EU AI Act Newsletter #111: EU advances frontier pace

Von der Leyen, speaking at the European Parliament, described AI as a foundational layer for Europe's economy and security, and said that risks intensify as frontier models advance—from hacking capabilities that adversaries will soon possess to the dangers of self-improving models. Following the Hugging Face incident, developers raised the alarm, and CEOs of several leading companies called for slowing down recursive self-improving models. She positioned the AI Act as a core guardrail, promised cooperation with Canada, the UK, and others on model evaluation, verification, early warning, and AI safety, and said she would invite frontier companies to discuss "setting the pace on the frontier." Key points: - Commission Executive Vice-President Virkkunen introduced the EU KIDS Act, emphasizing that child sexual abuse images are illegal regardless of whether they are real or fake, and that the AI Act's provisions prohibiting manipulation of people or exploitation of children's vulnerabilities are fully in force and will be strictly enforced.