Frederike Kaltheuner
@frederike.bsky.social
Global tech policy & geopolitics advisor ✨ Also: @ainowinstitute.bsky.social frederikekaltheuner.com
There's a lot of pressure to drastically increase Europe's compute capacity, from CADA to the Europe 2031 scenario. The assumption underneath: building more capacity buys more independence. Our new piece with @techpolicypress.bsky.social takes that apart.
On the heels of European Anthropic-Fable scare, the illustrious @frederike.bsky.social and I have a new piece out on the potential dangers on tethering the European AI sovereignty hopes on brilliance at the application layer. Happy to hear comments!
Frederike Kaltheuner@frederike.bsky.social · 2mo agoFrom using Europeans' pensions to build frontier models, to allowing hyperscalers to build all the data centers in exchange for frontier model access - I've heard mad takes these past few days 😱 Read our AI Sovereignty in a Captured Ecosystem series ! www.techpolicy.press/europes-ai-s...
Back in 2022, France and Germany sought to extend the mandate of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to cover violations of EU sanctions, but their efforts failed to gain sufficient support. A new opportunity has now emerged, writes Elie Cavigneaux. www.swp-berlin.org/en/publicati...
Untapped Potential at the European Public Prosecutor’s Office
Expand the Mandate to Include Sanctions Enforcement
swp-berlin.org
From using Europeans' pensions to build frontier models, to allowing hyperscalers to build all the data centers in exchange for frontier model access - I've heard mad takes these past few days 😱 Read our AI Sovereignty in a Captured Ecosystem series ! www.techpolicy.press/europes-ai-s...
Europe’s AI Sovereignty Problem Runs Far Deeper Than Frontier Access
The series, in partnership with the AI Now Institute, highlights how Europe’s AI market is deeply entangled with the ecosystems of dominant US players.
techpolicy.press
Great piece by @frederike.bsky.social & @leevisaari.eurosky.social on the risks of building "European AI" on top of foreign models. One thing I'd add: digital decade goals indirectly incentivise member states to ignore it in pursuit of AI adoption and "unicorns". www.techpolicy.press/europes-ai-s...
Europe’s AI Sovereignty Problem Runs Far Deeper Than Frontier Access
The series, in partnership with the AI Now Institute, highlights how Europe’s AI market is deeply entangled with the ecosystems of dominant US players.
techpolicy.press
Germany's DeepL builds on AWS. France's Mistral builds with Nvidia. Sweden's Lovable just got a jump scare as Anthropic moved in to eat its lunch. That's the starting point of a new series we're launching with @leevisaari.eurosky.social @techpolicypress.bsky.social @ainowinstitute.bsky.social
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
I have a lot of thoughts on the leaked EU Sovereignty Package...
I wrote about Iran's protests for @theatlantic.com: how AI manipulation and the suspicion of it is being weaponised to dismiss real footage of protests. This piece draws on work from my stellar team at WITNESS and years of studying information controls in Iran and beyond.
The Atlantic@theatlantic.com · 7mo agoDoubt has become a weapon in Iran as AI manipulation—and the very suspicion of it—serves those who have the most to hide, Mahsa Alimardani argues:
in the wake of us v. google, i wrote for @techpolicypress.bsky.social how generative AI is not going to magically unseat a dominant firm like google: it's going to enable it to become even more dominant. news in the past 24 hours shows exactly this (see thread!) www.techpolicy.press/decision-in-...
Decision in US vs. Google Gets it Wrong on Generative AI | TechPolicy.Press
Google will continue to enjoy the fruits of its search monopoly to secure its success in the generative AI market, writes Kate Brennan.
techpolicy.press
This needs more widespread coverage: The US has sanctioned five individuals, including the founder and Director of @hateaid.org - a German NGO that supports victims of online hate and harassment and image-based sexual abuse
"US companies have sold $1.7tn of investment-grade bonds in 2025, a near-record sum stoked by a rush of borrowing to fund AI infrastructure that has spurred concerns over a debt glut."
AI debt boom pushes US corporate bond sales close to record
Investment-grade borrowers have issued $1.7tn of bonds this year, closing in on 2020’s Covid debt rush
ft.com
Re-up on this in light of the @404media.co story out today.
Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 11mo agoLocal man embraces fascism.
In response to WIRED’s request for comment about users being able to generate bikini deepfakes with ChatGPT, a spokesperson for OpenAI claims the company loosened some ChatGPT guardrails this year around adult bodies in nonsexual situations.”
Google’s and OpenAI’s Chatbots Can Strip Women in Photos Down to Bikinis
Users of AI image generators are offering each other instructions on how to use the tech to alter pictures of women into realistic, revealing deepfakes.
wired.com
George Osborne getting a new job isn't exactly news. But him being the latest former politician to join a tech company pushing out AI into government absolutely is. My latest for @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
George Osborne has a new job in tech, and it doesn’t bode well for Britain | Chris Stokel-Walker
OpenAI is the latest to make a political hire as big tech spreads its tentacles around the world. So what’s the attraction, asks author Chris Stokel-Walker
theguardian.com
Here's how this will go down: 1) Adversarial attacks on Sora will be unrelenting, putting Disney characters in all kinds of compromising videos 2) These will be a new firehose of slop that fly-by-night content farms will monetize on Facebook & elsewhere 3) Fan backlash will be significant
More Perfect Union@moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 8mo agoBREAKING: Disney is making a $1 billion investment in OpenAI, and will allow its iconic characters to be on the company's Sora AI video generator.
Verheerender und vielsagender Satz von Kanzler Merz zur Unterwanderung des europäischen Zusammenhalts durch die US Regierung unter Trump, gerichtet an die USA: „Wenn ihr mit Europa nix anfangen könnt, dann macht wenigstens Deutschland zu eurem Partner." Es ist nicht zu fassen.
Teach the environmental harms of AI and its infrastructure.
More than 200 environmental groups demand halt to new US datacenters
Exclusive: Congress urged to act against energy-hungry facilities blamed for increasing bills and worsening climate crisis
theguardian.com
Macron this week proposed trading away export controls on European made semiconductor equipment. Trump just weakened the US arguments against that.
This was just sent to me by an LAUSD parent. A 4th grader was assigned to design a book cover for Pippi Longstocking using Adobe for Education. Here is what the AI tool generated:
Lila Byock@lbyock.bsky.social · 8mo agoWhat I’ve been up to! www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcn...
A whopping 65% of Germans say Germany is acting too cautiously in asserting its interests towards the United States.
120m is no deterrent to X. Musk will moan in public - in private, he will be doing cartwheels. Tech compliance theatre won't cut it anymore. Europeans want enforcement with teeth - up to revoking access to the Single Market for the worst actors. And Musk + X are the slop merchants par excellence.
Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix.bsky.social · 8mo agoEuropean Commission issues €120 million fine to Elon Musk's X under the Digital Services Act. "The breaches include the deceptive design of its ‘blue checkmark', the lack of transparency of its advertising repository, and the failure to provide access to public data for researchers."
Bei der «Stadtbild»-Debatte ging es stets um Bilder, um rassistische Phantasmen der Reinigung wie um die nostalgische Sehnsucht nach einer Vergangenheit, die nur in Bildern existiert. AI Slop nimmt nun im Imaginären vorweg, was man für die Wirklichkeit plant: die ethnische Säuberung der Innenstädte
Claas Gefroi@claasgefroi.bsky.social · 8mo agoSie zeigen immerhin ganz offen, was für eine Gesellschaft sie nach der Eroberung der Macht schaffen wollen: Post der AfD-Bundestagsabgeordneten Carina Schießl vom 6. November.
A few thoughts on the new US national security strategy that was released today. 🧵 www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
🚨 A huge leak exposes the new targets and internal operations of Intellexa, the secretive and murky company behind the notorious Predator spyware. Introducing #IntellexaLeaks, a joint investigation with partners @insidestory.gr, @haaretzcom.bsky.social & WAV Research Collective 🧵👇
“This incident shows how Google is trying to leverage its Search monopoly into a monopoly on answers themselves” www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/artific...
Google deletes X post after getting caught using a ‘stolen’ AI recipe infographic
Google is facing backlash on X after a viral post for its NotebookLM appeared to use a food blogger's work without credit.
bleepingcomputer.com
'Small changes to the tone of posts fed to users of X can increase feelings of political polarisation as much in a week as would have historically taken at least three years, research has found.' 1/3
Small changes to ‘for you’ feed on X can rapidly increase political polarisation
Study finds that a week of political content can bring about a shift in views that previously would have taken three years
theguardian.com
