EU Tech News

Asian AI startups are launching new models with Mythos-like capabilities that bypass the threat of US export bans. As a result, American AI labs risk permanently losing their foothold in the massive Asian market to these unrestricted domestic alternatives.

The BBC is shutting down its Long Wave radio service due to financial constraints, ending a highly reliable broadcast network that provided uninterrupted coverage across Europe. The closure has sparked widespread nostalgia among listeners who relied on the analog signal for iconic programming like the Shipping Forecast and Test Match Special. Many mourn the loss of the accessible technology, which also served as a foundational electronics project for generations of hobbyists.

A discussion among tech professionals explores the challenges of pursuing advanced degrees while balancing a full-time software career, weighing the personal fulfillment of studying for the joy of learning against the bureaucratic realities of university life. Participants shared contrasting experiences with academic culture, debating whether higher education is typically driven by genuine intellectual curiosity or strategic career advancement.

Jolla is releasing a new limited batch of its independent European Linux smartphone in October 2026 following its initial July launch. Designed through a collaborative Do It Together model, the device allows its user community to directly shape the software and overall user experience.

The era of long wave radio is set to end with the impending switch-off of transmitters. However, campaigners are fighting to preserve the historic long wave masts in Worcestershire by urging authorities to grant them protected listed status.

This piece explores the enduring legacy of the Roman Empire and examines when the ancient civilization truly ceased to exist. It highlights how the empire's expansion fundamentally shaped Europe and the modern world, suggesting that the Romans never completely disappeared.

An entrepreneur reveals that starting a business in Germany cost them €9,600 and 152 days of navigating severe bureaucracy. Despite registering two separate companies over a five-month period, the founder is still unable to issue a single invoice, highlighting the country's notoriously complex company formation process.

A developer was fired by Google after creating a Google Workspace CLI tool that rapidly went viral on Hacker News and GitHub. The creator described the aftermath of the project's massive success as a confusing journey that ultimately involved high-level company leadership.

The Canadian federal government is planning a nuclear renaissance by constructing up to 10 new reactors over the next 15 years. This major infrastructure expansion will be completed by 2040 to significantly boost national energy production. The initiative will also diversify the power grid by building at least one of these new facilities outside of Ontario.

A recent piece explores how foundational research conducted in Munich in 1991 laid the critical groundwork for the modern AI boom. Key breakthroughs from that era, including the development of LSTMs, GANs, deep residual learning, and knowledge distillation, eventually paved the way for advanced systems like ChatGPT.

Finland's libraries are evolving beyond traditional book lending by providing practical resources like sewing machines to support community needs. This shift highlights how these public institutions are increasingly valued for facilitating everyday societal functions rather than just literary access.

An experimental satellite has successfully mapped the unprecedented scale of GPS signal jamming across Europe and the Middle East from space. This first-of-its-kind orbital observation highlights the immense and previously unquantified extent of GPS signal tampering in these regions.

Norway has implemented a near ban on generative AI for elementary school students aged 6 to 13, restricting its use for older teenagers to supervised settings in an effort to combat declining education scores. This policy follows a recent smartphone ban and has prompted widespread discussion about overhauling educational assessments, with many suggesting a necessary shift toward invigilated exams and project-based learning to verify true student comprehension.

The Swiss parliament has lifted its ban on the construction of new nuclear power plants. This major policy shift is one of numerous critical issues being addressed during the ongoing summer session of the Federal Parliament in Bern.

Despite championing digital sovereignty and open-source software, European public institutions have recently migrated their social media accounts to W Social. This decision contradicts their stated goals, as W Social is a private, for-profit network owned by Swedish entrepreneurs that has quietly transitioned to a closed-source model. The move highlights a growing contradiction in the region's push for technological independence.

The Norwegian Data Protection Authority has fined electronics retailer Elkjop €1.8 million for enforcing unlawful forced consent practices within its loyalty club. The penalty arrives five years after a privacy advocate explicitly warned the company's data protection officer that the practice was illegal.

Madrid tripled the length of its metro system in just 12 years, achieving this massive expansion faster and more cheaply than almost any other city globally. The city's highly efficient approach to infrastructure development serves as a practical case study for urban planners. This success offers valuable lessons for other municipalities looking to scale their own public transit networks.

Tesco is migrating 40,000 server workloads away from VMware due to Broadcom's abusive pricing practices, according to recent UK court filings. The British retailer claims that Broadcom hiked its VMware licensing costs by approximately 175 percent, prompting the massive infrastructure shift.

Despite gathering 1.3 million signatures, the Stop Killing Games campaign has failed to secure new European Union legislation. The EU has declined to mandate that publishers keep discontinued digital titles playable, dealing a major setback for digital game preservation advocates.

TNO, SURF, and the Netherlands Forensic Institute are collaborating to develop GPT-NL, a sovereign Dutch language model and ecosystem. This initiative aims to strengthen digital autonomy across the Netherlands and Europe while providing a secure foundation for responsible AI applications.

A German regional court has ruled that Google is directly liable for false information in its AI search overviews, stripping away previous liability protections for search engine operators. This landmark decision, which stems from a case where the AI falsely linked publishers to fraud, could set a significant global precedent for the legal accountability of AI-generated content.

Mercedes-Benz has officially begun large-scale production of its advanced electric axial flux motor to significantly increase power density and efficiency for its upcoming electric vehicles. This manufacturing milestone marks a major technological step in the automaker's broader strategy to expand its lineup of high-performance electric mobility solutions.

Recent laboratory tests by foodwatch have detected residues of EU-banned pesticides in everyday foods, including rice, tea, and spices. These findings reveal that unapproved agrochemicals continue to enter the European market, highlighting significant vulnerabilities in current import monitoring systems.

Apple decided against rolling out Siri in the European Union after regulators denied its request for an 18-month exemption to comply with local laws. While some observers view this withdrawal as a strategic play to generate consumer sympathy by blaming the EU, others praise the strict regulatory enforcement and Apple's choice to withhold the service rather than compromise on compliance.

A recent statement argues that the UK's latest surveillance measures compromise user privacy under the false premise of enhancing public safety. In response, tech readers criticize the industry for historically building restrictive digital systems that inadvertently empower government overreach, emphasizing the need to critically question authority and regularly review privacy-invasive legislation.

Researchers have successfully detected and traced a powerful space-based GNSS interference source disrupting navigation systems across Europe. Detailed in a new arXiv paper titled Chasing Lightning, the study thoroughly characterizes the origins and behavior of this disruptive signal. These findings provide critical insights to help authorities mitigate future satellite navigation outages on the continent.

Gov.uk has replaced its payment processor Stripe with the Dutch company Adyen to expand digital payment options for citizens. This transition enables residents to pay for local authority and government services using a new pay by bank feature, allowing them to bypass traditional credit cards.

Microsoft has released the public preview of Azure Linux 4.0, marking its first general-purpose Linux distribution built upon the CBL-Mariner codebase. This new cloud operating system can run on any Azure virtual machine and is coming soon to the Windows Subsystem for Linux.

The Dutch government will require companies managing its DigiD digital identity platform to be European for all contracts after August 2028. The upcoming tender will be governed by the Defense and Security Procurement Act to better protect national security. This specific legislation strictly limits eligibility to European firms to minimize potential security risks.

Uruky, an EU-based alternative to Kagi, has expanded its ad-free private search platform with new image search and URL rewrite features. These updates enhance the search engine's capabilities while maintaining its core focus on user privacy.