S. tech giants in criticising draft EU laws on the use of data generated by smart gadgets and other consumer goods. EU countries and EU lawmakers are working on the details of the Data Act, proposed by the European Commission last year before it can be adopted as legislation. U.S. criticisms have included that the proposed law is too restrictive, while the German companies say a provision forcing companies to share data with third parties to provide aftermarket or other data-driven services could endanger trade secrets. "Effectively, this could mean that EU companies will have to disclose data to third-country competitors, notably those not operating in Europe and against which the Data Act's safeguards would be ineffective," they said.

☆ G-7 should adopt 'risk-based' A.I. regulation, ministers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

European Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager gives a press conference in Brussels, Belgium on Feb. 1, 2023. (Photo by Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)Group of Seven advanced nations should adopt "risk-based" regulation on artificial intelligence, their digital ministers agreed on Sunday, as European lawmakers hurry to introduce an AI Act to enforce rules on emerging tools such as ChatGPT. But such regulation should also "preserve an open and enabling environment" for the development of AI technologies and be based on democratic values, G-7 ministers said in a joint statement issued at the end of a two-day meeting in Japan. "The conclusions of this G-7 meeting show that we are definitely not alone in this," European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager told Reuters ahead of the agreement. Governments have especially paid attention to the popularity of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, a chatbot developed by Microsoft -backed OpenAI that has become the fastest-growing app in history since its November launch.

☆ G7 should adopt 'risk-based' AI regulation, ministers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

But such regulation should also "preserve an open and enabling environment" for the development of AI technologies and be based on democratic values, G7 ministers said in a joint statement issued at the end of a two-day meeting in Japan. EU lawmakers on Thursday reached a preliminary agreement on a new draft of its upcoming AI Act, including copyright protection measures for generative AI, following a call for world leaders to convene a summit to control such technology. Vestager, EU's tech regulation chief, said the bloc "will have the political agreement this year" on the AI copyright legislation, such as labelling obligations for AI-generated images or music. Japan, this year's chair of G7, meanwhile, has taken an accommodative approach on AI developers, pledging support for public and industrial adoption of AI. Japan will host the G7 Summit in Hiroshima in late May, where Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will discuss AI rules with world leaders.

☆ EU tech tsar Vestager sees political agreement on AI law this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TAKASAKI, April 30 (Reuters) - European Union tech regulation chief Margrethe Vestager said on Sunday the bloc will likely reach a political agreement this year that will pave the way for the world's first major artificial intelligence (AI) legislation. This would follow a preliminary deal reached on Thursday on the EU's Artificial Intelligence Act. In an interview with Reuters at a Group of Seven digital ministers' meeting in Takasaki, Japan, Vestager suggested legislative measures for the use of AI tools, such as "labelling obligations for AI-generated images". "There was no reason to hesitate and to wait for the legislation to be passed to accelerate the necessary discussions to provide the changes in all the systems where AI will have an enormous influence," she added, when asked about steps before any agreement takes force. Reporting by Kantaro Komiya in Takasaki, Japan; Additional reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm; Editing by William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU simplifies procedures for merger reviews
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, April 20 (Reuters) - The European Commission on Thursday said it would simplify its procedures for reviewing mergers, in a bid to reduce reporting requirements for companies by 25%. The new procedures will allow the Commission, the bloc's anti-trust watchdog, to treat more mergers under the so-called simplified procedure. It will also streamline the review of cases and optimise the transmission of documents to the Commission, it said in a statement. The new rules will be applicable from Sept. 1. Reporting by Bart Meijer, editing by Tassilo HummelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU takes on United States, Asia with chip subsidy plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, April 18 (Reuters) - The European Union on Tuesday agreed a 43 billion euro ($47 billion) plan for its semiconductor industry in an attempt to catch up with the United States and Asia and start a green industrial revolution. The EU Chips Act, proposed by the European Commission last year and confirmed by Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, aims to double the bloc's share of global chip output to 20% by 2030 and follows the U.S. CHIPS for America Act. "We need chips to power digital and green transitions or healthcare systems," Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager said in a tweet. Since the announcement of its chips subsidies plan last year, the EU has already attracted more than 100 billion euros in public and private investments, an EU official said. While the Commission had originally proposed funding only cutting-edge chip plants, EU governments and lawmakers have widened the scope to cover the whole value chain, including older chips and research and design facilities.

☆ EU urges firm results, green alliance from US trade talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, April 12 (Reuters) - The United States and the European Union need to produce clear results next month from their forum on trade and technology and forge closer ties on green products and technology, European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on Wednesday. "We should also be aiming to move forward on digital and sustainable trade," Dombrovskis said. The transatlantic partners should, he said, help set common standards for green goods and technologies, ensure fair competition and build resilient supply chains. Dombrovskis said the two should work to align the domestic supports of the IRA and the EU Green Deal, so "turbo-charging" the green transition. In my view, we should be aiming for nothing less than a green transatlantic marketplace," Dombrovskis said.

ChatGPT has an "absence of any legal basis that justifies the massive collection and storage of personal data" to "train" the chatbot, Garante said. OpenAI has 20 days to respond with remedies or could risk a fine of up to 4% of its annual worldwide turnover. ChatGPT was still answering questions posted by Italian users on the platform on Friday evening. Italy, which provisionally restricted ChatGPT's use of domestic users' personal data, became the first Western country to take action against a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence. The European Commission, which is debating the EU AI Act, may not be inclined to ban AI, European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager tweeted.

☆ EU's Vestager optimistic for U.S.-EU battery minerals deal similar to Japan's
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) - European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said on Thursday that she is optimistic that an electric vehicle battery minerals trade agreement can soon be reached with the United States that is similar in substance to this week's U.S.-Japan deal. Vestager told reporters in Washington that European Union and U.S. negotiators are working on legal frameworks that would be different from the Japan deal. "And that is what has been holding up things, but we are quite optimistic that we can reach an agreement about the same sort of substantial scope as the Japanese." Reporting by David LawderOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU's antitrust chief on Europe's competition crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailEU's antitrust chief on Europe's competition crackdownMargarethe Vestager, European Commission executive vice president, joins 'Squawk Box' in an interview with CNBC's Kayla Tausche to discuss the focal points of the second Summit for Democracy that kicked off Wednesday.

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