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DIGITALEUROPE urges changes to EU AI Act rules for industry

European industry representatives are urging policymakers to reconsider parts of the EU AI Act, arguing that the current framework could impose significant compliance costs on companies developing AI tools for industrial and medical technologies.

According to Cecilia Bonfeld-Dahl, director-general of DIGITALEUROPE, manufacturers of high-tech machines, medical devices, and radio equipment are already subject to strict product safety regulations. Adding AI-specific requirements could create unnecessary administrative burdens for companies already heavily regulated. She argues that policymakers should aim for balanced AI regulation that encourages innovation while maintaining safety standards.

Industry groups warn that classifying certain AI systems as high-risk under Annex I of the AI Act could be particularly costly for smaller firms. DIGITALEUROPE estimates that a company with around 50 employees developing an AI-based product could incur initial compliance costs of €320,000 to €600,000, followed by annual expenses of up to €150,000. According to the organisation, such costs could reduce profits significantly and discourage smaller companies from pursuing AI innovation.

Manufacturing and medical technology sectors across Europe employ millions of workers and increasingly rely on AI to improve product performance and safety. Industry representatives argue that many applications, such as AI systems used to enhance industrial equipment safety or improve medical devices, already operate under established regulatory frameworks. These existing frameworks could be adapted rather than introducing additional layers of regulation.

The broader regulatory landscape is also contributing to concerns among technology companies. Over the past six years, the EU has introduced nearly 40 new technology-related regulations, some of which overlap or impose similar compliance requirements. DIGITALEUROPE estimates that compliance with the AI Act could cost companies approximately €3.3 billion annually, while cybersecurity and data-sharing regulations add further financial obligations.

Industry leaders warn that rising compliance costs could affect investment in AI development across Europe. Current estimates suggest that the EU accounts for about 7.5% of global AI investment, significantly behind the United States and China.

DIGITALEUROPE has called on the EU institutions to consider postponing parts of the AI Act’s implementation timeline to allow further discussion on how high-risk AI systems should be defined. Supporters of this approach argue that additional consultation could help ensure the regulatory framework protects consumers while also enabling European companies to compete globally in the rapidly evolving AI sector.

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EU lawmakers move forward on AI Act changes

Members of the European Parliament have reached a preliminary political agreement on amendments to the EU Artificial Intelligence Act. The compromise will be reviewed by parliamentary committees before a scheduled vote in Brussels.

Lawmakers in the EU agreed to extend compliance deadlines for some high risk AI systems. The changes aim to give companies and regulators more time to prepare technical standards and enforcement frameworks.

The proposed amendments also include a ban on AI systems that create non consensual explicit deepfakes. Officials in the EU say the measure aims to strengthen consumer protection and improve online safety for children.

Industry groups in the EU have raised concerns about compliance burdens linked to the revised rules. Policymakers in the EU continue negotiations as the legislation moves toward committee approval.

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Civil society urges stronger EU digital fairness rules

More than 200 civil society organisations have urged the European Commission to deliver strong consumer protections through the upcoming Digital Fairness Act. Advocacy groups in the EU say the proposal must address risks created by modern online platforms.

Campaigners argue that many existing EU consumer laws were designed decades ago and no longer reflect the realities of the digital market. The coalition warned policymakers in the EU not to treat regulatory simplification as a path toward deregulation.

Advocates are pushing for binding rules targeting deceptive design practices and addictive digital features. Survey responses across the EU show broad public support for stronger protections against dark patterns and unfair personalisation.

The European Commission is expected to present the Digital Fairness Act later this year. Officials in the EU are also considering expanding enforcement powers to strengthen consumer safeguards online.

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UK watchdog demands stronger child safety on social platforms

The British communications regulator Ofcom has called on major technology companies to enforce stricter age controls and improve safety protections for children using online platforms.

The warning targets services widely used by young audiences, including Facebook, Instagram, Roblox, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube.

Regulators said that despite existing minimum age policies, large numbers of children under the age of 13 continue to access platforms intended for older users.

According to Ofcom research, more than 70 percent of children aged 8 to 12 regularly use such services.

Authorities have asked companies to demonstrate how they will strengthen protections and ensure compliance with minimum age requirements.

Platforms must present their plans by 30 April, after which Ofcom will publish an assessment of their responses and determine whether further regulatory action is necessary.

The regulator also outlined several key areas requiring improvement.

Companies in the UK are expected to implement more effective age-verification systems, strengthen protections against online grooming and ensure that recommendation algorithms do not expose children to harmful content.

Another concern involves product development practices.

Ofcom warned that new digital features, including AI tools, should not be tested on children without adequate safety assessments. Platforms are required to evaluate potential risks before launching significant updates.

The measures are part of the UK’s broader regulatory framework introduced under the Online Safety Act, which aims to reduce exposure to harmful online material.

The law requires platforms to prevent children from accessing content linked to pornography, suicide, self-harm and eating disorders, while limiting the promotion of violent or abusive material in recommendation feeds.

Ofcom indicated that enforcement action may follow if companies fail to demonstrate meaningful improvements. Regulators argue that stronger safeguards are necessary to restore public trust and ensure that digital platforms prioritise child safety in their design and operation.

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AI-powered Copilot Health platform introduced by Microsoft

Microsoft has introduced Copilot Health, a new feature that uses AI to help users interpret personal health data and prepare for medical consultations.

The tool will operate as a separate and secure environment within Microsoft’s Copilot ecosystem, allowing users to combine health records, wearable data, and medical history into a single profile. The system then uses AI to analyse patterns and generate personalised insights intended to support conversations with healthcare professionals.

Microsoft said the feature aims to help people better understand existing medical information rather than replace clinical care. Users can review trends such as sleep patterns, activity levels, and vital signs gathered from wearable devices, alongside test results and visit summaries from healthcare providers.

Copilot Health can integrate data from more than 50 wearable devices, including systems connected through platforms such as Apple Health, Fitbit, and Oura. The platform can also access health records from over 50,000 US hospitals and provider organisations through HealthEx, as well as laboratory test results from Function.

According to Microsoft, the system builds on ongoing research into medical AI systems, including work on the Microsoft AI Diagnostic Orchestrator (MAI-DxO). The company said future publications will explore how such systems could assist in analysing complex medical cases.

Privacy and security are central elements of the design. Microsoft stated that Copilot Health data and conversations are stored separately from standard Copilot interactions and protected through encryption and access controls. The company also noted that health information used in the service will not be used to train AI models.

Development of the system involves Microsoft’s internal clinical team and an external advisory group of more than 230 physicians from 24 countries. The company said Copilot Health has also achieved ISO/IEC 42001 certification, a standard focused on the governance of AI management systems.

The feature is being introduced through a phased rollout, beginning with a waitlist for early users who will help shape the service as it develops.

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EU competition regulators expand scrutiny across the entire AI ecosystem

Competition authorities in the EU are broadening their oversight of the AI sector, examining every layer of the technology’s value chain.

Speaking at a conference in Berlin, Teresa Ribera explained that regulators are analysing the full ‘AI stack’ instead of focusing solely on consumer applications.

According to the competition chief, scrutiny extends beyond visible AI tools to the systems that support them. Investigations are assessing underlying models, the data used to train those models, as well as cloud infrastructure and energy resources that power AI systems.

Regulatory attention has already reached the application layer.

The European Commission opened an investigation in 2025 involving Meta after concerns emerged that the company could restrict competing AI assistants on its messaging platform WhatsApp.

Following regulatory pressure, Meta proposed allowing rival AI chatbots on the platform in exchange for a fee. European regulators are now assessing the proposal to determine whether additional intervention is necessary to preserve fair competition in rapidly evolving digital markets.

Authorities have also examined concentration risks across other parts of the AI ecosystem, including the infrastructure layer dominated by companies such as Nvidia.

Regulators argue that effective competition oversight must address the entire technology stack as AI markets expand quickly.

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Deepfakes in campaign ads expose limits of Texas election law

AI-generated political advertisements are becoming increasingly visible in Texas election campaigns, highlighting gaps in existing laws designed to regulate deepfakes in political messaging.

Texas was the first state in the United States to adopt legislation restricting the use of deepfakes in campaign advertisements. However, the law applies only to state-level races. It does not cover federal contests, including the US Senate race that has dominated advertising spending in Texas and featured several AI-generated campaign ads.

Some lawmakers and experts warn that the growing use of AI-generated political content could complicate election campaigns. During recent primary contests, campaign advertisements featuring manipulated or synthetic images of political figures circulated widely across media platforms.

State Senator Nathan Johnson, who has proposed legislation to strengthen the state’s rules regarding deepfakes, said the rapid evolution of AI technology makes the issue increasingly urgent. Johnson argues that voters should be able to make decisions based on accurate information rather than manipulated media.

The current Texas law, adopted in 2019, contains several limitations. It only applies to video content, requires proof of intent to deceive or harm a candidate, and covers material distributed within 30 days of an election. Critics say these restrictions make the law difficult to enforce and limit its practical impact.

Lawmakers from both parties attempted to address some of these issues during the most recent legislative session. Proposed reforms included removing the 30-day restriction, requiring clear disclosure when AI is used in political advertising, and allowing candidates to pursue legal action to block misleading ads. Although both chambers of the Texas legislature passed versions of the legislation, the proposals ultimately failed to become law.

Supporters of stricter regulation argue that the rapid advancement of generative AI tools is making it harder to distinguish synthetic media from authentic content. Some political leaders warn that increasingly realistic deepfakes could eventually influence election outcomes.

Others, however, caution that regulating political content raises constitutional concerns. Some lawmakers argue that many AI-generated political ads resemble satire or parody, forms of political speech protected by the First Amendment.

At the federal level, regulation of congressional campaign advertising falls under the Federal Election Commission’s authority. In 2024, the agency declined to begin a formal rulemaking process on AI-generated political ads, leaving states and policymakers to continue debating how to address the emerging issue.

Experts warn that as AI tools continue to improve, distinguishing authentic political messaging from deepfakes and other forms of synthetic content will likely become more complex.

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AI is helping close the heart health gap in remote Australian communities

Google has launched a new AI-powered initiative aimed at reducing heart disease risk in rural Australia, where people living in remote communities are 60% more likely to die from heart disease than those in metropolitan areas.

The programme, a first for the Asia-Pacific region, is backed by a $1 million AUD investment from Google Australia’s Digital Future Initiative and brings together Wesfarmers Health, SISU Health, the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, and Latrobe Health Services.

At the centre of the initiative is Google for Health’s Population Health AI (PHAI), an advanced analytics tool that analyses aggregated and de-identified datasets, including clinical records, air quality, pollen levels, and geographic data, to identify hidden health risks at a community level.

The aim is to help health organisations move away from reactive treatment towards proactively managing chronic condition risks tailored to specific towns or postcodes.

SISU Health will use PHAI insights to guide the delivery of over 50,000 new health screenings across remote areas, combining geographic AI analysis with on-the-ground community care. Google described the goal as ensuring every Australian has access to personalised care regardless of where they live.

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AI browsers expose new cybersecurity attack surfaces

Security researchers have demonstrated that agentic browsers, powered by AI, may introduce new cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

Experiments targeting the Comet AI browser, developed by Perplexity AI, showed that attackers could manipulate the system into executing phishing scams in only a few minutes.

The attack exploits the reasoning process used by AI agents when interacting with websites. These systems continuously explain their actions and observations, revealing internal signals that attackers can analyse to refine malicious strategies and bypass built-in safeguards.

Researchers showed that phishing pages can be iteratively trained using adversarial machine learning methods, such as Generative Adversarial Networks.

By observing how the AI browser responds to suspicious signals, attackers can optimise fraudulent pages until the system accepts them as legitimate.

The findings highlight a shift in the cybersecurity threat landscape. Instead of deceiving human users directly, attackers increasingly focus on manipulating the AI agents that perform online actions on behalf of users.

Security experts warn that prompt injection vulnerabilities remain a fundamental challenge for large language models and agentic systems.

Although new defensive techniques are being developed, researchers believe such weaknesses may remain difficult to eliminate.

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EU platform law expands data access rights

European regulators are examining how the Digital Markets Act interacts with the General Data Protection Regulation across major digital platforms. The EU rules apply to designated gatekeepers that operate core platform services used by millions of users.

Policy specialists in the EU say the Digital Markets Act complements GDPR protections by strengthening user control over personal data. The framework also supports rights related to data access, portability and transparency for both consumers and business users.

The regulatory overlap affects areas including consent requirements, third-party software installation and interoperability between services. Authorities are also coordinating enforcement between competition and data protection regulators.

Analysts say the combined application of both laws could reshape the responsibilities of major technology platforms. Policymakers aim to increase user choice while reinforcing safeguards for the integrity and confidentiality of personal data in the GDPR.

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