There is *no solid evidence* for the claim that 3x more data centers will deliver tech sovereignty in Europe. What we *do know* is that data centres consume resources, generate heat & strain local grids. @techpolicypress.bsky.social argue to pause large data centres until the evidence is there 👇

The Case for a Temporary Moratorium on Large Data Centers in Europe

Michelle Thorne, Aurora Gomez Delgado, Fieke Jansen and Rosi Leonard argue the EU should pause new data centers until it proves they are in the public interest.

techpolicy.press

Andy Burnham has framed #AI as a matter of economic & national sovereignty. So why are + than 1/3 of firms backed by the UK's Sovereign AI Fund US-owned? Whether in the UK or EU, if the goal is strategic autonomy, 'sovereign AI' should mean evaluating & reducing dependencies, not subsidising them.

More than 1 in 3 'sovereign' AI firms US-owned, FOIs reveal

• Freedom of Information responses from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) reveal four of the nine companies backed by the government's £500m Sovereign AI Fund are ultimately...

thenewcontract.org

When #heatwaves lead to rising use of cooling systems at #DataCentres, it exacerbates temperatures outside creating a 'heat island' effect... How sustainable is this in a warming world? Not very, reported the Guardian: according to residents near data centres, life became almost unbearable.

‘Slough is like an experiment’: Europe’s largest datacentre hub leaves town sweltering

Emerging research suggests datacentres create a heat island effect, pushing up temperatures in the immediate vicinity by as much as 9C

theguardian.com

The adoption of the #AIOmnibus in the @europarl.europa.eu reduces transparency, loosens requirements & ultimately leaves people with fewer protections & industry with a legal vacuum. This is at a critical time when AI systems are becoming widespread. @liberties.eu sets out the details of the vote.

AI Omnibus: Fast-Tracking Deregulation, Weakening Digital Rights

By approving the first Digital Omnibus on 16 June, the European Parliament has taken a worrying step towards weakening a decade of digital rights protections.

liberties.eu

Amid concerning #AI news (including delays to key AI Act safeguards through the #DigitalOmnibus) it's worth remembering that resistance is growing too! @karenhao.bsky.social maps tactics like data centre fights, labor organising, legal challenges & community alternatives👇

The AI Resist List

A living directory of ways communities resist AI harms—and build alternatives worth fighting for.

airesistlist.org

Every few years, a new false dichotomy appears. Today, it's AI vs. climate. The EU must reject this framing. Our ambition must be a values-based AI that serves Europeans & respects planetary boundaries. The data centre lobby cannot expect a free pass on emissions & resource consumption!

Europe must choose between AI and climate goals, data center lobby says

Tech sector says only carbon-emitting gas plants are reliable enough today to power the EU’s AI goals.

politico.eu

@ugorealfonzo.bsky.social confirms in a new poll that people want "greater digital sovereignty and a regulated, values-based approach to AI." Europeans assert that the development of AI should be sustainable & geared towards 'improving public services including healthcare, transport and education'.

Deepfakes, sovereignty and generative tools: What do Belgians think of AI?

Europeans, including Belgians, were asked about their use of generative AI, the EU's foreign tech dependencies, and how they think AI should be regulated.

brusselstimes.com

Just this week, the @ec.europa.eu released a new #TechSovereigntyPackage aiming to amplify Europe's capacities - but But technological capacity must also address underlying & systemic dependencies Europe has on US infrastructure, investment and value flows. 1/2

Series: What Europe’s AI Market Actually Looks Like

In partnership with the AI Now Institute, this series explores the European AI market and tests the assumptions left implicit in EU policy documents.

techpolicy.press

The @ec.europa.eu published its Tech Sovereignty Package. #CADA which aims to triple European data centre capacity by 2035 to scale EU-based cloud & AI. Yet as @balancedeconomy.bsky.social rightly state, building more data centres is not the same thing as achieving tech sovereignty 👉 bit.ly/3RXGxnp

@brusselstimes.com reports that an internal investigation has been launched on the policing of the recent French-speaking education cuts protests, following reports of disproportionate violence and racist & sexist remarks by some police officers.

'Bootcamp for rioters'? Defence Minister wants army training after Brussels protests

While Theo Francken has condemned student protesters for their behaviour last week, the police have also come under scrutiny for allegedly heavy-handed tactics.

brusselstimes.com

Great to see that 35 MEPs are now calling on the @ec.europa.eu to scrap a secrecy clause that keeps the environmental data on #datacentres hidden. The public has a right to know the ecological footprint of big tech’s infrastructure. Read the letter 👉 bit.ly/4wRBXH0

Don’t let Big Tech hide ecological cost of AI, environment agency chief tells EU

Brussels must require tech companies to disclose data centers’ energy and water use, Leena Ylä-Mononen says.

politico.eu

AI is already shaping working lives through opaque systems of surveillance and control. Yet the new divide is more likely to be between the data collectors & AI users rather than the differing segments of workers subjected to this ever-increasing commodification of work.

Forget the AI job apocalypse. AI’s real threat is worker control and surveillance

A new divide is emerging: between workers who use AI at work and those who are managed by it

theguardian.com

Europe’s ambitious sustainable finance legislation risks becoming a greenwashing loophole due to fragmented enforcement and a lack of oversight, undermining the green transition and misallocating capital, says @axelle-vw.bsky.social . 

Europe’s green finance rules need teeth to be enforceable

Strong oversight and real sanctions are needed to avoid derailing the transition and keep the market fair and reliable, says Axelle Van Wynsberghe of Finance Watch.

greencb.co

Civil society like @algorithmwatch.org & @somoamsterdam.bsky.social reiterate that von der Leyen must enact the Google's €1 billion fine for their violation of the #DigitalMarketAct without further delay. We cannot let big tech companies block, delay, or water down regulations that affect them.

Glad this article I wrote for @financewatch.bsky.social is gaining visibility. Thanks @greencb.bsky.social! 🌱 It's pretty clear: Europe’s #GreenFinance framework won’t deliver if it isn’t enforced. Without real oversight & accountability, we risk it becoming just another greenwashing loophole.

Europe’s green finance rules need teeth to be enforceable

Strong oversight and real sanctions are needed to avoid derailing the transition and keep the market fair and reliable, says Axelle Van Wynsberghe of Finance Watch.

greencentralbanking.com

@jamesbridle.bsky.social at Bozar on his latest work Ways of Being and his shift towards art practices that engage with what he calls ‘the great work’ of our time. “The only future we’re going to have is the one we build together right now.”

The EU had planned the 1st fine against Google under the #DigitalMarketsAct. Now, it's backing down... Yet we still need a free and democratic internet where public debate is not controlled by profit interests. Without accountability, big tech companies pose high risks to our democracy.

Is the Brussels Effect Losing Steam?

Europe’s Digital Markets Act was designed to lead a global antitrust crackdown on tech. But the Act’s impact has been limited and few countries are following.

cepa.org

According to @karenhao.bsky.social the EU should rethink its approach to competitiveness in its approach to #AI. “Could there be a rights preserving, democratic and inclusive AI that would outcompete these other paradigms [of the US and China]?”

Axelle Van Wynsberghe@axelle-vw.bsky.social · 3mo ago

@alexandrageese.eurosky.social & @karenhao.bsky.social on societal harm concerns of AI at @heinrichboelltr.bsky.social. They discuss how communities - from Uruguay to the US - are mobilising to fight back against the energy and water cost of AI and the buildout of data centres.

@alexandrageese.eurosky.social & @karenhao.bsky.social on societal harm concerns of AI at @heinrichboelltr.bsky.social. They discuss how communities - from Uruguay to the US - are mobilising to fight back against the energy and water cost of AI and the buildout of data centres.

@balancedeconomy.bsky.social shows how speculative investment, political influence & concentrated corporate power fuel an AI race to the bottom: "We cannot build a fair or sustainable economy on infrastructure controlled by tech giants and (...)designed to extract returns from the public."

Licensed to Loot: How Big Tech & Big Finance Drove the AI Data Centre Boom — Balanced Economy Project

BEP’s new paper reveals how Big Tech and Big Finance manufactured the AI data centre boom, driving structural dependencies and urging a moratorium on new approvals.

balancedeconomy.org

Just now, Microsoft & other US tech companies successfully lobbied the EU to keep the public in the dark about the data centres' environmental footprint. Yet it is precisely the #AI industry which is set to consume vast amounts of energy & water and must be held accountable.

US tech firms successfully lobbied EU to keep datacentre emissions secret

Legally questionable confidentiality clause adopted almost word for word from demands of Microsoft and trade groups

theguardian.com

AI data work is booming. But according to @somoamsterdam.bsky.social so are its precarious conditions. Workers that label, clean, and train #AI (often in the global south) face low pay, unsafe conditions & weak protections. We need a counterweight to this global race to the bottom on labour rights.

Big Tech sets unfair terms and conditions for AI data workers globally - SOMO

Behind most AI products are thousands of workers who label, annotate, and clean data. Their work is essential but largely precarious and invisible.

somo.nl

AI has an energy problem ⚡️ Data centres needed to train AI consume as much electricity as more than 200k American homes. And data centre emissions could more than *double* by 2030 - making it one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouses gasses in the world.

Inside the Dirty, Dystopian World of AI Data Centers

The race to power AI is already remaking the physical world.

theatlantic.com

Now, Grammarly's #AI is impersonating writers. This reminds me of FKA Twig's testimony on Capitol Hill: “That the very essence of our being at its most human level can be violated by the unscrupulous use of AI to create a digital facsimile that purports to be us, and our work, is inherently wrong.”

Julia Angwin@juliaangwin.com · 5mo ago

I'm suing Grammarly over its paid AI feature that presented editing suggestions as if they came from me - and many other writers and journalists - without consent. State law requires consent before someone's name can be used for commercial purposes. www.wired.com/story/gramma...

Labour intensification is here. Far from easing workloads - deciphering AI slop, and accumulating tasks due to the perceived 'efficiencies' of AI, is just leading to more work. This results in cognitive overload, burnout, poorer decision-making, and declining work quality.

AI Isn’t Lightening Workloads. It’s Making Them More Intense.

The technology is increasing the speed, density and complexity of work rather than reducing it, a new analysis of 164,000 people’s work activity shows.

wsj.com

Come find my stall at the Halles de Schaerbeek this Sunday International #WomensDay from 10h-12h30, where I’ll be joining the art market. There will also be a DJ set & sign making workshop for the best pre-protest vibes before the get together at Mont des Arts at 13h. ✊

A former Meta chief lobbyist was appointed by the EPP as ITRE rapporteur of the #DigitalOmnibus. EU citizens' data protection shouldn't be in the hands of big tech! But now, @greens-efa.eu MEP Sara Mathieu calls for Aura Salla to step down. ✊

Ex-Meta lobbyist put in charge of EU's digital rules: 'Tech oligarchy writing its own rulebook'

Pressure is growing to drop the appointment of a former Meta lobbyist, elected as an MEP in 2024, from a file which could rewrite the EU's regulation of US tech giants.

brusselstimes.com

Opposition to #AI is rising in states like #Missouri that are overrun by large data centres. Residents are concerned about air and water quality, jobs, scams and surveillance. Now, they're protesting construction and even proposing a permanent data centre ban (now a year-long ban).

Donald Trump’s AI push fuels revolt in Maga heartlands

Republicans fear backlash against White House agenda could undermine support in this year’s midterm elections

ft.com

@accessnow.org rightly warn against the 'quasi-religious' frame adopted around AI and its capabilities, which is dragging us into a world of mass surveillance and AI slop. "We can treat LLMs as a sometimes useful, sometimes not, normal technology, rather than a step toward superintelligence."

Artificial Insecurity: access and availability in the age of AI - Access Now

In the third part of our blog series, we look at how the availability of systems is impacted by the proliferation of large language models.

accessnow.org

Amazon's #Superbowl commercial advertised the ability for AI to scan #Ring feeds to 'find lost dogs'. But this kind of technology can easily be weaponised in the age of ubiquitous surveillance. Already, Amazon is fueling mass deportations through Amazon Web Services’ contracts with ICE and DHS.

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 6mo ago

“No matter how Ring and other surveillance tech companies may downplay it, there’s no world in which finding lost dogs is the final end-use for this technology.”