Observed Signal · Jul 2, 2023 · Regulation · Source: Trending Topics · Impact: 4/5 · Sentiment: Negative
Tech unicorns and VCs urge EU to soften AI Act
More than 100 executives from European tech unicorns, VC firms and large corporates, including Hermann Hauser, Atomico's Niklas Zennström, Celonis co-founder Bastian Nominacher, Mistral AI's founders, Airbus, Deutsche Telekom, Siemens, Renault and TUI, published an open letter urging EU policymakers to revise the AI Act passed by the European Parliament on June 14, 2023. They argue the regulation would hurt Europe's competitiveness and technological sovereignty, impose disproportionate compliance costs on foundation models, and push AI companies and investors out of the EU. A cited Stanford study says no current foundation model meets the Act's requirements. Critics, including European AI Forum vice president Jeanette Gorzala, dismiss the letter as unfounded, saying the AI Act is a workable compromise and that principles-only regulation has proven ineffective. The debate highlights tensions between AI innovation and regulation in Europe.
EU-level AI regulation is a systemic policy shift affecting all AI-based advertising and marketing technologies; the open letter represents significant industry pushback.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- More than 100 executives from tech unicorns, VC firms and large corporates signed an open letter calling for the EU AI Act to be weakened.
- The European Parliament voted on the AI Act on June 14, 2023.
- A Stanford study cited in the article found that no existing foundation model, including GPT-4, PaLM, LLaMA and Luminous, would meet the AI Act's requirements.
- Jeanette Gorzala, vice president of the European AI Forum, called the open letter's criticism 'unfounded'.
- Signatories include leaders of Atomico, Celonis, wefox, Mistral AI, Airbus, Deutsche Telekom, Siemens, Renault and others.
Connected Companies & Entities
13 Entities mapped“The open letter was signed by Niklas Zennström of Atomico....”
“The open letter was signed by Bastian Nominacher of Celonis....”
“The open letter was signed by the founders of Mistral AI....”
“The open letter was signed by the CEOs of Airbus, Deutsche Telekom, InstaDeep, Siemens, Peugeot, Renault, Burda, Merck, Schibsted and TUI....”
“The open letter was signed by the CEOs of Airbus, Deutsche Telekom, InstaDeep, Siemens, Peugeot, Renault, Burda, Merck, Schibsted and TUI....”
“The open letter was signed by Hanno Renner of Personio....”
“The open letter was signed by Nicolas Julia of Sorare....”
“The open letter was signed by the CEOs of Airbus, Deutsche Telekom, InstaDeep, Siemens, Peugeot, Renault, Burda, Merck, Schibsted and TUI....”
“The open letter was signed by the CEOs of Airbus, Deutsche Telekom, InstaDeep, Siemens, Peugeot, Renault, Burda, Merck, Schibsted and TUI....”
“The open letter was signed by the CEOs of Airbus, Deutsche Telekom, InstaDeep, Siemens, Peugeot, Renault, Burda, Merck, Schibsted and TUI....”
“Google did not release its AI chatbot Bard in EU countries over fears of legal problems under the AI Act....”
“The open letter was signed by Nicolas d’Audiffret of Ankorstore....”
“The open letter was signed by the CEOs of Airbus, Deutsche Telekom, InstaDeep, Siemens, Peugeot, Renault, Burda, Merck, Schibsted and TUI....”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Ecosia Drops Mistral for Chinese Open-Source AI
European search engine Ecosia has switched its AI supplier from French startup Mistral to open models, including Chinese ones like Alibaba's Qwen, Z.ai's GLM, and Moonshot AI's Kimi. CEO Christian Kroll cited disappointment with Mistral's model quality, which he says lags about a year behind competitors, and frequent server overloads. Ecosia now uses models via German platform Melious, which runs open AI models on EU servers, halving AI service costs while improving performance. The switch comes as Mistral released Large 4, its most powerful model yet, trained in Europe with open weights due in October. Despite scoring 38.4 on the Intelligence Index, it ranks eighth among open models, behind seven Chinese models. The case highlights the European AI sovereignty dilemma: top-tier open models are predominantly Chinese, even when run on European servers. Mistral itself hosts Chinese models like GLM on its neocloud platform, while its CEO Arthur Mensch defends Large 4's capabilities in areas like cyber defense.
Ecosia Switches from Mistral to Chinese AI Models
Berlin-based search engine Ecosia has dropped French AI provider Mistral and switched to open-weight models, including Chinese ones like Qwen (Alibaba), GLM (Z.ai), and Kimi (Moonshot AI), as reported by Politico. Ecosia CEO Christian Kroll was reportedly disappointed with Mistral's model quality, saying they lag behind competitors by about a year, and also questioned Mistral's sovereignty due to its reliance on international investors. Ecosia now sources models via Melious, a German platform running open AI models on European servers, cutting AI costs by half while improving performance. Mistral, meanwhile, released Large 4, a trillion-parameter model trained in European data centers, which ranks eighth among open models, with all top seven being Chinese. This highlights Europe's AI sovereignty dilemma: top open models are mostly Chinese, even as Mistral itself now hosts Chinese models like GLM on its neocloud.
Anthropic's Claude Integrates with Google Docs, Sheets, Slides
Anthropic has integrated its Claude AI assistant directly into Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, appearing as a sidebar alongside Google's Gemini. This public beta is available for paying Claude customers via Google Workspace Marketplace add-ons. Claude can edit text, create formulas, pivot tables, and charts, and check slide layouts. Users can control its autonomy, with a default approval mode and an 'Accept all edits' mode for batch tasks. Team and enterprise admins must enable new Google Workspace connectors. A guest column by Ting Wasner-Lian analyzes Google's strategic decision to host a competitor, arguing that Google's subscription model profits regardless, and locking out Claude could drive users to Microsoft 365. The article compares this to Alibaba's DingTalk, open to external AI models, and contrasts it with SAP's data access fees, citing Celonis's lawsuit. Advice for European companies on securing AI agent access in contracts is also provided.
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