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The EU AI Act is expected to introduce its key rules for general-purpose AI (GPAI) models on August 2. However, amid growing concerns that over-regulation could erode Europe’s competitiveness in artificial intelligence, calls to postpone the roll-out have intensified from some key stakeholders, including Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Bosch CEO Stefan Hartung, and the tech lobbying group CCIA Europe, whose members include Alphabet, Meta, and Apple. At TNW Conference in Amsterdam on June 20, Eoghan O’Neill, senior policy officer at the AI Office of the European Commission, addressed the potential delay of the roll-out. He clarified that the Commission plans to finalise its rules for GPAI in July. The European Parliament will then adopt its position on the standards. “This is a big, sophisticated technology, and we want to get it right,” he said. “We need specific obligations to capture some of the most impactful or potentially harmful models under the AI Act.” O’Neill highlighted that the guidelines were drafted by a broad code of practice group. Members included major model providers, civic society organisations, NGOs, academics, AI safety experts, SMEs, and European industrial giants. “It is a big tent with all of those voices from the stakeholder community”, he said. Tech leaders, however, warned that the EU needed to reduce its regulatory burdens. TNW Conference 2025 – That’s a wrap! Check out the highlights! “Europe is not the United States,” said Fabrizio Del Maffeo, CEO at Axelera AI, a Netherlands-based chip company. “We have many languages, many markets, and many regulations – both European and local. And these are stifling growth because they create borders, making it difficult for companies to expand.” Del Maffeo said his company had signed the petition for “EU Inc,” a proposal to create a standardised legal entity for startups that would enable easier operations across EU member states. EU Inc would sit under the bloc’s 28th regime, a pan-European legal framework designed to help startups expand throughout the union. In a speech at the Davos economic forum in January, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the rules would combine “corporate law, insolvency, labour law, [and] taxation” in “one single and simple framework.” But regulation isn’t the only problem, Del Maffeo stressed. The obsession with launching new startups needs to be balanced with a focus on scaling existing ones, which, he argued, requires capital more than policy. The data backs him up: Europe accounts for just 8% of the world’s scaleups, compared with 60% in North America, and no EU-founded startup in the past 50 years has surpassed a €100bn valuation. The region is the birthplace of countless innovations, but struggles to turn them into big businesses. “If you look at machine builders, we are leading the world,” he said. “In automotive, we are great, but we are losing traction. In robotics, we do great, but we are also losing traction.” Speakers at TNW Conference shared diverse views on Europe’s AI future. Credit: TNW Peter van der Putten, director of the AI Lab and lead scientist at software firm Pegasystems, echoed this view. He emphasised that the EU needs to become more attractive for investments, both domestic and international. Funding data underlines the investment gap: European startups raised about $52bn (€44bn) in venture capital last year — far less than the $209bn (€177bn) their US counterparts attracted. “Investment could come from the EU, but also from the US,” van der Putten said. “Regulations could be adjusted to make it easier and more attractive for funding that’s leaving the US to flow into Europe.” Europe is also in a good position to attract talent back from the US, noted Elise de Reus, co-founder of Cradle. She pointed to a growing trend of European engineers returning from Big Tech jobs in the US, drawn by purpose-driven work and better quality of life. “We’re welcoming European engineers who used to work at Big Tech companies like Facebook in the US to come back and contribute to solving societal and global problems such as climate change,” she said. “We’re also maybe a little bit too modest. We should measure happiness, not GDP, which is not a sustainable metric. I don’t think we should copy and paste the American system.” source

A new study has found that large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT consistently advise women to ask for lower salaries than men, even when both have identical qualifications. The research was led by Ivan Yamshchikov, a professor of AI and robotics at the Technical University of Würzburg-Schweinfurt (THWS) in Germany. Yamshchikov, who also founded Pleias — a French–German startup building ethically trained language models for regulated industries — worked with his team to test five popular LLMs, including ChatGPT. They prompted each model with user profiles that differed only by gender but included the same education, experience, and job role. Then they asked the models to suggest a target salary for an upcoming negotiation. In one example, OpenAI’s ChatGPT O3 model was prompted to give advice to a female job applicant: Credit: Ivan Yamshchikov. In another, the researchers made the same prompt but for a male applicant: The 💜 of EU tech The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now! Credit: Ivan Yamshchikov. “The difference in the prompts is two letters, the difference in the ‘advice’ is $120K a year,” said Yamshchikov. The pay gap was most pronounced in law and medicine, followed by business administration and engineering. Only in the social sciences did the models offer near-identical advice for men and women. The researchers also tested how the models advised users on career choices, goal-setting, and even behavioural tips. Across the board, the LLMs responded differently based on the user’s gender, despite identical qualifications and prompts. Crucially, the models don’t disclaim their bias.   A recurring problem  This is far from the first time AI has been caught reflecting and reinforcing systemic bias. In 2018, Amazon scrapped an internal hiring tool after discovering that it systematically downgraded female candidates. Last year, a clinical machine learning model used to diagnose women’s health conditions was shown to underdiagnose women and Black patients, because it was trained on skewed datasets dominated by white men.  The researchers behind the THWS study argue that technical fixes alone won’t solve the problem. What’s needed, they say, are clear ethical standards, independent review processes, and greater transparency in how these models are developed and deployed. As generative AI becomes a go-to source for everything from mental health advice to career planning, the stakes are only growing. If unchecked, the illusion of objectivity could become one of AI’s most dangerous traits.   source

Ubotica, an Irish startup specialising in edge AI for satellites, has partnered with two Dutch firms to develop an intelligence platform aimed at bolstering maritime security across European waters.  The company will work with Fugro, a provider of offshore surveying and geodata services, and DTACT, a defence-focused cybersecurity firm, to offer governments a new tool for monitoring critical underwater infrastructure, including gas pipelines and subsea cables.  The platform aims to fuse real-time data from sea, air, and space to create a dynamic picture of maritime activity. Fugro’s drones, underwater vehicles, and uncrewed surface vessels will sweep the oceans for geodata. Overhead, Ubotica’s AI-powered satellites will track vessels and flag anomalies in near-real time. On the ground, DTACT will pull these streams together into a maritime cybersecurity tool.  Fintan Buckley, CEO of Ubotica, said this “space-to-seabed surveillance” could transform situational awareness at sea.   TNW Conference 2025 – That’s a wrap! Check out the highlights! “This integrated approach, bringing together our insights with Fugro and DTACT, creates enhanced maritime awareness and a near real-time response capability that will secure critical underwater infrastructure well into the future,” he said. Maritime surveillance of this kind has become increasingly in demand since the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage, which exposed the vulnerability of underwater assets to covert attacks. European nations in NATO are also stepping up their defences at sea amid growing concerns over Russian aggression. Ivar de Josselin de Jong, director of strategy and government relations for Fugro’s maritime security and surveillance business, said the new partnership would enable “information-driven operations” for national security efforts.  The platform will initially focus on serving governmental organisations in the North Sea and Baltic regions, which have become a testing ground for European maritime defence tech due to their strategic importance and relative proximity to Russia. Several new systems are currently undergoing trials in the region. The Danish Armed Forces are testing autonomous surface drones in the Baltic Sea, while Dutch company Optics11 is trialling a fibre-optic sensor in the North Sea that “listens with light” to detect enemy vessels. source

A group of major European media organisations has launched a chatbot aimed at combating online disinformation.  The tool, called ChatEurope, responds to queries with information verified by journalists. It was set up by a consortium of media brands led by Agence France-Presse. Fourteen other news organisations, including France Médias Monde, Deutsche Welle, El País, and Romania’s RFI, have supported the project, which is also backed by the European Commission.  The chatbot was designed by DRUID AI, a Romanian enterprise AI platform, and uses a language model developed by French startup Mistral. It’s hosted on infrastructure built by Paris-based open-source software provider XWiki. Andreea Pleșea, co-founder and CEO of DRUID AI, said the tool enables “natural, human-like conversations” that help people access credible information in their own language.  The tool works a bit like ChatGPT, but for verifiable news. You ask it a question — for instance, about EU climate rules or the geopolitical situation in Ukraine — and the chatbot replies with a clear answer backed by respected news sources.  ChatEurope’s answers draw on thousands of articles produced by the 15 consortium members, providing answers with full source citations. The responses cover topics including EU policy, climate, tech regulation, and geopolitics.     ChatEurope is available in seven languages: English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Romanian, and Spanish. It’s designed to counter the growing trend of people following unverified and fake news on platforms such as X, TikTok, and Telegram.    Over 40% of Europeans under 30 years old use social media as their primary news source, according to the latest European Parliament Youth Survey. However, disinformation on these platforms is widespread, which risks eroding trust in credible journalism, disrupting elections, and even inciting violence.     “Media urgently need to adapt in the face of pervasive disinformation and the advent of artificial intelligence,” said Christine Buhagiar, AFP’s director of development and diversification. “ChatEurope will be a game-changer when it comes to information on European affairs.”  The chatbot is aimed at a wide audience, from students to policymakers. Despite being backed by the EU, the creators say the tool offers full editorial independence and avoids algorithmic bias.  source

The UK government reportedly plans to invest €163mn in French satellite firm Eutelsat as Europe pushes to back a local alternative to Elon Musk’s Starlink. The investment, first reported by Reuters, follows the lead of the French state, which is set to inject €717mn into Eutelsat as part of a €1.35bn funding package to prop up the indebted satellite communications provider. The UK contribution would bring Eutelsat’s recapitalisation to around €1.5bn.  French President Emmanuel Macron thanked his “British friends” for the support in a post on X, without disclosing the deal’s value.  Eutelsat has received significant attention this year, as European leaders scramble to reduce their reliance on Starlink, especially in Ukraine, which has become highly dependent on the service in its war with Russia.  TNW Conference 2025 – That’s a wrap! Check out the highlights! The French firm operates the third-largest satellite communications fleet — 653 satellites orbiting the Earth, each circling about 1,200km above the surface. The company previously told TNW that, in Europe, it offers the same coverage and latency capabilities as Starlink. In June, French Finance Minister Eric Lombard described his country’s investment as part of its broader ambitions to build a competitive, resilient, and sovereign space industry.  “This transaction reflects our strong commitment towards a major player in satellite connectivity — a strategic sector at the heart of Europe’s digital sovereignty,” he said. The funding offers a much-needed lifeline for Eutelsat, which had a net debt of €2.6bn at the end of 2024, according to its own financial reporting. It could also help the company contribute to the deployment of IRIS2, a European public-private satellite internet constellation expected to switch on in 2030. IRIS2 is a European attempt to create a truly sovereign satellite communications system. The constellation will build upon Eutelsat’s existing fleet and that of SES, a satellite firm from Luxembourg.  Lombard said the IRIS2 project would be a “key pillar” of Europe’s autonomy in space. However, the scheme will enter into an increasingly crowded satellite communications market. source

Funding Focus is a new series analysing cash flow into the European tech ecosystem. This first edition explores the biggest funding rounds raised in the first half of 2025. Despite a cautious VC climate and ongoing geopolitical jitters, European startups are still attracting serious cash.  Covering everything from AI drug discovery and space launches to quantum software and fusion energy, the continent’s startups raised €19bn in the first half of 2025, according to Dealroom data.  We’ve crunched the numbers so you don’t have to. Here are the 20 largest startup funding rounds for H1 2025. (Note: This list includes only startups founded in 2015 and later.)  1. Helsing — €600M The 💜 of EU tech The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now! HQ: Munich, Germany Helsing builds AI-powered software for defence systems, designed to help democratic governments respond to modern security threats. It raised €600mn in a Series D round led by General Catalyst — a huge endorsement for Europe’s rapidly growing defence tech sector. The deal brought Helsing’s valuation to €12bn, making it one of the continent’s most valuable private companies. 2. Isomorphic Labs — €508M HQ: London, UK A DeepMind spinout using AI to model molecular biology, Isomorphic Labs aims to dramatically speed up drug discovery. It raised €508mn in March, signalling the faith investors have in AI’s promise to reshape pharmaceutical R&D.   3. NEoT — €350M   HQ: Paris, France NEoT offers financing solutions for clean transport and off-grid energy projects, like electric buses and solar battery storage. Its €350mn round is less about flashy tech and more about enabling Europe’s green infrastructure at scale.  4. Verdiva Bio — €348M HQ: London, UK  Verdiva Bio emerged from stealth in January with a whopping €348mn for a new range of drugs aimed at tackling the obesity epidemic. It was one of Europe’s largest-ever biotech VC deals, indicating the investor appetite for the booming weight loss market.  5. XY Miners — €254M HQ: Lewes, UK  XY Miners raised €254mn in a late-stage VC round in April 2025 to expand its cloud-based Bitcoin mining operation. 6. Neko Health — €250M   HQ: Stockholm, Sweden Founded by Spotify’s Daniel Ek, Neko Health offers AI-powered full-body health scans for early disease detection. Its €250mn Series B in January was a big vote of confidence in preventative healthcare. 7. Multiverse Computing — €189M HQ: San Sebastián, Spain Multiverse Computing builds quantum software for sectors like finance and logistics. Thanks to its €189mn Series B round in June, the company has become one of Europe’s best-funded quantum players.   8. Auro Travel — €180M HQ: Madrid, Spain Auro operates a premium ride-hailing and chauffeur service for businesses — essentially a high-end Uber for corporate clients. The company raised €180mn in a late-stage VC round in February 2025, with plans to scale across Southern Europe’s mobility market. 9. TravelPerk — €170M HQ: Barcelona, Spain  TravelPerk manages bookings, payments, and policies for corporate travel. It brought in €170mn in a Series E round in January 2025 to expand globally, as business trips continue to bounce back. 10. Windward Bio — €169M HQ: Basel, Switzerland Windward Bio emerged from stealth in January with €169mn to develop new treatments for cancer, immune conditions, and rare diseases.   11. Dojo — €161M HQ: London, UK Dojo builds payment and business tools for service-focused brands — think salons, cafés, and event spaces. It raised €161mn in a growth equity round in May 2025, which it hopes will help it compete with players like Square and Stripe.   12. Synthesia — €152M HQ: London, UK Synthesia lets users create AI-generated videos from text for applications such as corporate training and marketing. Its €152mn round brought it to a €1.9bn valuation. 13. Isar Aerospace — €150M HQ: Ottobrunn, Germany Isar, which builds small rockets for satellite launches, pulled off Western Europe’s first orbital rocket launch earlier this year. In June, it secured a €150mn convertible loan, taking its total raised to north of €600mn — making it Europe’s best-funded space startup. 14. Ori Industries — €149M HQ: London, UK Ori builds infrastructure for managing workloads across cloud and edge networks. The €149mn raise positions it well as edge computing demand heats up.  15. Quantum Systems — €149M  HQ: Gilching, Germany Quantum Systems manufactures electric drones used in defence, mapping, and agriculture. It raised €149mn in a Series C round in May 2025, becoming Europe’s latest defence tech unicorn.   16. Quantexa — €148M HQ: London, UK Quantexa uses graph-based AI to spot fraud and financial crime. The company raised €148mn in a late-stage VC round in January 2025, taking its total funding past half a billion euros, as it pushes deeper into sectors such as insurance and defence. 17. Solaris — €140M HQ: Berlin, Germany Solaris offers a Banking-as-a-Service platform that enables businesses to integrate regulated financial services. It raised €140mn in a Series G round in June 2025. 18. Zepz — €140M HQ: London, UK Zepz owns WorldRemit and Sendwave — two major digital remittance platforms. With €140mn in new funds, it’s doubling down on mobile-first money transfers in emerging markets. 19. Azafaros — €132M HQ: Leiden, Netherlands Azafaros develops small-molecule drugs targeting rare metabolic disorders. The company raised €132mn in a Series B round in June 2025.  20. Proxima Fusion — €130M   HQ: Munich, Germany Proxima Fusion is developing stellarator reactors for nuclear fusion, aiming to create a new source of virtually limitless clean energy. Its €130mn Series A round, raised in June 2025, is the largest round ever raised by a European fusion startup.  The big picture So far, 2025 has seen a heavy concentration of funding in AI, biotech, defence, and deep tech — with startups like Helsing and Proxima Fusion raising record-breaking rounds in their respective fields.  Unsurprisingly, startups in the UK and Germany dominated the charts. But don’t overlook Spain and France, both of which had multiple startups

The Dutch government has approved the first electric scooter for public roads and bike lanes, marking a cautious yet significant shift in the country’s tough stance on micromobility. Dubbed Selana Alpha and developed by the startup Selana, the vehicle was recently approved for use on Dutch roads by the national transport authority (RDW). In the process, the e-scooter earned its first blue license plate, which means it’s now legally allowed to be driven as a light motor vehicle.   For co-founders Chingiskhan Kazakhstan and Max Schalow, the plate marks the end of a long regulatory slog to legalise their scooter. “After 6 years of hard work, the day has finally come!” Schalow wrote on LinkedIn. “Selana Alpha is now legal to ride on public bike lanes in the Netherlands.” The Alpha comes with 10-inch air tyres, dual mechanical drum brakes, an electronic regenerative brake, full LED lighting with turn indicators, and a smartphone-controlled lock system.  TNW Conference 2025 – That’s a wrap! Check out the highlights! Riders can expect a top speed of 25km/h (per regulations) and a range of 45–60km. Powered by a 576 Wh LG lithium-ion battery, it charges to 80% in 2.5 hours.  Tech features include an NFC-enabled digital dashboard, which allows the vehicle to be unlocked with a smartphone or card. The e-scooter also comes with a built-in security alarm and motion detection, which issues alerts when there’s a theft or a crash. Priced at €1,900, the Alpha doesn’t come cheap.   The vehicle is legal for riders aged 16 years and older. No helmet or driving license is required and the e-scooter can be fully insured. However, a number plate is required, which costs €18 for existing vehicles and €50 for new ones, per the RDW. E-scooters, or “steps” as they are known in Dutch, are a common sight in many European cities. But in the Netherlands, their use is restricted to private driveways or gardens. Riding one on public roads and bike lanes was previously illegal and would land you with a €380 fine. However, this is now changing.  The RDW recently introduced new legal provisions allowing e-scooters on Dutch roads — provided they meet strict safety standards and are fitted with a license plate. Selana is the first provider to meet these requirements.  “I’m extremely proud that we managed to get past this hurdle, especially after industry experts, investors, competition, and haters told us endlessly that it is impossible,” said Schalow. source

Finnish startup Donut Lab has secured €25mn in seed funding to scale up its in-wheel hub motors for electric land, sea, and air vehicles.  Alongside the investment, Donut Lab is opening an R&D hub in Chippenham, UK. Risto Siilasmaa, serial tech investor and former Nokia chairman, has also joined the company’s board. Marko Lehtimaki, Donut Lab’s CEO and co-founder, said the investment signals a continued demand for the company’s technology. “It demonstrates to us [founders] what we have always believed, that our tech solution is truly groundbreaking,” he said.   Donut’s flagship innovation is a hollow hub motor dubbed, you guessed it, the “Donut.” Instead of sitting under the hood or seat, the motor slots directly into the wheel rim. That means the car doesn’t require parts like axles, transmissions, or differentials, which could make it lighter and more cost-efficient compared to traditional EVs. The 💜 of EU tech The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now! Verge Motorcycles first developed the signature hollow, rear-hub motor design and installed it in a motorbike. It spun out Donut Labs as a subsidiary in 2024 to apply that same concept to all manner of electric vehicles — from e-scooters and drones to electric cars and semi-trucks.   The 21-inch version for cars delivers 630kW of power and 4,300Nm of torque — numbers typically seen in hypercars — yet weighs just 40kg. Donut claims it offers the highest torque and power density of any EV motor on the market.  The company says it has overcome the long-standing Achilles’ heel of in-wheel motors: unsprung mass —  the weight of components not supported by the suspension, which can impair handling and ride comfort. Past attempts to put the motor in the wheel compromised these qualities, but Donut says its design is light enough that the impact is negligible. Beyond motors, Donut is also developing batteries, software, and computer connectivity as part of its plans to become a one-stop shop for EV manufacturers. It’s also targeting a broad range of applications outside the traditional auto industry, including aerospace, defence, and robotics.   Yet, scaling across land, sea, and air vehicles — while also building batteries, software, and full-stack EV systems — is a hefty task even for deep-pocketed firms. Let’s see if Donut Lab has what it takes to pull off its ambitious plans. source

Wimbledon’s new automated line-calling system glitched during a tennis match Sunday, just days after it replaced the tournament’s human line judges for the first time.  The system, called Hawk-Eye, uses a network of cameras equipped with computer vision to track tennis balls in real-time. If the ball lands out, a pre-recorded voice loudly says, “Out.” If the ball is in, there’s no call and play continues. However, the software temporarily went dark during a women’s singles match between Brit Sonay Kartal and Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Centre Court.  At 4-4 in the opening set, Pavlyuchenkova reached game point when Kartal fired a shot that landed clearly out — but Hawk-Eye stayed silent. With no call from the system, the umpire ordered a replay of the point, despite video replays confirming the error.  Pavlyuchenkova was fuming. “You stole the game from me,” she said to the umpire, Reuters reports. The Russian ended up losing the game, but eventually rallied to win the match. The 💜 of EU tech The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now! Following the incident, Wimbledon CEO Sally Bolton blamed human error for Hawk-Eye’s costly malfunction.  “The electronic line calling system was working optimally,” Bolton said on Monday morning, Ubitennis reports. “The issue we had was human error in terms of the tracking system having been inadvertently deactivated, and then the chair umpire not being made aware of the fact that it had been deactivated.”  A common sight in sports  First developed in the UK by computer scientist Paul Hawkins and later acquired by Sony in 2011, Hawk-Eye has become a common feature in sports such as tennis, football, cricket, and volleyball.   However, the technology has also faced its fair share of criticism.  In February 2024, Hawk-Eye’s accuracy in cricket was questioned after a call in an England-India match sparked concerns over the precision of its ball tracking. In 2022, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) suspended Hawk-Eye after it wrongly disallowed a clear point for Galway in the All-Ireland Football semi-final, raising doubts about the system’s reliability.  Nevertheless, most would agree that the automated system is more accurate than human line umpires, who in one study were found to make errors in 27% of cases where Hawk-Eye was called upon to review a decision. This means an umpire error occurred every 17.4 games.  Jamie Baker, the tournament director for Wimbledon, defended the system last week after British player Jack Draper disputed its accuracy. “The concept of live line calling is absolutely standard across the tour now — mandatory across the ATP tour,” Baker said. “Two of the other grand slams [US Open and Australian Open] have had it for four or five years.” We’ve contacted Hawk-Eye for comment on this case and will update this article if we receive a reply. source

Swedish startup Lovable is in talks to raise $150mn at a valuation just shy of $2bn, the Financial Times reports.  The Stockholm-based business has built a generative AI platform that allows non-technical users to build apps or websites based on simple text prompts.  “I decided what we needed to do is build for the 99% who do not create software,” Anton Osika, Lovable’s co-founder, told TNW in April.  Osika founded Lovable alongside Fabian Hedin in 2023. Last week, Osika said the company had generated $75mn in annual recurring revenue (ARR) within seven months of launching the platform, making it one of Europe’s fastest-growing startups.  The 💜 of EU tech The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now! By allowing non-technical founders to create successful businesses without any prior coding or software experience, Osika believes the company is “unlocking a new economy.”  If Lovable’s funding round closes as expected, it would mark one of Europe’s biggest funding rounds of 2025 so far — and the latest sign of investor appetite for AI developed on the continent.  It follows Helsing, which builds AI software for defence, raising a hefty €600mn in June, and DeepMind spin-off Isomorphic Labs, which uses AI for drug discovery, securing €508mn in March. And if reports are to be believed, French AI startup Mistral is planning a whopping €1bn raise for later this year. Lovable’s funding round will be its largest to date by far. The startup previously raised  €6.8m in seed funding in October and a $16mn seed round in February, according to Dealroom data.  According to the Financial Times, early Facebook investor Accel is leading the latest round, with existing investors such as 20VC and Creandum also joining in. source