The decision by Meta, Facebook's parent company, to withhold its latest multimodal artificial intelligence (AI) model from the European Union marks a significant moment in the ongoing dialogue between Silicon Valley innovation and European regulation. This move, following a similar decision by Apple, underscores the growing challenges tech companies face in navigating the EU's evolving regulatory landscape.
The recent King's Speech, delivered by King Charles III on behalf of Sir Keir Starmer's newly elected Labour government, heralds a transformative period for UK businesses and compliance professionals. This ambitious legislative program, reminiscent of Labour's sweeping reforms in 1997, promises to reshape the regulatory landscape across multiple sectors, demanding a strategic overhaul of compliance practices nationwide.
"No man is an island, entire of itself; Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main." - English Poet John Donne's Devotions Upon Emergent Conditions (1624) found in the section Meditation XVII.
The cybersecurity sector faces a delicate balancing act between protection, progress, and business enablement. As cyber threats grow more sophisticated and widespread, organizations are increasingly challenged to safeguard their operations while still driving innovation and efficiency. This dynamic environment demands a comprehensive approach to cybersecurity that addresses rising costs, emerging threats, and the integration of advanced technologies.
The fashion industry is facing unprecedented challenges as it struggles to reconcile its complex global supply chains with mounting environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns. Recent revelations have cast a spotlight on the opacity of fashion supply chains, raising questions about the effectiveness of current sustainability initiatives and the industry's commitment to ethical practices.
Consider this example: one organization was spending 200 hours building a report for the board on risk events that have happened. All the information was trapped in spreadsheets that they had to aggregate, tabulate, and build this report from. Every year, another 200 hours—it now takes them a minute. The last year they did it this way, they found out they had risk issues that started eleven months back. That is not managing risk: that is reacting to it well after the fact.
The European Union has recently unveiled the AI Act, published on July 12, 2024, and set to gradually come into force from August 1, 2024. This landmark legislation, working in tandem with the existing General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), establishes a comprehensive framework for the development, deployment, and use of artificial intelligence across the EU. As stakeholders grapple with the implications of this new regulatory landscape, the French data protection authority, CNIL, has stepped forward with guidance to illuminate the complex interplay between these two pivotal regulations.