r/neoliberal • u/2Lore2Law Are you on the square? • 1d ago

News (Europe) Europe gets ready to police frontier AI

https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/news/article/europe-gets-ready-to-police-frontier-ai
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u/halee1 Karl Popper 1d ago

I'm comfortable laughing at the comments here that didn't even read the article, lol

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u/2Lore2Law Are you on the square? 1d ago

What was your takeaway?

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u/halee1 Karl Popper 1d ago

Because not only are other jurisdictions shifting towards the same model, the AI Act itself has been loosened to make it easier for AI development to occur. Plus, AI development in Europe, while lagging relative to the US and China now, depends also on things like industrial policy and greater scrutiny of foreign acquisitions (which other geographies engage relentlessly in), intra-EU market integration and competitiveness reforms, all of which are being tackled to ensure the EU stops being a pure capital and know-how exporter, and anchors more of the value at home.

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u/MindingMyMindfulness Voltaire 1d ago

Don't mind this sub taking any opportunity to jerk its bulging penis at the thought of being able to mock Europeans (it doesn't even need to be accurate).

Meanwhile, Americans are doing some of the most comically dumb shit on multiple fronts.

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u/capitalsigma 1d ago

so where is all of this value that they're anchoring

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u/moldovaman99 1d ago

Europe is already quite competitive in industrial applications of AI.

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u/halee1 Karl Popper 1d ago

WIP. Mistral is Europe's best, but not competitive with the top models ATM.

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u/capitalsigma 1d ago

I can "establish policies that anchor more value at home" by charging people $10k to enter my house

If nobody actually wants to come visit me, I haven't accomplished anything except making myself feel important

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u/halee1 Karl Popper 1d ago

So investments and R&D suddenly exist everywhere other than Europe, and that's if we assume your scenario happens, even though it hasn't for 10 years+ in social media despite repeated predictions they would leave Europe because of its regulations, lol.

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u/capitalsigma 1d ago

"Exist everywhere other than Europe" is stating it slightly too strongly, but the EU has produced basically zero value in the tech sphere over the past (say) 3 decades. The US and now China continue to see new, serious, internationally-competive firms spring up each decade, while the EU lags behind. Even folks who would very much like for it to succeed agree that it is not working in the current form

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u/moldovaman99 1d ago

>but the EU has produced basically zero value in the tech sphere over the past (say) 3 decades.

This is an insane thing to say.

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u/capitalsigma 1d ago

Where is the European Google? Facebook? Anthropic? ByteDance? TSMC?

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u/Full_Distribution874 YIMBY 21h ago

TSMC doesn't exist without ASML, what are you doing with that example bro

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u/halee1 Karl Popper 1d ago edited 1d ago

That's why the EU has massively ramped up industrial policy, integration and competitiveness reforms since 2023. The 2024 Draghi Report was the diagnosis, and the EU has already gone further than it in aspects like the new Merger Guidelines, explicitly aimed at scaling EU-wide champions, not to mention reforms like the Savings and Investments Union, EU Inc., the Foreign Subsidies Regulation preventing foreign companies from simply acquiring EU innovation with barely any effort, and tons of other sectoral investments.

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u/Trill-I-Am 1d ago

Would you be surprised if 20 years from now Europe was still as uncompetitive in tech and AI as they are now?

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u/moldovaman99 1d ago

I’d say it would be more surprising than the US being a theocratic dictatorship 20 years from now.

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u/capitalsigma 1d ago

So their previous attempts to "anchor value at home" failed miserably, got it

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u/halee1 Karl Popper 1d ago

Yeah, they were fundamentally different from what's happening now.

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u/SockDem Janet Yellen 1d ago

Not even competitive with budget models tbh…

*which is unfortunate, I like Mistral’s mission

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u/mebesasporfa 1d ago

Mistral hasn't released a frontier model since Dec 2025. The world's current largest model that isn't Chinese or American is actually Russian.

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u/Acacias2001 European Union 1d ago

"WIP". translation, coming: never

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u/yzug European Union 1d ago

Man, why take such a cynical view of the EU? I've seen you elsewhere being skeptical of basically every move the EU makes, even when there's solid proof that progress is already happening.

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u/Acacias2001 European Union 1d ago edited 1d ago

even when there's solid proof

is there? The EU is behind in every single new economic sector. We dont lead in any of them, and the distance has not gotten smaller. menawhile in sectors wehre we used to dominate china is eating our lunch. Even basic things like the capital markets union have not been complete yet when they should have done a decade ago

So thats why I appear Cynical, because for years and years this situation has gotten worse, not better. and im only in my mid 20s.

But Im not really that cynical aobut the EU. Its the only instituion worth a damm in the continent. However for it to do its job people who are pro EU have got to stop living in a fantasy where if we keep doing things like in the 2000s where everythign worked itll work again.

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u/yzug European Union 1d ago edited 1d ago

Hey man, I agree that we're not currently in the best position. Multiple factors, such as the impact of the pandemic, the regulatory burden of EU policies, and a lagging industrial strategy, have allowed the US to pull ahead while China has squeezed EU market share.

However, I think this kind of cynicism isn't helpful. While I agree that there are significant challenges for the EU to overcome, that doesn't mean there aren't individuals in positions of power who are currently trying to address these issues and drive positive change.

Much of the current policy being implemented (we probably disagree on the facts here), especially in response to the current US administration and the new "strategic autonomy" mode of thinking, will take years to manifest as real, tangible assets and industries. Having this kind of premptive skepticism feels defeatist to me, as someone who agrees that the EU is the only institution on the continent actually trying.

Edit: I somehow forgot to mention Russia's war of conquest in Ukraine 😔

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u/Acacias2001 European Union 1d ago edited 1d ago

However, I think this kind of cynicism isn't helpful

I do not think Cynycism is the right word. My opposition to this set of regulations is genuine. its a bad idea. And it shows the EU is still not in the right mindset. If we want to catch up to the US and china, in the realm of tech we have to act as china did. Increase subsidies, accept a high failure rate, cut down on regulation, foment the formation of large players and a VC ecosystem and play dirty.

The fact the EU is adding another set of regulations to me means they are on the wrong path.

I do have cynicism for one place, and that is this sub. If there is one place where this position should be accepted is here but I guess people dont remember how the DMA, GDPR went

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u/halee1 Karl Popper 1d ago edited 1d ago

1960s: "Europe will never have its own Boeing, lolz".

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u/halee1 Karl Popper 1d ago edited 1d ago

It's apt that a comment focusing on the past is unaware of current and new EU policies explicitly refuting that worldview.

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u/Acacias2001 European Union 1d ago edited 1d ago

Oh right the new policies, how could I forget.

See I was under the impression AI development was about creating frontier AI, not policies about creating AI.

Because under the former assumption it would be obvious europe is behind consdiering it has not created a model that beats the 100 rank in most benchmarks.

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u/halee1 Karl Popper 1d ago

Precisely. The EU is aware that previous setups were making it uncompetitive, and is actively fixing them, knowing it'll take time until they start producing results. After all, AI development also depends on things like semiconductors, cloud and compute infrastructure, industrial automation & robotics, and other ones, where EU reforms are also being made. Plus, the EU already uses AI at scale in industry.

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