The European Union is enacting the most comprehensive guardrails on the fast-developing world of artificial intelligence after the bloc's parliament passed the AI Act. 

Brussels

The release of Open AI's ChatGPT has accelerated the development of artificial intelligence and warnings about its impact on society.

Rise of AI

The European Union has approved what is being called the most comprehensive set of regulations on artificial intelligence to date, following the passage of the AI Act by the bloc's parliament. These regulations are designed to function as substantial safeguards for the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, ensuring that its development and application are conducted within clearly defined legal and ethical boundaries.



World's most extensive AI rules approved in E.U.

Many would say that some of the lawmakers have never been lobbied as hard as they have been over this particular act. What's the takeaway for companies trying to build. That's a great question. So right now it's a big celebratory day here in Brussels. I think last time I was speaking to you it was after 40 almost 40 hours of negotiations in mid-December. Fast forward three months and now we have the parliament signing off on this act. And while it's not a celebration we are getting lots of concerns of course from tech companies. They've been really sounding alarm bells for quite some time about overregulation concerns that you know the European continent will be behind because they're regulating much more ahead than their U.S. their U.S. counterparts. We also have this concern of course from European tech companies to start up to say hey we really want to compete with U.S. hyperscalers. And you can't overregulate us. You overregulate us. We'll never have a chance to actually compete. OK I'm Mistral and I am building large language models and I'm based in Europe. Now that the act is passed this is done. What is it that I actually have to do to comply. There are a few things. I mean I guess it's good to look at the use approach as a risk based approach. So for the most part they're actually just regulating the use of the technology not the technology itself. So this means that in practice that you'd be banning you know the worst possible misuses of A.I. and so A.I. systems cannot be used to you know perform emotional recognition in workplaces or schools cannot be used for social scoring. So giving citizens a score based on their behavior when it comes to high risk situations that these are some of the more tricky ones. This is you know A.I. systems being used for migration applications or certain job applications. A lot of these companies like open A.I. or Mistral will have to perform a lot more checks in order to prove to regulators that they're they're safe. The one exception that a lot of companies like Mistral were lobbying hard against were these additional controls to general purpose or generative A.I. and these were not based on the use of A.I. but just explicitly regulating technology itself. And in the end what these companies will have to do is perform or can approve to regulators you know that energy consumption prove that they are actually complying with copyright laws. And there's a new A.I. office that we based in Brussels and that the EU is currently setting up. This will actually can operate almost like a police force where they can go to the likes of Mistral open. I open a Microsoft whomever and say hey we want more data on how you've changed your large language model. And ultimately can even ban an application if it's performing poorly. Julian Mistral has indeed partnered with Microsoft and one expert saying that you lawmakers they've got played in this particular situation. How why will this not be a read across to just how the rest of the world adopts A.I. legislation. I think it's really interesting because last year we saw lots of tech companies even pushing for regulation. We had Sam Altman obviously in Congress. Everyone knows pushing for regulation. And so we've had that obviously in Brussels. But while they've been arguing for regulation they've also been simultaneously lobbying quite hard against some of the worst or strictest controls that they've seen in Brussels. Mistral was a really clear cut case of that. Last year they were really effective in getting the French government. Also I left off a German startup really pushing these governments saying hey if you overregulate us then we will not be able to compete with U.S. companies. Now fast forward four or five months. They were obviously a partner with Microsoft. And so that's left a kind of bad taste in a lot of lawmakers mouths. But we also have lots of other companies that are really signing on for voluntary commitments trying to prove to governments they're taking this seriously that they're taking as many commitments as possible. But I think I think more and more leaders are starting to wake up to that tech companies might be self-serving.

Columbia University began suspending pro-Palestinian activists who refused to dismantle a tent encampment on its New York City campus after the Ivy League school declared a stalemate in talks seeking to end the polarizing protest.

New York

Columbia University suspends pro-Palestinian protesters

The debris from a missile that landed in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Jan. 2 was from a North Korean Hwasong-11 series ballistic missile, United Nations sanctions monitors told a Security Council committee in a report seen by Reuters on Monday (April 29).

Kharkiv

Ukraine Invasion

U.N. experts say North Korea missile landed in Kharkiv

Columbia University's president said that talks with pro-Palestinian activists over a protest encampment on the Ivy League campus in New York City had reached an impasse and urged demonstrators to voluntarily disperse or face suspension.

Protesters defy deadline to leave Columbia encampment

Spain's Prime Minister said he has decided to stay in office after days of publicly weighing his future, generating relief amongst leftist allies, exasperation among the public and ridicule from his opponents. Sanchez said last week that he was retreating from public duty to decide whether to quit.

Madrid

Pedro Sanchez stays on as Spain's prime minister

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he is hopeful Hamas will accept an “extraordinarily generous” offer, as U.K. Foreign Minister David Cameron says it will include a 40-day ceasefire. But the sticking points remain: Israelis want a truce while Hamas demands a cessation of all hostilities.

Riyadh

Israel-Gaza War

U.S., U.K. urge Hamas to accept Israeli truce proposal

G7 environment ministers have gathered in Turin for two days of talks, as hundreds of protesters demonstrated in the city, some burning photos of the G7 leaders who they accuse of failing future generations over the climate crisis.

Turin

Climate Crisis

Protesters call for climate action ahead of G7 meeting in Turin

French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne is in the Lebanese capital Beirut for talks aimed at easing tensions between Hezbollah and Israel. After meeting Lebanon’s influential Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah, and the head of the Lebanese army, Joseph Aoun, Sejourne said there had been “a lot of progress” over the French proposals.

Beirut

French FM says ‘a lot of progress’ in Lebanon talks

At least four people are dead, including an infant, after a series of tornadoes swept across Oklahoma. The weather system is threatening the region with more twisters, heavy rain and large hail in a band stretching from Missouri to Texas.

Sulphur

At least four dead in Oklahoma tornadoes

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she would stand in upcoming European Parliament elections, a move apparently calculated to boost her far-right party, although she would be forced to resign immediately under EU rules.

Pescara

Italian far-right PM Meloni says will stand in EU elections

At least four people died, including a four-month-old baby, in Oklahoma this weekend, after dozens of twisters swept the U.S. Southern Plains. The White House said, President Joe Biden has pledged federal support for Oklahoma as well as other states hit by severe storms.

Oklahoma

Deadly tornadoes rip through Oklahoma

The Sydney Bishop targeted in an alleged terror-related attack a fortnight ago has made a surprise appearance before his congregation in Western Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel saying he forgives his attacker, who is facing terrorism charges.

Wakeley

Sydney bishop returns to pulpit after stabbing

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been slammed by protest leaders for his involvement in a protest against gendered violence in Canberra at the weekend. Organisers hitting out at the Labor leader on social media, calling him a 'liar'.

Canberra

Protest leaders hit out at Prime Minister over power 'abuse'

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and "reiterated his clear position" on a possible invasion of the Gaza border city of Rafah, the White House said.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Biden tells Netanyahu U.S. doesn't support Rafah assault

Ukraine's top general says his troops have been forced to retreat as fighting on the country's eastern front intensified. Kyiv's forces have fallen back to new positions in at least three places along the front, west of the Donetsk region.

Donetsk

Ukraine troops retreating on eastern front

Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing on an unannounced visit, to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of Full Self-Driving software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Shanghai

Elon Musk makes surprise visit to China

Hamas's armed wing released video of two men held hostage in Gaza who are seen alive and urging Israeli authorities to strike a deal for the release of all the remaining captives.

Rafah

Hamas releases video of two Israeli hostages

Defence Minister Richard Marles has revealed a fresh aid package to support Ukraine in its war with Russia, including $30 million in funding for drones. It marks more than one billion dollars in funding from Australia since the war began.

Lviv

Australia announces $100m in Ukraine aid

Tens of thousands of people have marched across the country calling for an end to violence against women. The Prime Minister addressed the crowd in Canberra where he called the issue a 'national crisis'.

Prime Minister joins rally calling for end to gendered violence

Israeli protesters have shut down streets in Tel Aviv demanding the release of hostages and the political end of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Anger has been growing inside Israel as the Gaza war drags on for more than 200 days.

Thousands block Tel Aviv streets in protest

After weeks of delays, negotiations, and distractions, Israel appears to be gearing up for its ground invasion in southern Gaza. Dozens of Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles have been seen near Rafah, Gaza’s last 'safe zone'.

Israel 'gearing up' for Rafah ground offensive

Ohio police released video of a Black man who died at a local hospital after repeatedly telling officers "I can't breathe" as they pinned him to the floor of a bar and handcuffed him, evoking memories of the killing of George Floyd in 2020.

Canton

'I can't breathe' man tells Ohio cops before death

Witnesses in Gaza reported fresh Israeli strikes overnight around Rafah. It comes as Hamas says it is considering an Israeli ceasefire proposal, after a delegation from Egypt arrived in Israel to resume stalled negotiations.

Sderot

Gaza hit by fresh strikes amid ceasefire talks

The US military has started building a large floating pier off Gaza's coast to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid, the defence department has said. Ships will deliver aid from Cyprus to the pier where it will be loaded onto trucks to transfer across Gaza.

Jerusalem

US begins building floating base to boost aid

King Charles will return to his public duties next week for the first time since his February cancer diagnosis, visiting a cancer treatment centre. There fears his Australian trip will be delayed, while he continues treatment for his own cancer battle.

Windsor

King Charles resuming public duties but Australian trip in limbo

Demonstrations have taken place across the country after a spate of domestic violence deaths, including Molly Ticehurst. Protestors held signs saying ‘no more’ calling for immediate action against male-inflicted violence.

Council of the City of Sydney

Thousands rally across Australia against domestic violence

The Russian and Turkish flags were lowered to mark the closure of a center set up to monitor a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh, as Russian peacekeepers ended a multi-year deployment in the strategic South Caucasus region.

Baku

Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire center closes as Russia withdraws

Britain's King Charles will return to public duties next week for the first time since being diagnosed with cancer as he makes good progress following treatment and a period of recuperation, Buckingham Palace said.

London

King Charles to resume public duties after cancer diagnosis

Students blocked access to Paris' prestigious Sciences Po university over the war in Gaza on Friday (April 26), demanding the institution condemn Israel's actions, in a protest that echoed similar demonstrations on U.S. campuses.

Paris

Pro-Palestinian protesters still occupying Sciences Po campus

The number of people killed in floods in Kenya due to heavier than usual rainfall since the start of the monsoon in March has risen to 70, a government spokesperson said Friday. Kenya and other countries in East Africa, a region highly vulnerable to climate change, have been pounded by heavier than usual rainfall in recent weeks, compounded by the El Nino weather pattern.

Nairobi

Kenya flood death toll since March climbs to 70

An Australian journalist has been named as a key figure in Donald Trump's criminal trial. Dylan Howard, the former editor of the National Enquirer in the U.S. accused of buying and burying negative stories as part of a deal to help him become President.

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Rise of AI