European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivered her annual State of the Union address to the European Parliament on Wednesday, 13 September. Included in the speech, she highlighted that, while Europe has made significant progress in investment in digital, and in confronting the challenges caused by the digital world, there is still significant progress to be made.
As part of the speech, which is used to update the Parliament on the Commission’s priorities, von der Leyen discussed the risks of disinformation and harmful information online, as well as the risks to personal data and privacy. She referenced the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act as key steps to making technology safer for users.
Touching on artificial intelligence, she said, “I believe Europe, together with partners, should lead the way on a new global framework for AI, built on three pillars: guardrails, governance and guiding innovation.”
She continued, noting that, “Our AI Act is already a blueprint for the whole world.”
The full text of the speech is available on the website of the European Commission.
