The Dutch government pledged to invest more than €200 million to foster local investment into GenAI thus giving its support to provisional EU AI Act legislation. The government said its National Growth Fund will provide €204.5 million to a new program tasked with launching public-private partnerships, ensuring the use of responsible generative AI applications in specific government services, and establishing a dedicated team to assess current usage.
In addition, the government declared it would begin to adhere to the EU’s AI Act, announced in December 2023, even though the law is yet to be formally enacted or finalized. Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations of Netherlands representative Thomas van Oortmerssen explained the government wanted to start dealing with what they know instead of waiting for final answers, adding businesses would benefit from regulatory clarity.
Other aims of the vision include ensuring AI is at the service of human well-being and autonomy and contributes to sustainability and prosperity. Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy Micky Adriaansens added it is essential the Netherlands does not remain on the sidelines when it comes to AI, noting Asia and the US have already taken the lead and Europe will have to catch up.
Mercedes-Benz has created a new standalone company in Silicon Valley dedicated to developing advanced semiconductor technologies for future mobility. The automaker announced the formation of Athos Silicon, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, which will house a team of chip engineers who have been working under Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America for the past five years.
Apple demanded the European Union abandon its Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Infobip and Oracle have expanded the capabilities of Oracle Fusion Cloud Service by directly integrating WhatsApp and SMS messaging.
