EU commissioner Margrethe Vestager addressed an audience at SXSW in Austin earlier this month where she was quizzed on everything from USB-C to the AI Act.
It’s a Sunday afternoon in Austin, a city locals famously call ‘the blueberry in the tomato soup’ that is Texas, and the iconic 6th Street is bustling with people from all over the world.
South by Southwest, popularly abbreviated as SXSW, one of the world’s leading film, music and tech festivals is in full swing in every nook and corner of the lone star state’s capital: from upscale hotels to run-of-the-mill dive bars, people with official IDs hanging down their necks abound.
I walk into one of the main auditoriums in the Downtown area, where Margrethe Vestager – the very face of EU competition laws – is on stage in conversation with a TechCrunch journalist about tech regulation in Europe and its impact on other parts of the world.
“What do Europeans think about the USB-C protocol?” he asks, to some applause from the largely US audience, likely frustrated by the prospect of having to change their chargers from the Apple lightning cables to the universal charger required under EU laws.
Vestager, smiling in her characteristically poised and self-assured manner, walked him through her nightmarish experience of having to pack three different types of chargers for multiple devices – old and new – while packing for the US.
I was #thrilled & honoured to be the 2024 #halloffame inductee @sxsw festival.
This is a fantastic #recognition of the work we all do in 🇪🇺 – #institutions, #civil #society #organisations, #academia & more – to spearhead #tech legislation across the world ☺@EUintheUS pic.twitter.com/uw9HlJuERU
— Margrethe Vestager (@vestager) March 12, 2024
In 2022, the European Parliament voted that all mobile phones, tablets and cameras sold in the EU will have to be equipped with a USB-C charging port by the end of 2024.
The EU said at the time that the move will let consumers use a single charger for a range of small and medium-sized portable electronic devices, which will benefit users and help to cut down on waste.
“One of the consequences [of the EU law] is that we will get rid of a lot of waste when it comes to all these different chargers because you don’t have to get a new one once you get a new gadget,” Vestager said.
Her response, judging by the applause in the room, was well-received. But the excitement in the room was about to get louder with the next question.
“Commissioner, you have at times faced criticism from leaders such as Donald Trump as you took on companies like Google and Amazon, Trump even called you Europe’s ‘tax lady’ and said that he has ‘never met anyone who hates the US’ more than you. What will a second Trump administration mean for digital safety and security?”
She replied, “He claims to have met me, but I have never met him,” to near-universal laughter.
“When when you look at the discussions among Republicans and Democrats, I think there is a strong sense of bipartisanism on some of these issues: that technology should serve the people and that innovators should have market access. I think it’s one of the issues that is actually not as divisive as some other issues.”
Leading in AI regulation
Vestager alluded to the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA), landmark regulation born in the EU that aims to put the bloc in the lead when it comes to global regulation of Big Tech companies and other multinationals, saying she is pleased to see other parts of the world – the US included – taking inspiration from the legislation.
And then of course, there’s AI – a topic no conference is complete without touching on. The EU became the first major political entity to agree on a set of rules to regulate artificial intelligence in December when lawmakers dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s on the much-awaited AI Act.
“If AI is being used when you are admitted to university, when you get a mortgage or when you get insurance – all these important life events – then you need to know that there is no risk of being discriminated against.
“Already in Europe we’ve had the first scandals around AI being used in public services and showing instances of bias – a minister came down, a government came toppling down, and obviously that undermines trust in the technology.
“There are so many great use cases of artificial intelligence, so we want to make sure that people are safe when using it.”
Just days after her speech at SXSW, lawmakers in the EU finally adopted the AI Act on 13 March, marking an end to negotiations and hurdles since the legislation was first discussed in 2021.
Irish MEP Deirdre Clune and lead lawmaker for the drafting of the Act, said at the time that the Act might be the most significant piece of legislation to come from the European Parliament “in the past five years”, as AI will “fundamentally alter how we all live our lives”.
“We cannot allow AI to grow in an unrestricted and unfettered manner,” Clune said. “This is why the EU is actively implementing safeguards and establishing boundaries.”
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