Fraudsters are using a fake AI chatbot posing as Google’s Gemini to promote a bogus ‘Google Coin’ cryptocurrency presale. The automated assistant delivers convincing investment projections and directs victims to send irreversible crypto payments.
The scam site copies Google branding and claims the token will surge in value after launch, despite Google having no cryptocurrency project. Visitors are shown fabricated presale stages, countdowns and token sales figures to create urgency.
When questioned about regulatory or company details, the chatbot avoids providing verifiable information and instead repeats scripted claims about security and transparency. Tougher queries are redirected to a supposed ‘manager’, suggesting human operators step in to close larger payments.
Researchers warn that AI tools are making crypto scams more scalable and more challenging to detect. Consumers are urged to verify claims on official websites and to avoid sending digital assets in exchange for promised returns.
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Derived from the Latin word ‘superanus’, through the French word ‘souveraineté’, sovereignty can be understood as: ‘the ultimate overseer, or authority, in the decision-making process of the state and in the maintenance of order’ – Britannica. Digital sovereignty, specifically European digital sovereignty, refers to ‘Europe’s ability to act independently in the digital world’.
In 2020, the European Parliament already identified the consequences of reliance on non-EU technologies. From the economic and social influence of non-EU technology companies, which can undermine user control over their personal data, to the slow growth of the EU technology companies and a limitation on the enforcement of European laws.
Today, these concerns persist. From Romanian election interference on TikTok’s platform, Microsoft’s interference with the ICC, to the Dutch government authentication platform being acquired by a US firm, and booming American and Chinese LLMs compared to European LLMs. The EU is at a crossroads between international reliance and homegrown adoption.
The issue of the EU digital sovereignty has gained momentum in the context of recent and significant shifts in US foreign policy toward its allies. In this environment, the pursuit of the EU digital sovereignty appears as a justified and proportionate response, one that might previously have been perceived as unnecessarily confrontational.
In light of this, this analysis’s main points will discuss the rationale behind the EU digital sovereignty (including dependency, innovation and effective compliance), recent European-centric technological and platform shifts, the steps the EU is taking to successfully be digitally sovereign and finally, examples of European alternatives
Rationale behind the move
The reasons for digital sovereignty can be summed up in three main areas: (I) less dependency on non-EU tech, (ii) leading and innovating technological solutions, and (iii) ensuring better enforcement and subsequent adherence to data protection laws/fundamental rights.
(i) Less dependency: Global geopolitical tensions between US-China/Russia push Europe towards developing its own digital capabilities and secure its supply chains. Insecure supply chain makes Europe vulnerable to failing energy grids.
More recently, US giant Microsoft threatened the International legal order by revoking US-sanctioned International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan’s Microsoft software access, preventing the Chief Prosecutor from working on his duties at the ICC. In light of these scenarios, Europeans are turning to developing more European-based solutions to reduce upstream dependencies.
(ii) Leaders & innovators: A common argument is that Americans innovate, the Chinese copy, and the Europeans regulate. If the EU aims to be a digital geopolitical player, it must position itself to be a regulator which promotes innovation. It can achieve this by upskilling its workforce of non-digital trades into digital ones to transform its workforce, have more EU digital infrastructure (data centres, cloud storage and management software), further increase innovation spending and create laws that truly allow for the uptake of EU technological development instead of relying on alternative, cheaper non-EU options.
(iii) Effective compliance: Knowing that fines are more difficult to enforce towards non-EU companies than the EU companies (ex., Clearview AI), EU-based technological organisations would allow for corrective measures, warnings, and fines to be enforced more effectively. Thus, enabling more adherence towards the EU’s digital agenda and respect for fundamental rights.
Can the EU achieve Digital Sovereignty?
The main speed bumps towards the EU digital sovereignty are: i) a lack of digital infrastructure (cloud storage & data centres), ii) (critical) raw material dependency and iii) Legislative initiatives to facilitate the path towards digital sovereignty (innovation procurement and fragmented compliance regime).
i) lack of digital infrastructure: In order for the EU to become digitally sovereign it must have its own sovereign digital infrastructure.
In practice, the EU relies heavily on American data centre providers (i.e. Equinix, Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services) hosted in the EU. In this case, even though the data is European and hosted in the EU, the company that hosts it is non-European. This poses reliance and legislative challenges, such as ensuring adequate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data when it is in transit to the US. Given the EU-US DPF, there is a legal basis for transferring EU personal data to the US.
However, if the DPF were to be struck down (perhaps due to the US’ Cloud Act), as it has been in the past (twice with Schrems I and Schrems II) and potentially Schrems III, there would no longer be a legal basis for the transfer of the EU personal data to a US data centre.
Previously, the EU’s 2022 Directive on critical entities resilience allowed for the EU countries to identify critical infrastructure and subsequently ensure they take the technical, security and organisational measures to assure their resilience. Part of this Directive covers digital infrastructure, including providers of cloud computing services and providers of data centres. From this, the EU has recently developed guidelines for member states to identify critical entities. However, these guidelines do not anticipate how to achieve resilience and leave this responsibility with member states.
ii) Raw material dependency: The EU cannot be digitally sovereign until it reduces some of its dependencies on other countries’ raw materials to build the hardware necessary to be technologically sovereign. In 2025, the EU’s goals were to create a new roadmap towards critical raw material (CRM) sovereignty to rely on its own energy sources and build infrastructure.
Thus, the RESourceEU Action Plan was born in December 2025. This plan contains 6 pillars: securing supply through knowledge, accelerating and promoting projects, using the circular economy and fostering innovation (recycling products which contain CRMs), increasing European demand for European projects (stockpiling CRMs), protecting the single market and partnering with third countries for long-lasting diversification. Practically speaking, part of this plan is to match Europe and or global raw material supply with European demand for European projects.
iii) Legislative initiatives to facilitate the path towards digital sovereignty:
Tackling difficult innovation procurement: the argument is to facilitate its uptake of innovation procurement across the EU. In 2026, the EU is set to reform its public procurement framework for innovation. The Innovation Procurement Update (IPU) team has representatives from over 33 countries (predominantly through law firms, Bird & Bird being the most represented), which recommends that innovation procurement reach 20% of all public procurement.
Another recommendation would help more costly innovative solutions to be awarded procurement projects, which in the past were awarded to cheaper procurement bids. In practice, the lowest price of a public procurement bid is preferred, and if it meets the remaining procurement conditions, it wins the bid – but de-prioritising this non-pricing criterion would enable companies with more costly innovative solutions to win public procurement bids.
Alleviating compliance challenges: lowering other compliance burdens whilst maintaining the digital aquis: recently announced at the World Economic Forum by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, EU.inc would help cross-border business operations scaling up by alleviating company, corporate, insolvency, labour and taxation law compliance burdens. By harmonising these into a single framework, businesses can more easily grow and deploy cross-border solutions that would otherwise face hurdles.
Power through data: another legislative measure to help facilitate the path towards the EU digital sovereignty is unlocking the potential behind European data. In order to research innovative solutions, data is required. This can be achieved through personal or non-personal data. The EU’s GDPR regulates personal data and is currently undergoing amendments. If the proposed changes to the GDPR are approved, i.e. a broadening of its scope, data that used to be considered personal (and thus required GDPR compliance) could be deemed non-personal and used more freely for research purposes. The Data Act regulate the reuse and re-sharing of non-personal data. It aims to simplify and bolster the fair reuse of non-personal data. Overall, both personal and non-personal data can give important insight that research can benefit from in developing European innovative sovereign solutions.
European alternatives
European companies have already built a network of European platforms, services and apps with European values at heart:
Category
Currently Used
EU Alternative
Comments
Social media
TikTok, X, Instagram
Monnet (Luxembourg)
‘W’ (Sweden)
Monnet is a social media app prioritises connections and non-addictive scrolling. Recently announced ‘W’ replaces ‘X’ and is gaining major traction with non-advertising models at its heart.
Email
Microsoft’s Outlook and Google’s gmail
Tuta (mail/calendar), Proton (Germany), Mailbox (Germany), Mailfence (Belgium)
Replace email and calendar apps with a privacy focused business model.
Search engine
Google Search and DuckDuckGo
Qwant (France) and Ecosia (German)
Qwant has focused on privacy since its launch in 2013. Ecosia is an ecofriendly focused business model which helps plant trees when users search
Video conferencing
Microsoft Teams and Slack a
Visio (France), Wire (Switzerland, Mattermost (US but self hosted), Stackfield (Germany), Nextcloud Talk (Germany) and Threema (Switzerland)
These alternatives are end-to-end encrypted. Visio is used by the French Government
Writing tools
Microsoft’s Word & Excel and Google Sheets, Notion
Most of these options provide cloud storage and NexCloud is a recurring alternative across categories.
Finance
Visa and Mastercard
Wero (EU)
Not only will it provide an EU wide digital wallet option, but it will replace existing national options – providing for fast adoption.
LLM
OpenAI, Gemini, DeepSeek’s LLM
Mistral AI (France) and DeepL (Germany)
DeepL is already wildly used and Mistral is more transparent with its partially open-source model and ease of reuse for developers
Hardware
Semi conductors: ASML (Dutch) Data Center: GAIA-X (Belgium)
ASML is a chip powerhouse for the EU and GAIA-X set an example of EU based data centres with it open-source federated data infrastructure.
A dedicated website called ‘European Alternatives’ provides exactly what it says, European Alternatives. A list with over 50 categories and 100 alternatives
Conclusion
In recent years, the Union’s policy goals have shifted towards overt digital sovereignty solutions through diversification of materials and increased innovation spending, combined with a restructuring of the legislative framework to create the necessary path towards European digital infrastructure.
Whilst this analysis does not include all speed bumps, nor avenues towards the road of the EU digital sovereignty, it sheds light on the EU’s most recent major policy developments. Key questions remain regarding data reuse, its impact on data protection fundamental rights and whether this reshaping of the framework will yield the intended results.
Therefore, how will the EU tread whilst it becomes a more coherent sovereign geopolitical player?
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Concerns over privacy safeguards have resurfaced as the European Data Protection Supervisor urges legislators to limit indiscriminate chat-scanning in the upcoming extension of temporary EU rules.
The supervisor warns that the current framework risks enabling broad surveillance instead of focusing on targeted action against criminal content.
The EU institutions are considering a short-term renewal of the interim regime governing the detection of online material linked to child protection.
Privacy officials argue that such measures need clearer boundaries and stronger oversight to ensure that automated scanning tools do not intrude on the communications of ordinary users.
EDPS is also pressing lawmakers to introduce explicit safeguards before any renewal is approved. These include tighter definitions of scanning methods, independent verification, and mechanisms that prevent the processing of unrelated personal data.
According to the supervisor, temporary legislation must not create long-term precedents that weaken confidentiality across messaging services.
The debate comes as the EU continues discussions on a wider regulatory package covering child-protection technologies, encryption and platform responsibilities.
Privacy authorities maintain that targeted tools can be more practical than blanket scanning, which they consider a disproportionate response.
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Leading Chinese AI developers have unveiled a series of advanced models ahead of the Lunar New Year, strengthening the country’s position in the global AI sector.
Major firms such as Alibaba, ByteDance, and Zhipu AI introduced new systems designed to support more sophisticated agents, faster workflows and broader multimedia understanding.
Industry observers also expect an imminent release from DeepSeek, whose previous model disrupted global markets last year.
Alibaba’s Qwen 3.5 model provides improved multilingual support across text, images and video while enabling rapid AI agent deployment instead of slower generation pipelines.
ByteDance followed up with updates to its Doubao chatbot and the second version of its image-to-video tool, SeeDance, which has drawn copyright concerns from the Motion Picture Association due to the ease with which users can recreate protected material.
Zhipu AI expanded the landscape further with GLM-5, an open-source model built for long-context reasoning, coding tasks, and multi-step planning. The company highlighted the model’s reliance on Huawei hardware as part of China’s efforts to strengthen domestic semiconductor resilience.
Meanwhile, excitement continues to build for DeepSeek’s fourth-generation system, expected to follow the widespread adoption and market turbulence associated with its V3 model.
Authorities across parts of Europe have restricted the use of DeepSeek models in public institutions because of data security and cybersecurity concerns.
Even so, the rapid pace of development in China suggests intensifying competition in the design of agent-focused systems capable of managing complex digital tasks without constant human oversight.
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New research challenges the view that China’s AI controls are solely the product of authoritarian rule, arguing instead that governance emerges from interaction between the state, private sector and society.
A study by Xuechen Chen of Northeastern University London and Lu Xu of Lancaster University argues that China’s AI governance is not purely top-down. Published in the Computer Law & Security Review, it says safeguards are shaped by regulators, companies and social actors, not only the central government.
Chen calls claims that Beijing’s AI oversight is entirely state-driven a ‘stereotypical narrative’. Although the Cyberspace Administration of China leads regulation, firms such as ByteDance and DeepSeek help shape guardrails through self-regulation and commercial strategy.
China was the first country to introduce rules specific to generative AI. Systems must avoid unlawful or vulgar content, and updated legislation strengthens minor protection, limiting children’s online activity and requiring child-friendly device modes.
Market incentives also reinforce compliance. As Chinese AI firms expand globally, consumer expectations and cultural norms encourage content moderation. The study concludes that governance reflects interaction between state authority, market forces and society.
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BBC technology reporting reveals that Orchids, a popular ‘vibe-coding’ platform designed to let users build applications through simple text prompts and AI-assisted generation, contains serious, unresolved security weaknesses that could let a malicious actor breach accounts and tamper with code or data.
A cybersecurity researcher demonstrated that the platform’s authentication and input handling mechanisms can be exploited, allowing unauthorised access to projects and potentially enabling attackers to insert malicious code or exfiltrate sensitive information.
Because Orchids abstracts conventional coding into natural-language prompts and shared project spaces, the risk surface for such vulnerabilities is larger than in traditional development environments.
The report underscores broader concerns in the AI developer ecosystem: as AI-driven tools lower technical barriers, they also bring new security challenges when platforms rush to innovate without fully addressing fundamental safeguards such as secure authentication, input validation and permission controls.
Experts cited in the article urge industry and regulators to prioritise robust security testing and clear accountability when deploying AI-assisted coding systems.
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Lawmakers in the European Parliament remain divided over whether a direct ban on AI-driven ‘pornification’ should be added to the emerging digital omnibus.
Left-wing members push for an explicit prohibition, arguing that synthetic sexual imagery generated without consent has created a rapidly escalating form of online abuse. They say a strong legal measure is required instead of fragmented national responses.
Centre and liberal groups take a different position by promoting lighter requirements for industrial AI and seeking clarity on how any restrictions would interact with the AI Act.
They warn that an unrefined ban could spill over into general-purpose models and complicate enforcement across the European market. Their priority is a more predictable regulatory environment for companies developing high-volume AI systems.
Key figures across the political spectrum, including lawmakers such as Assita Kanko, Axel Voss and Brando Benifei, continue to debate how far the omnibus should go.
Some argue that safeguarding individuals from non-consensual sexual deepfakes must outweigh concerns about administrative burdens, while others insist that proportionality and technical feasibility need stronger assessment.
The lack of consensus leaves the proposal in a delicate phase as negotiations intensify. Lawmakers now face growing public scrutiny over how Europe will respond to the misuse of generative AI.
A clear stance from the Parliament is still pending, rather than an assured path toward agreement.
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Cryptocurrency flows linked to suspected human trafficking services surged sharply in 2025, with transaction volumes rising 85% year-on-year, according to new blockchain analysis.
Investigators say the financial activity reflects the rapid expansion of digitally enabled exploitation networks operating across borders.
Growth is linked to Southeast Asia-based illicit networks, including scam compounds, gambling platforms, and laundering groups operating via encrypted messaging channels.
Analysts identified multiple trafficking service categories, each with distinct transaction structures and payment preferences.
Stablecoins became the dominant payment method, especially for escort networks, thanks to their price stability and ease of conversion. Larger transfers and structured pricing models indicate increasingly professionalised operations supported by organised financial infrastructure.
Despite the scale of the activity, blockchain transparency continues to provide enforcement advantages. Transaction tracing has aided investigations, shutdowns, and arrests, strengthening digital forensics in combating trafficking-linked financial crime.
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Brazil has ordered X to immediately stop its chatbot Grok from generating sexually explicit images, escalating international pressure on the platform over the misuse of generative AI tools.
The order, issued on 11 February by Brazil’s National Data Protection Agency and National Consumer Rights Bureau, requires X to prevent the creation of sexualised content involving children, adolescents, or non-consenting adults. Authorities gave the company five days to comply or face legal action and fines.
Officials in Brazil said X claimed to have removed thousands of posts and suspended hundreds of accounts after a January warning. However, follow-up checks found Grok users were still able to generate sexualised deepfakes. Regulators criticised the platform for a lack of transparency in its response.
The move follows growing scrutiny after Indonesia blocked Grok in January, while the UK and France signalled continued pressure. Concerns increased after Grok’s ‘spicy mode’ enabled users to generate explicit images using simple prompts.
According to the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, Grok generated millions of sexualised images within days. X and its parent company, xAI, announced measures in mid-January to restrict such outputs in certain jurisdictions, but regulators said it remains unclear where those safeguards apply.
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Web Summit’s Women in Tech programme marked a decade of work in Qatar by highlighting steady progress in female participation across global technology sectors.
The Web Summit event recorded an increase in women-founded startups and reflected rising engagement in Qatar, where female founders reached 38 percent.
Leaders from the initiative noted how supportive networks, mentorship, and access to role models are reshaping opportunities for women in technology and entrepreneurship.
Speakers from IBM and other companies focused on the importance of AI skills in shaping the future workforce. They argued that adequate preparation depends on understanding how AI shapes everyday roles, rather than relying solely on technical tools.
IBM’s SkillsBuild platform continues to partner with universities, schools, and nonprofit groups to expand access to recognised AI credentials that can support higher earning potential and new career pathways.
Another feature of the event was its emphasis on inclusion as a driver of innovation. The African Women in Technology initiative, led by Anie Akpe, is working to offer free training in cybersecurity and AI so women in emerging markets can benefit from new digital opportunities.
These efforts aim to support business growth at every level, even for women operating in local markets, who can use technology to reach wider communities.
Female founders also used the platform to showcase new health technology solutions.
ScreenMe, a Qatari company founded by Dr Golnoush Golsharazi, presented its reproductive microbiome testing service, created in response to long-standing gaps in women’s health research and screening.
Organisers expressed confidence that women-led innovation will expand across the region, supported by rising investment and continuing visibility at major global events.
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