Siemens chairman's advisory role has been criticised over potential conflicts-of-interest
The European Commission on Thursday failed to confirm how it would tackle any conflicts of interest on the part of its new AI envoy who is – simultaneously – chairman for German industrial giant Siemens.
On Wednesday, the EU’s executive created a new position of “special envoy for industrial AI” – with a direct reporting line to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen – who will advise on maximising the tech’s potential across the Union.
The Commission also immediately appointed Jim Hagemann Snabe, chairman of Siemens, to the newly created role. This raised eyebrows, not least given the company’s recent activity lobbying to weaken European AI regulations.
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