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EU Plans Social Media and AI Chatbot Restrictions for Under-15s

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The European Union is preparing a sweeping proposal to restrict children under 15 from accessing social media, video-sharing platforms, AI chatbots and online games. The plan is part of a proposed EU Kids Act aimed at protecting children from online abuse, exploitation and other digital risks.

Under the proposal, users aged 15 and above could create their own accounts, while children aged 13 and 14 could access social media and video platforms through parent-controlled introductory accounts with limited contacts and strict time limits. Children aged 3 to 12 would have access only to child-friendly services under full parental control, while under-3s would have no access.

The proposed rules would also require technology companies to verify users’ ages, reduce addictive designs and harmful content feeds, and provide stronger parental controls and tools to report harmful content. Companies would pay a supervisory fee to support enforcement. The proposal will still need to be debated and agreed upon by EU countries and the European Parliament before it can become law.

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Germany Rejects Calls to Halt AI Development, Seeks US-China Cooperation

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Germany has said that halting artificial intelligence development is not a viable option for Europe, arguing that continued innovation is essential to strengthening the region’s digital sovereignty. The digital affairs ministry said on Monday that it was closely monitoring global AI developments and taking warnings from leading technology companies seriously.

The comments came after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for AI companies to slow the pace of model development and introduce stronger safeguards. Germany said AI systems capable of escaping testing environments and independently accessing other systems could create an entirely new type of security threat, requiring a fresh policy response.

Germany also called for greater international cooperation on AI governance, saying effective oversight would require the involvement of both the United States and China. The government plans to raise the issue at the G7 level as countries seek to balance rapid AI innovation with safety and responsible development.

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Anthropic Co-Founder Urges Outside Scrutiny of AI Development at Vatican Event

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Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah stated on Monday that the development of artificial intelligence cannot be left entirely to technology companies, calling for increased oversight from religious leaders, civil society, and governments. Speaking at the Vatican alongside Pope Leo XIV during the presentation of the pope’s first encyclical on AI, Olah warned of “a real possibility” that AI could displace human labor on a massive scale. He emphasized that if widespread job displacement occurs, supporting those affected will become a moral imperative of historic proportions.

Olah acknowledged that frontier AI laboratories operate under intense commercial, geopolitical, and personal pressures that can conflict with the broader interests of society. He noted that even well-intentioned researchers are influenced by these constraints, making independent outside scrutiny absolutely essential to steer the technology safely. As the creator of the Claude AI tools, US-based Anthropic has previously clashed with President Donald Trump’s administration by insisting on guardrails that restrict its models from being utilized for autonomous weapons targeting or domestic surveillance.

Welcoming the Catholic Church’s engagement, Olah highlighted three critical areas requiring urgent global attention: the risk of widespread job losses, the challenge of interpreting complex and opaque AI system behaviors, and the need to ensure AI benefits are shared globally rather than remaining concentrated in a handful of wealthy nations. He asserted that the ethical questions raised by AI extend far beyond the engineering community, calling for earnest critics to help guide the creation of these powerful systems. The event marked a unique convergence between the tech sector and the Church, which is actively positioning itself as a moral authority on AI advancement.

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Italy’s Data Privacy Watchdog Faces Corruption Probe

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Italian finance police have searched the headquarters of the country’s data protection authority as part of a probe into alleged corruption and embezzlement, according to judicial sources. Rome prosecutors are investigating the agency’s president, Pasquale Stanzione, along with three other board members, over claims of excessive spending and irregularities linked to regulatory decisions.

Stanzione said he was “absolutely serene” when questioned by reporters, but declined to say whether he would resign. The opposition 5-Star Movement said the investigation had damaged the credibility of the authority and called for Stanzione to step down, intensifying political pressure on the watchdog’s leadership.

The Italian data protection authority, known as the Garante, is one of the European Union’s most active enforcers of digital privacy rules and has frequently taken action against major technology companies. In recent years, it has fined and briefly banned OpenAI’s ChatGPT, blocked China’s DeepSeek chatbot over privacy concerns, and last week warned AI platforms, including Elon Musk’s Grok, about the risks of generating deepfake images without user consent.

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EU, UK Slam X Over Grok’s Sexualised AI Images

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The European Commission has strongly condemned the spread of sexualised images of women and children on Elon Musk-owned social media platform X, calling the content illegal and unacceptable. The criticism follows reports that X’s AI chatbot Grok was generating non-consensual images of undressed women and minors through a feature previously referred to as “spicy mode.” EU officials said such content has no place in Europe and violates existing laws.

In Britain, media regulator Ofcom has demanded answers from X and its parent company xAI on how the AI system was able to create sexualised images, including of children, and whether the platform failed in its legal duty to protect users. Ofcom said it had contacted the company urgently to assess compliance with UK laws, under which the creation or sharing of non-consensual intimate images and child sexual abuse material — including AI-generated content — is illegal. X has not formally responded, while Musk has publicly mocked criticism online.

Pressure on X is also mounting from other countries. French ministers have reported the platform to prosecutors and regulators, calling the content “manifestly illegal,” while Indian authorities have sought explanations over what they termed obscene material. Despite growing concern across Europe and Asia, US regulators have so far remained silent on the issue, with federal agencies declining or failing to comment.

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