European policy makers recommend creating a $110 billion sovereign wealth fund to create "European champions" in tech

August 23rd

(European Parliament/Flickr)

EU policy makers have drafted a proposal to create an investment fund to help boost Europe's tech sector.

The proposed plan, which officials call the European Future Fund, echoes president-elect Ursula von der Leyen's own promise to invest in EU companies and push back against encroachment by foreign technology.

The document warns that unless Europe creates its own domestic giants, foreign companies like Google, Amazon, Alibaba and Tencent may gain significant influence in Europe:

The emergence and leadership of private non-EU competitors, with unprecedented financial means, has the potential to obliterate the existing innovation dynamics and industrial position of EU industry in certain sectors.

The fund, the document claims, would invest in equity, not research or development, and focus on creating products. Such an approach "will allow the fund to meet the strategic objective of supporting European champions while maintaining financial stability."

The fund is only a recommendation and not an official policy. President-elect von der Leyen will assume office on November 1.

The European Union and AI

A policy document urges the EU to monitor AI and lessen its reliance on foreign technology

October 1st

An internal policy proposal recommends an "initiative for technological sovereignty."

Sections

Surveillance and Privacy

August 16th

AI-enabled technologies produce and rely on vast troves of personal data, most of which is unregulated and vulnerable to theft and misuse.

These technologies include:

Facial recognition: It helps users unlock their smartphones. It also helps police in China track criminal suspects and monitor members of the Uyghur ethnic minority.
Personalization: It helps consumers make necessary purchases and discover entertainment, but also encourages developers to collect personal data from increasingly far-flung sources.
Voice assistants: They help users answer questions, create calendar events, and set alarms. They also record audio accidentally, and until recently relied on human reviewers to listen to private audio to improve their responses.
Smart home products: Similar to voice assistants, these products allow users to remotely operate appliances, set temperatures and access security footage. They also collect a vast amount of private information about the home life of their users.

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