Earlybird closes €360M Fund VIII, its largest ever, with a new perpetual ownership model and a deeptech-first thesis
Earlybird closes €360M Fund VIII, its largest ever, with a new perpetual ownership model and a deeptech-first thesis

The Berlin firm, founded in 1997, has raised a new fund every three to four years through every market cycle. Fund VIII is oversubscribed, manages €2.5 billion across strategies, and bets heavily on AI infrastructure, foundation models, and deeptech. E…

China threatens the EU with broad retaliation if Huawei and ZTE are banned from European networks
China threatens the EU with broad retaliation if Huawei and ZTE are banned from European networks

Beijing’s commerce ministry has formally submitted a 30-page document warning the European Commission that its draft Cybersecurity Act, which would make vendor removal mandatory for the first time, could trigger reciprocal measures against European com…

Spain’s Solaria raises €300m to power data centres with solar and battery storage
Spain’s Solaria raises €300m to power data centres with solar and battery storage

The Spanish solar developer is betting that co-locating renewable generation with battery storage adjacent to data centres is the answer to AI’s power hunger, and investors are oversubscribed at 6.7x. Europe has a data centre problem. Electricity grids…

Meta found in breach of EU law for failing to keep children off Facebook and Instagram
Meta found in breach of EU law for failing to keep children off Facebook and Instagram

The European Commission has issued preliminary findings that Meta has violated DSA obligations requiring it to prevent underage children from accessing its platforms, a charge previously levelled only at adult content sites. The European Commission has…

EU and Parliament fail to agree on AI Act changes after 12 hours of talks, pushing deal to next month
EU and Parliament fail to agree on AI Act changes after 12 hours of talks, pushing deal to next month

The collapse of Tuesday’s trilogue exposes deep divisions over whether high-risk AI systems embedded in consumer products should be exempt from the world’s strictest AI rules After 12 hours of negotiations on Tuesday, EU member states and European Parl…

Tesla promises FSD V14 Lite for HW3 cars internationally to appease growing tensions
Tesla promises FSD V14 Lite for HW3 cars internationally to appease growing tensions

Tesla posted on X that it plans to expand FSD V14 Lite to HW3 vehicles in international markets — but only after the US rollout is complete and with no timeline attached.

The vague commitment comes as HW3 owners across Europe and other international…

The EU sanctioned Chinese firms for arming Russia. China retaliated by threatening Europe’s ability to arm itself.
The EU sanctioned Chinese firms for arming Russia. China retaliated by threatening Europe’s ability to arm itself.

China’s Ministry of Commerce issued a formal condemnation on Saturday after the European Union included approximately 27 Chinese and Hong Kong entities in its 20th sanctions package against Russia, the largest round of listings in two years. Beijing sa…

Europe’s child safety laws require collecting the data its privacy laws forbid
Europe’s child safety laws require collecting the data its privacy laws forbid

Summary: Europe’s effort to protect children online has collided with its own privacy architecture. The ePrivacy derogation allowing voluntary CSAM scanning expired on April 3 after Parliament voted 311-228 to reject its extension, the EU’s new age ver…

Norway plans to ban social media for children under 16 and shift age verification liability to platforms
Norway plans to ban social media for children under 16 and shift age verification liability to platforms

The minority Labour government, led by PM Jonas Gahr Støre, announced the legislation on Friday. The age threshold has been raised from the 15-year limit proposed in the 2025 consultation, aligning Norway with Australia’s world-first ban that came into…

The EU is about to tell Google that Gemini cannot have Android to itself
The EU is about to tell Google that Gemini cannot have Android to itself

The European Commission is preparing to tell Google exactly how it must open Android to rival AI assistants, escalating a regulatory confrontation that will determine whether artificial intelligence becomes the next great platform lock-in or the first …