Frontier AI curbs, children's social media restrictions among priorities in EU State of the Union address

Delivering the State of the Union address to European Parliament, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen outlined a digital agenda that will feature work toward stronger guardrails on frontier artificial intelligence development and restrictions around youth social media access.

The digital policy elements of the annual address centered around ensuring Europe has the technological capacity and economic competitiveness to respond to evolving modern threats while promoting targeted applications of AI in critical industries, as well as expanding international collaboration on AI regulation and safety testing with select international partners.

Frontier AI pacing

Amid recent calls by leading AI executives for world governments to regulate frontier AI development, von der Leyen said the EU should "pace" innovation to mitigate the growing cyber risks of such models. Part of this effort would include inviting frontier AI developers to work with the Commission to discuss ways EU public authorities can support industry efforts to slow runaway development.

"As the frontier models become more capable, these risks have come more sharply into focus," von der Leyen said. "CEOs of the most advanced companies tell us that it is time to slow down on the self-recursive models ... If the people developing the technology are clear, then we should be too."

The comments come after EU officials recently told Politico their prior work on the AI Act was justified following comments by former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon on AI's growing potential to go rogue. Irish Member of European Parliament and Digital Omnibus on AI rapporteur Michael McNamara said the EU "has already legislated for exactly this scenario," pointing to the AI Act, while Italian MEP and AI Act co-rapporteur Brando Benifei said, "This is exactly why the AI Act created obligations for systemic-risk models. Europe must now enforce them fully."

AI integration as core part of digital sovereignty agenda

While presenting the significant risks unchecked frontier AI advancement poses, von der Leyen also said AI development is a critical aspect of the EU's digital sovereignty push, which was formally presented by the Commission with its European Technological Sovereignty package in June.

According to von der Leyen, the Commission will introduce a proposal prioritizing AI integration in five "highest-value sectors" in November. The sectors will be health, transportation, agriculture and food, advanced manufacturing, and defense and space industries.

"By limiting the risks of AI, we can maximise the benefits," she said. "We do not need to be the ones who develop the frontier technology to be the ones who draw the greatest value from it. The key is creating the value that AI has not yet delivered."

EU Kids Act introduction

Von der Leyen announced the forthcoming release of the EU Kids Act that will establish age thresholds for accessing social media.

Under the proposed law, which is expected to be unveiled 17 Sept., children under age 13 would be barred from accessing social media. Children ages 13 and 14 would receive restricted accounts with parental supervision. Beginning at age 15, children would be allowed to open their own accounts with social media platforms expected to adhere to age verification and age-appropriate design requirements.

"Children are pulled ever deeper into feeds designed to keep them scrolling," von der Leyen said. "It is not about our minors accessing social media. It is about when and how do we allow social media to access minors."

Von der Leyen said the EU Kids Act would work in concert with the existing child protections offered in the Digital Services Act, which require platforms to implement standards for privacy, safety and security when they are accessible to minors. She also detailed how the Kids Act would interplay with the forthcoming Digital Fairness Act that she said would be introduced sometime this fall, which addresses addictive design and dark patterns.

"It is not only minors who are at risk," von der Leyen said. "Addictive design, for example, is harming everyone. This is why we need a wider framework, the Digital Fairness Act."

Calls to end 'gold-plating' by member state governments

Lastly, von der Leyen appealed to Parliamentarians over the need for their domestic governments to establish a new "pact against gold-plating," which is the practice of member states adding domestic requirements to EU legislation that gets passed.

"We are doing our best at the European level to cut red tape," von der Leyen said. "But now I think it is time for the member states to step up. If we are serious about simplification, we also need a pact against gold-plating."