Tech lobby group urges EU leaders to pause AI Act
STOCKHOLM, June 26 (Reuters) - Tech lobbying group CCIA Europe, whose members include Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab, Meta (META.O), opens new tab and Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab, on Thursday urged European Union to pause implementation of the AI Act, saying a rushed roll-out risks jeopardizing the continent's AI aspirations.
Europe's landmark AI rules entered into force in June last year with various provisions to be implemented in a phased manner.
Important provisions of the EU AI Act, including rules for general purpose AI (GPAI) models, were due to apply on August 2. But some parts of the GPAI, which were expected to be published on May 2, got delayed, opens new tab.
"With critical parts of the AI Act still missing just weeks before rules kick in, we need a pause to get the Act right, or risk stalling innovation altogether," said Daniel Friedlaender, CCIA Europe's senior vice president.
Political leaders such as Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson have also called, opens new tab AI rules "confusing" and asked the EU to pause the Act, ahead of a meeting with other EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday.
More than two-thirds of European businesses said they struggle to understand their responsibilities under the EU AI Act, according to a survey, opens new tab by Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab Web Services.
The EU AI Act is more comprehensive than the United States' light-touch voluntary compliance approach while China's approach aims to maintain social stability and state control.
"We are currently implementing the AI Act," EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen told EU lawmakers earlier this month when asked if she would consider a temporary halt to enforcing the AI Act.
"I want to implement it in a very innovation friendly manner ... the main concern among some stakeholders is that this is hindering innovations."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Meta hires three OpenAI researchers, WSJ reports
June 25 (Reuters) - Meta (META.O), opens new tab Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has hired three OpenAI researchers to join his superintelligence efforts, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The company hired Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov and Xiaohua Zhai, who were all working in OpenAI's Zurich office, the report said. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
M&S has made a huge change at ALL cafes and shoppers will be fuming
M&S has made a huge change at all cafes and shoppers will be fuming. Prices at the Percy Pig makers in-store cafes have risen by up to 20%, with the cost of a Gastro Fish & Chips meal increasing by £2. 1 It's beer battered fish, served with chips, petit pois and tartar sauce used to cost £9.95 in August 2024. But its most updated menu for June 2025 shows the cost of the beloved British dish has risen to £11.95 across sites. The price of a single portion of chips at the cafe has also increased by 50p, now costing £2.50. And fans of its brekkie are forking out more too. M&S's All Day Big Breakfast, served with sausages, bacon, soft poached eggs, tomatoes, potato rosti, baked beans and toast, used to cost £9.50. But punters are now paying an extra 45p for the hefty morning meal. Elsewhere, toast with jam and butter now costs £3.75 up from £3.50 and a breakfast ciabatta's was £4.95 but now costs £5.25. The posh retailer has also shaken up what is served on menus, axing its nutty granola bowl priced at £4.25. This has been replaced with a Berry Bliss granola bowl that costs 70p more. An M&S spokesperson told The Sun: " We're committed to providing trusted value for our customers by mitigating and offsetting as much of the current food inflation as we can. Shoppers race to M&S as one of their best selling items which is a mum-essential viral are scanning for just 63 PENCE "We are working hard to ensure we offer a wide range of price points and options for our customers, never compromising on the M&S quality they expect." It is not uncommon for restaurants, cafés and grocery stores to raise prices due to increased operational costs, including hikes to National Insurance contributions and wages. M&S has previously faced ridicule for hiking the cost of popular items, such as Percy Pigs. Shoppers were outraged after it was discovered a 170g of the iconic sweet treat had been hiked by 10p, now costing £2. The bestselling sweets have undergone a 33% price hike since 2017 when a packet cost just £1.50. MORE PRICE RISES M&S is not the only retailer hiking costs for customers. Earlier this year, Morrisons also increased the cost of a number popular menu items in its cafés. The Full Breakfast was hiked by 25p to £7, while its sweet Stacked Pancakes have risen by £4.25 to £4.50. The price of a Ultimate Fish, Chips & Mushy Peas has increased by £7.75 to £8.50. Meanwhile, battered sausages, chips and mushy peas increased from £6 to £6.50. Greggs increased the price of a sausage roll to £1.30 nationally at the start of the year. The rise means that the Brit favourite jumped by more than a third since it cost £1 in 2022. At some travel locations, such as London Bridge, the price of a sausage roll has increased from £1.50 to £1.55. Elsewhere, Costa Coffee has hiked the price of a brew across its hospital concessions. An audit by our investigators found that a small latte or cappuccino costs £3.90 and a medium £4.10 at Medivest's Royal Victoria Infirmary's Costa Coffee outlet in Newcastle. That's a 10p increase on February 2025 prices and a 20p more compared with high street prices just yards down the road. NEW M&S MENU All Day Breakfast All Day Big Breakfast: £9.95 New Pesto Eggs, Halloumi & Asparagus: £9.95 New Berry Bliss Granola Bowl: £4.95 Pancake Stack with Maple Syrup & Butter: £6.00 Add Bacon: £1.50 Toast with Smashed Avocado: £5.25 Add Egg/Salmon/Bacon: £1.50 Toast with Jam & Butter: £3.75 Toasted Teacake: £2.95 Salmon Royale Brioche: £7.50 Breakfast Ciabattas (Choose one filling): £5.25 Smoked Bacon / Sausage / Mature Cheddar Omelette From Noon Gastropub Fish & Chips: £11.95 New Crispy Chicken Caesar Schnitzel: £9.95 Super Greens Omelette Bowl: £8.95 Hot & Crunchy Sandwiches (With smashed avocado and rocket. Choose one filling) New Pesto Chicken: £7.50 New Spicy Tuna: £7.50 Soups New Thai Green Chicken Curry: £6.50 Loaded Tomato & Basil: £6.25 Tomato & Basil: £5.50 Add Ciabatta or GF Roll: £0.70 Jacket Potatoes (Served with rainbow slaw. Choose one filling) Three Bean Chilli & Avocado: £6.95 New Tuna & Sweetcorn: £6.75 Cornish Cheddar: £6.75 Baked Beans: £6.25 Chips: £2.50 Hot Drinks New Lion's Mane Latte: £4.00 (Regular) Spiced Turmeric Latte: £3.40 (Regular) Latte: £3.60 (Regular), £3.90 (Large) Cappuccino: £3.60 (Regular), £3.90 (Large) Americano: £3.10 (Regular), £3.40 (Large) Flat White: £3.60 (Regular) Magic Coffee®: £3.40 (Regular) Cortado: £3.40 (Regular) Espresso: £2.50 (Regular) Chai Latte: £3.80 (Regular) Mocha: £3.80 (Regular) Hot Chocolate: £3.80 (Regular) Add Marshmallows: £0.50 Add Whipped Cream: £0.50 Single Origin Kenyan Coffee: £0.30 Add Syrup Shot (Pistachio, Hazelnut, Caramel, Vanilla): £0.50 Perfect Ted™ Matcha (Served with oat milk) New Iced Wild Strawberry Matcha: £4.25 Iced Vanilla Matcha: £4.00 Vanilla Matcha Latte: £4.00 Luxury Hot Chocolate (Made with Fairtrade cocoa from the Dominican Republic) 55% Milk Hot Chocolate: £4.00 65% Dark Hot Chocolate: £4.00 Teas Classic Teas (Gold Label, Earl Grey, Decaf): £2.75 Speciality Teas (Green, Triple Mint, Lemon & Ginger, Berry): £2.85 Iced Drinks Iced Latte: £3.60 New Iced Berry Cooler: £3.25 New Outrageously Chocolatey Milkshake: £4.25 New Eton Mess Milkshake: £4.25
Times
2 hours ago
- Times
A better paternity leave package would encourage take-up
Paternity leave rights in the UK currently run to a fortnight that must be taken within 52 weeks of a child's birth — and is paid at the rate of £187.18 a week or 90 per cent of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. That is significantly below the national living wage and places a strain on working families. The current system also leads to many fathers and same-sex partners falling through the gaps, with the self-employed, those earning less than £123 per week, or those who have not yet been with their employer long enough being entitled to no paternity leave or pay. The shared parental leave scheme that was introduced in 2014 aimed to give fathers and other parents the chance to play a more prominent role in the first year. This scheme allows parents to surrender maternity leave and pay, and switch into the shared parental leave regime, so that up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay can be taken flexibly between parents. However, the uptake has been low. The complexity of the regime (which many employees and employers struggle to understand), the statutory rates of pay, and the fact that it effectively takes time away from the parent on maternity leave, all contribute to a lack of enthusiasm for the scheme. As a result, many, often larger, employers take it upon themselves to provide enhanced family leave and pay entitlements in a bid to support their staff and provide a more attractive array of benefits. Legal advice is often taken to ensure such policies are fair and non-discriminatory. A better enhanced statutory paternity regime would certainly improve the position for many families, particularly on lower incomes, and would undoubtedly increase take-up. While most people would agree with the idea that giving both parents more time with their families is beneficial, the real issue will be to work out how this is funded. Currently employers that qualify for small business relief can recoup the full cost of statutory paternity pay, and other employers can generally recoup 92 per cent of the cost. If paternity leave is extended and pay enhanced, it is unclear how much of the cost would remain funded. Businesses may well be concerned about the burden of additional cost and the pressures on resourcing that more prolonged absences would cause. Ultimately a balanced approach that considers the needs of families and the financial realities of business will be Wallbank is a partner at the law firm Freeths
