GOOGLE EU RULING
Activists breach Microsoft data centre construction site as protests spread in Europe
Activist groups have announced actions in 16 countries on Friday and Saturday, according to the "Stop Dirty Data Centres" coalition, which is rallying environmental groups and digital rights campaigns behind calls to pause large-scale construction.
Google's use of press by AI chatbot may infringe copyright rules, EU court adviser says
A recent advisory from a leading legal authority in Europe highlights that press publications can sometimes violate copyright laws. The Advocate General emphasized that while copyright covers unique expressions, using such material for the development of large language models may fall under the text and data mining exception. This advisory is part of a legal challenge brought by Like Company against Google.
Privacy group files complaints against Scale AI over alleged worker surveillance
The European digital privacy group, noyb, has launched several complaints against Scale AI across multiple nations, claiming the company improperly surveilled freelance workers engaged in AI data tasks. Investigative findings highlighted concerning tracking practices, including keystroke logging and persistent identity verification. Moreover, the use of game-like rewards has drawn prior regulatory attention. Freelancers reported challenges accessing their data, with requests often ignored by Outlier.
Europe's financial regulators query Google over cloud outage that hit banks
The European Banking Authority said that it has been in contact with Google Cloud to obtain further information on the incident, understand its implications and assess its potential impact on financial entities in the EU, a spokesperson for the watchdog told Reuters.
EU watchdog says smart glasses must give 'clear warnings' when recording
The European Union's central data regulator on Tuesday said smart glasses should give "clear warnings" when they are recording, after a public outcry in recent months over secretly filmed footage of girls and women. The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) warned in its non-binding guidance to users and manufacturers that smart glasses raised "serious privacy concerns" as it seeks to increase awareness about the risks.
Keeping AI models under control: When an agent causes harm, who bears the blame?
If an AI agent goes rogue, who do you hold responsible— the agent, the LLM developer or the human? asks EY partner Shivaprakash Abburu. Experts believe regulators are slow to build frameworks even as enterprises across the world are actively integrating AI into their workflows.

Google asks EU court to suspend order to open up to AI chatbots, search engine rivals
The company, which on Tuesday took the European Commission to court over the order, said it also applied for an interim measure at the Luxembourg General Court, Europe's second-highest court.

EU should use Google fines to cut member state contributions to budget, France says
The European Union should use the proceeds of the billions of euros in fines imposed on Google to reduce the contribution of member states to the EU budget, France's Europe

Google fined $463 million for breaching EU rule on location data
Google received a 403 million euro fine for privacy rule breaches. The European Union's watchdog found Google mishandled user location data unfairly. This investigation examined Google's practices from 2018 until early 2020. Google stated its policies have since been updated and improved significantly. This marks the fourth largest EU privacy fine issued by the Irish regulator.

Europe eyes battle over 'pervert' AI glasses
Anyone wearing smart glasses can take photos, film videos, listen to music, make phone calls, translate text or interact with an AI assistant, with sales now hitting the millions.

Portuguese group D3 sues Meta, TikTok and YouTube over addictive design
A spokesperson for Alphabet's Google, owner of YouTube, said providing people with "a safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work" and pointed to tools such as "take a break" and bedtime reminders designed to help users manage viewing habits.

Google defeats US bid to force ad tech sale
While the ad exchange is a small part of Google's business, the ruling is the second powerful symbolic victory against the U.S. Department of Justice in its efforts to force Google to sell assets to address illegal monopolies.

Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk make plea at G20 for more AI data centers
Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk on Tuesday stressed the need for more AI data centers and the electric power needed to support them at a meeting of G20 technology ministers focused on the disruptions and opportunity brought by artificial intelligence. In separate remarks, Tesla and SpaceX chief Musk stressed the massive amounts of electricity needed by the AI data centers, calling out a "crisis of power" in the AI buildout that was giving China the advantage.

Google hit with $3.5 billion fine from European Union in ad-tech antitrust case
The European Union has fined Google €2.95 billion for violating competition rules by favoring its own digital advertising services. The EU demands Google end its anti-competitive practices and address conflicts of interest within its ad tech business. Google disputes the decision, arguing it will harm European businesses.

Google rolls out changes for users, apps developers as EU tech rules loom
Designated as gatekeepers controlling millions of users and businesses' access to their platforms, Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Meta Platforms and TikTok owner ByteDance will have to be compliant with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) on March 7.

Google to tweak search results to comply with EU tech rules
Rival comparison sites have been among the most vocal critics of Google's search practices, with a complaint last decade resulting in a 2.42-billion-euro ($2.63 billion) EU antitrust fine.

EU court adviser sides with Google, Amazon in Italian rule spat
Google, Amazon and Airbnb subsequently challenged the rule in an Italian court, saying it was contrary to EU legislation which says online service providers are only subject to the rules of the country where they are established, while countries where they provide a service must refrain from applying their laws.

Google commits to complying with EU rules, says EU
The European Commission, who said in the statement that it's a step forward in the right direction, also said that Google had agreed to introduce changes in Google store, Google play store, Google hotels and Google flights to ensure compliance with EU consumer rules.

Google paying more than 300 EU publishers for news, more to come
The move to be announced publicly later on Wednesday followed the adoption of landmark EU copyright rules three years ago that require Google and other online platforms to pay musicians, performers, authors, news publishers and journalists for using their work.
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