The EU AI Act Newsletter #112: Global Ambitions, Domestic Doubts

EU to Trump: We will keep pushing for global AI safety rules.

Matthew Pollitt and Peter Heck from Politico report that EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen has pledged to keep seeking an international agreement on AI security despite US resistance.

At the Raid Conference, she acknowledged Washington's opposition to international regulation on innovation grounds, but argued that pro-innovation regulation builds the trust on which innovation depends.

She praised the AI Act as a strong regulatory basis for tackling challenges posed by AI bots.

Whereas President Donald Trump has dismissed AI existential risks as a hoax, the EU has backed the initiative led by Finland and Norway and signed by 20 other countries for an international body to monitor AI safety.

Pointing to cases of AI agents escaping their environment, inserting malicious code and deceiving humans this summer, Virkkunen noted that talks are underway in forums such as the G7.

Meanwhile, she said that the EU will keep enforcing its rules and called for closer cooperation among national AI safety organizations.

Von der Leyen ally slams EU Commission's AI response.

Peter Heck and Anne McElvoy from Politico write that Axel Voss, a German EPP lawmaker and ally of Ursula von der Leyen, has accused the Commission of failing to keep pace with AI.

Speaking on the Brussels Playbook Week Ender podcast after a series of AI hacking incidents, including OpenAI-powered agents breaking into Hugging Face, Voss said the Commission's working methods are unsuited to such fast-changing developments.

He added that enforcement of the AI Act, which requires companies to take measures against losing control of their models, is not on the level he would like.

His comments put the spotlight on the AI office, which was put in charge of enforcing the Act in August.

Voss, who belongs to the CDU like von der Leyen, also said her State of the Union was not ambitious enough on digital developments.

He argued that AI liability has been neglected since the start of the mandate.

Separately, other MEPs have proposed adding AI liability provisions to address gaps in the Act.