Sci/tech

Brussels will unveil new rules for chips, cloud computing, and AI to reduce the European Union's dependence on countries like the United States. This initiative, known as the technological sovereignty package, aims to boost local production and includes laws to accelerate the development of data centers and enhance the supply security for chips.

KPN and German technology company Schwarz Digits will introduce a European sovereign cloud in the Netherlands next year. The initiative aims to reduce dependence on American cloud giants and give Dutch organizations more control over their data.

Huawei says it may produce advanced chips without relying on ASML’s EUV machines, despite ongoing export restrictions. The company aims to reach 1.4-nanometre production by 2031, potentially narrowing the gap with global leaders. Details of the approach remain unclear.

AI developer Anthropic is reportedly finalizing a new funding round next week to raise more than 30 billion dollars. The investment could push the valuation of the Claude chatbot creator past 900 billion dollars, overtaking rival OpenAI. Both artificial intelligence firms are also rumoured to be preparing for stock market listings later this year.

Indian manufacturing giant Tata Electronics has signed a strategic agreement with Dutch semiconductor equipment leader ASML to develop India's first commercial chip fabrication plant. The 11 billion USD facility in Gujarat will utilise ASML's advanced lithography technology to produce microchips for global automotive, mobile, and artificial intelligence markets.

ASML and major Dutch trade unions have reached an agreement on a social plan to support employees during the company’s current transformation. The plan focuses on preventing forced redundancies through internal redeployment, generous severance pay, and extended employment guarantees.

Unions De Unie and VCP urge works council members to get actively involved in learning about AI and its impact on the workplace. This will enable them to better architect AI deployment in their organisations. Market analysts expect that large scale AI deployement could lead to increasing layoffs in the Netherlands.

A large-scale hack of the Canvas learning platform has forced several Dutch universities and colleges to take their digital environments offline, disrupting services for thousands of students. Institutions including the University of Amsterdam and Erasmus University Rotterdam blocked access to the software after hackers compromised sites and leaked the personal data of students and staff, such as names and email addresses. Although seven major universities and several colleges have been affected, many are attempting to continue teaching and exams through alternative methods while IT teams work to secure the breached systems.