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REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File PhotoLONDON/STOCKHOLM, April 28 (Reuters) - As recently as February, generative AI did not feature prominently in EU lawmakers' plans for regulating generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies such as ChatGPT. LAST-MINUTE CHANGESSince launching in November, ChatGPT has become the fastest growing app in history, and sparked a flurry of activity from Big Tech competitors and investment in generative AI startups like Anthropic and Midjourney. THE TERMINATORUntil recently, MEPs were still unconvinced that generative AI deserved any special consideration. In February, Tudorache told Reuters that generative AI was "not going to be covered" in-depth. But Tudorache and his colleagues now agree on the need for laws specifically targeting the use of generative AI.

☆ EU lawmakers committee reaches deal on artificial intelligence act
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

STOCKHOLM, April 27 (Reuters) - A committee of European Union lawmakers on Thursday reached a preliminary agreement on a European Artificial Intelligence Act, which would pave the way to the first ever regulation of AI. "Against conservative wishes for more surveillance and leftist fantasies of over-regulation, parliament found a solid compromise that would regulate AI proportionately, protect citizens’ rights, as well as foster innovation and boost the economy," said Svenja Hahn, a European Parliament deputy. She said there would be a vote at committee level on May 11 followed by a plenary vote in parliament, probably in June. Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm and Foo Yun Chee in BrusselsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Column: Poland's pushback on EU climate goals no surprise, but a worry
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

(Related column: Europe raises green energy climate hurdles with red tape revamp)GREEN MOMENTUMPoland's main objections to the more aggressive EU climate goals are mainly about timing rather than any disagreement over the merits of reducing emissions. A key gauge of energy intensity measures the total amount of energy needed to generate one unit of gross domestic product (GDP), using a ratio of primary energy consumption over GDP. In 2021, Poland's energy intensity ratio was 0.086, according to data firm Enerdata. That compares with Germany's energy intensity of 0.070, and an average for the whole European Union of 0.074. A key worry for EU lawmakers is that the burden of compliance with the EU's new stiffer emissions standards acts as a drain on Poland's energy transition ambitions.

Members of the European Parliament agreed to push the draft through to the next stage, the trilogue, during which EU lawmakers and member states will thrash out the final details of the bill. Under the proposals, AI tools will be classified according to their perceived risk level: from minimal through to limited, high, and unacceptable. Companies deploying generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT or image generator Midjourney, will also have to disclose any copyrighted material used to develop their systems. Some committee members initially proposed banning copyrighted material being used to train generative AI models altogether, the source said, but this was abandoned in favour of a transparency requirement. The ensuing race among tech companies to bring generative AI products to market concerned some onlookers, with Twitter-owner Elon Musk backing a proposal to halt development of such systems for six months.

☆ SEC Climate Rules Could Decide Whether U.S. Firms Face Tough EU Law
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Paul Kiernan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Illustration: Preston Jessee/WSJThe European Union plans to require thousands of U.S. companies to disclose extensive details about how their operations affect the climate—unless the Securities and Exchange Commission passes rules that EU officials see as tough enough to take their place. More than 3,000 U.S. companies are expected to have to gather and disclose data on their greenhouse-gas emissions and those of their suppliers and customers under a European Union law passed in 2022. The law says non-EU companies can get out of the new rules only if they face equivalent requirements elsewhere.

☆ SEC Climate Rules Could Decide Whether U.S. Companies Face Tough EU Law
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Paul Kiernan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Illustration: Preston Jessee/WSJThe European Union plans to require thousands of American companies to disclose extensive details about how their operations affect the climate—unless the Securities and Exchange Commission passes rules that EU officials see as tough enough to take their place. More than 3,000 U.S. companies are expected to have to gather and disclose data on their greenhouse-gas emissions and those of their suppliers and customers under a European Union law passed in 2022. The law says non-EU companies can get out of the new rules only if they face equivalent requirements elsewhere.

☆ A student-loan borrower just got $78,000 in debt wiped out in court after 3 decades of repayment following Biden's new bankruptcy guidance
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Zena Dodson, a borrower with $78,000 in student debt, just got her loans discharged via bankruptcy. The relief follows new Education and Justice Department reforms to the bankruptcy process last year. But Biden's Education and Justice Department guidance last year streamlined the process for student-loan borrowers to receive relief through bankruptcy, which helped get Dodson her relief. "For too long, the federal government was fighting borrowers in bankruptcy court based on overly-stringent guidance," Ament said. "We're hopeful these new policies give more student loan borrowers like Ms. Dodson a chance at a financial fresh start."

☆ Retailers to tackle sustainability at key conference
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

They will discuss the challenges facing their businesses as inflation causes consumers in Europe and elsewhere to reduce spending. The European Commission is drawing up new rules on textile waste that will make companies responsible for managing the waste their products create. Decathlon, the world's biggest sporting goods retailer, sells repair services, spare parts and tools for people to repair their own bicycles, tents, and kayaks. Retailers are working with local authorities ahead of an EU law that will require member states to separately collect textile waste by Jan. 1, 2025. Firms including Decathlon, Mango, Inditex, and IKEA recently created an association in Spain for the management of textile waste.

☆ EU lawmakers approve world's first comprehensive framework for crypto regulation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) is the first attempt at creating comprehensive regulation for digital assets in the EU. Lawmakers in the European Parliament have approved the world's first comprehensive package of rules aimed at regulating the cryptocurrency industry. In a vote Thursday, the EU Parliament voted 517 in favor and 38 against to pass the Markets in Crypto Act, or MiCA. The legislation, which seeks to reduce risks for consumers buying crypto assets, will mean providers can become liable if they lose investors' crypto-assets. The rules will impose a number of requirements on crypto platforms, token issuers and traders around transparency, disclosure, authorization, and supervision of transactions, the EU Parliament said in a statement Thursday.

☆ EU lawmakers demand obligatory hosting of migrants under looming overhaul
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Gabriela Baczynska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Evidence, from Nigeria, looks at the sea on his sixth day waiting for a safe port to disembark on board of NGO Proactiva Open Arms Uno rescue boat in central Mediterranean Sea, August 22, 2022. The bloc's migration and asylum system collapsed in 2015 when more than one million people - mostly fleeing the war in Syria - reached Europe's southern shores. But Mediterranean arrivals rose last year, with the bloc's border agency Frontex reporting some 330,000 unauthorised arrivals. With irregular immigration on the rise, those including Italy's far-right government are leading growing calls for the EU to do more to reduce sea arrivals. While the EU wants to overhaul its defunct system before a bloc-wide election in 2024, the issue of obligatory relocations seems as stuck as ever, according to diplomats.

☆ Exclusive: German authors, performers call for tougher ChatGPT rules amid copyright concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, April 19 (Reuters) - Forty-two German associations and trade unions representing more than 140,000 authors and performers on Wednesday urged the European Union to beef up draft artificial intelligence rules as they singled out the threat to their copyright from ChatGPT. The letter underlined the growing worries about generative artificial intelligence (AI) such as ChatGPT which can mimic humans and create text and images based on prompts. "Generative AI needs to be at the centre of any meaningful AI market regulation," it said. The European Commission, which last year proposed AI rules, will in the coming months thrash out the final details with EU lawmakers and member states before the rules become legislation. The rules should be beefed up to regulate generative AI across the entire product cycle, especially on providers of foundation models, the groups said.

☆ Ukraine's cheap grain exports are causing an awkward rift with its European neighbors and staunch allies
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

The move to ban Ukraine's agricultural imports has angered the European Union given that the bloc has sought to help Kyiv maintain its exports as an economic lifeline for the war-torn country. Slovakia's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development told CNBC that despite its temporary ban on Ukrainian imports, the country continued to be open for "solidarity transit," meaning that Ukrainian grain could still pass through its territory to other countries. The ministry added that "we would appreciate the whole-European solution [to] the Ukrainian grain because the topic is relating to the protection of the whole internal European market." It also said it recognized the impact of the "oversupply" of Ukrainian imports on EU farmers, particularly those in bordering nations. Ships, including those carrying grain from Ukraine and awaiting inspections, are seen anchored off the Istanbul coastline on November 02, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey.

☆ Japan's Kishida says ChatGPT will be on G7 summit agenda -Kyodo
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, April 19 (Reuters) - Leaders from the Group of Seven advanced economies will discuss generative artificial intelligence ChatGPT when they gather in Hiroshima next month for a summit, Kyodo news agency quoted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as saying on Wednesday. "International rules need to be created," Kyodo quoted Kishida as saying in a meeting with executives of regional newspapers. His comment comes when calls are growing for regulating advanced AI systems as use of ChatGPT and other programmes becomes widespread. EU lawmakers this week urged world leaders to hold a summit to find ways to control the development of such systems, while U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said last week he had launched an effort to establish rules on AI to address national security and education concerns. Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka Editing by Raissa KasolowskyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Digital euro not a 'Big Brother' project, says EU official
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Johanna Geron/PoolLONDON, April 19 (Reuters) - A digital euro will offer choice in making payments and is not a "Big Brother" project that seeks to control people, the European Union's financial services commissioner Mairead McGuinness said on Wednesday. But critics say a digital version of the euro could be used to pry on people's activities, and make it harder to use cash for making payments and purchases. "This is not a Big Brother project," McGuinness told the European Parliament. If the EU decides to grant formal 'legal tender' status to a digital euro, the bloc would need to do likewise for the cash version of the single currency, McGuinness said. The court said legal tender means mandatory acceptance of the euro at full face value, along with power to discharge from payment obligations or release from debt.

☆ EU lawmakers back ban on goods linked to deforestation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The rules aim to eliminate deforestation from the supply chains of a range of everyday items sold in Europe. It will apply to soy, beef, palm oil, wood, cocoa, coffee, rubber, charcoal, and derived products including leather, chocolate and furniture. Indonesia and Malaysia, the world's largest palm oil exporters, have accused the EU of blocking market access for their palm oil. The EU is the world's third-largest palm oil importer. The EU Parliament approved a deal on the rules, which was agreed by EU negotiators last year.

☆ Italy to allow ChatGPT to return if OpenAI takes 'useful steps'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, April 18 (Reuters) - Italy's data protection watchdog is ready to allow the return of the ChatGPT chatbot at the end of April if its maker OpenAI takes "useful steps" to address the agency's concerns, the authority's chief Pasquale Stanzione said in an interview published on Tuesday. Microsoft Corp-backed (MSFT.O) OpenAI took ChatGPT offline in Italy in late March after the watchdog temporarily restricted its personal data processing and began a probe into a suspected breach of privacy rules. "We are ready to reopen ChatGPT on April 30 if there is a willingness on the part of OpenAI to take useful steps. The data protection body led by Stanzione last week set out a list of demands which it said OpenAI must meet by April 30 to address its concerns. Italy was the first western European country to curb ChatGPT, but its rapid development has attracted attention from lawmakers and regulators in several countries.

☆ Women’s soccer is having a moment — except in the boardroom
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Amy Woodyatt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Norway’s Karen Espelund was “appointed” not “elected” to the position due to her role as chair of the Women’s Football Committee, UEFA told CNN Sport over email. Norwegian Football Association President Lise Klaveness told CNN that the popularity of soccer isn't mirrored in female representation at UEFA. We tend to forget that because we compare it to the phenomenon of men’s football,” Klaveness says. The prize money for this year’s women’s World Cup, which kicks off on July 20, will increase by 300% to $150 million, FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced last month. “They don’t really know: What are the differences between men’s and women’s football?

☆ ChatGPT and Advanced AI Face New Regulatory Push in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Sam Schechner | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Members of the European Parliament. A group among them have been charged with hammering out a new draft of what the European Union calls its AI Act. PARIS—European Union lawmakers want to give regulators new powers to govern the development of technologies like those behind ChatGPT, the biggest push so far in the West to curb one of the hottest areas in artificial intelligence. The breakneck pace of AI development in recent months requires a new set of rules tailored to powerful, general-purpose AI tools, a group of influential EU lawmakers say in an open letter they plan to publish Monday.

April 17 (Reuters) - EU lawmakers urged world leaders on Monday to hold a summit to find ways to control the development of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems such as ChatGPT, saying they were developing faster than expected. The 12 MEPs, all working on EU legislation on the technology, called on U.S. President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to convene the meeting, and said AI firms should be more responsible. "We are nevertheless in agreement with the letter's core message: with the rapid evolution of powerful AI, we see the need for significant political action," they added. The letter urged democratic and "non-democratic" countries to reflect on potential systems of governance, and to exercise restraint in their pursuit of very powerful AI. The Biden administration has also been seeking public comments on potential accountability measures for AI systems as questions loom about their impact on national security and education.

☆ EU lawmakers call for political attention to powerful AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 17 (Reuters) - Legislators from the European Parliament said on Monday that political attention needed to be focused on powerful artificial intelligence (AI), agreeing with an open letter signed by academics, experts and business leaders including Elon Musk on AI regulation. The EU Parliament called on European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen and U.S. President Joe Biden to convene a global summit on AI. Reporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Editing by Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU lawmakers call for a new set of rules for A.I. tools such as ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A group of a dozen lawmakers for the European Union called for a new set of rules to regulate a larger swath of artificial intelligence tools, beyond those identified as explicitly high risk under the region's proposed AI Act. The letter comes after a group of prominent AI experts called for Europe to make its AI rules more expansive, arguing that excluding general purpose AI, or GPAI, would miss the mark. "We are nevertheless in agreement with the letter's core message: with the rapid evolution of powerful AI, we see the need for significant political attention." They pledged to provide a set of rules within the AI Act framework to steer AI development in a "human-centric, safe, and trustworthy" way. The lawmakers said both democratic and non-democratic countries should be called on "to exercise restraint and responsibility in their pursuit of very powerful artificial intelligence."

☆ Factbox: Governments' efforts to regulate AI tools
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

April 12 (Reuters) - Italy's data protection agency said on Wednesday it would lift its temporary ban on OpenAI's ChatGPT artificial intelligence (AI) technology if the U.S. company complied with data protection and privacy demands by end-April. Rapid advances in AI such as Microsoft-backed OpenAI's ChatGPT are complicating governments' efforts to agree on laws governing the use of the technology. Lawmakers have proposed classifying different AI tools according to their perceived level of risk, from low to unacceptable. On Wednesday, its data protection agency set an end-April deadline for OpenAI to meet its demands on data protection and privacy before the service can be resumed in the country. SPAINSpain's data protection agency has asked the EU's privacy watchdog to evaluate privacy concerns surrounding ChatGPT, the agency told Reuters on April 11.

☆ Irish PM seeks to restore Northern Ireland power-sharing within months
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBLIN, April 9 (Reuters) - Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar pledged on Sunday to intensify efforts with his British counterpart Rishi Sunak to restore power-sharing government in Northern Ireland and hopes to break the deadlock there in the next few months. London has said it will not renegotiate any part of its the new agreement. The latest suspension of the assembly is casting a shadow over Monday's 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. U.S. President Joe Biden will visit Northern Ireland on Tuesday to mark the peace accord that ended three decades of bloodshed. Power-sharing has collapsed a number of times for different reasons since its introduction as part of the peace deal, each time being restored after long political talks.

☆ EU car data access rules in progress but no timeline
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Data ownership, however, is not clearly defined in EU law, resulting in the current dispute between carmakers and those who want to access it. "The Commission is working on the preparation of a sector-specific proposal on in-vehicle data. It will aim to complement the proposal for a Data Act, published in February 2022," a spokesperson for the EU executive told Reuters in an email. "At this stage we cannot prejudge the content of the final impact assessment and subsequent timeline for adoption." ($1 = 0.9188 euros)Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Josie KaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU agrees to ramp up 2030 renewable energy targets, accelerating shift from fossil fuels
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The EU has pledged to wean itself off Russian fossil fuels by 2027 in response to President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The European Union is poised to ramp up its 2030 renewable energy targets, accelerating a shift away from fossil fuels as the bloc seeks to rapidly cut emissions and reduce its dependence on Russia. It is set to replace the EU's current renewable energies directive target for a 32% share of renewable energy by 2030, which has been in place since Dec. 2018. The EU has pledged to wean itself off Russian fossil fuels by 2027 in response to President Vladimir Putin's hostilities in Ukraine. The burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas, is the chief driver of the climate crisis.

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