As Musk Plans How to Change Twitter, EU Reminds Him: ‘We Have Rules’

Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Internal Market speaks during a signature ceremony regarding the Chips Act at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, February 8, 2022. (Reuters)
Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Internal Market speaks during a signature ceremony regarding the Chips Act at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, February 8, 2022. (Reuters)
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As Musk Plans How to Change Twitter, EU Reminds Him: ‘We Have Rules’

Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Internal Market speaks during a signature ceremony regarding the Chips Act at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, February 8, 2022. (Reuters)
Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Internal Market speaks during a signature ceremony regarding the Chips Act at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, February 8, 2022. (Reuters)

The European Union's internal market chief said on Tuesday that Elon Musk could adapt Twitter as he wishes after he acquires the social media site but warned the billionaire that the bloc has strict rules for online platforms to tackle illegal content.

"It will be up to Twitter to adapt themselves ... to our rules," Thierry Breton told Reuters and one other media outlet on the deal sealed on Monday by Tesla's chief executive to buy Twitter for $44 billion.

"I think Elon Musk knows Europe very well. He knows very well that we have some rules for the automotive industry ... and he understands that. So in Europe, in order to protect freedom of speech and to protect individuals, any companies will have to fulfill this obligation."

Musk, the world's richest person, calls himself a free speech absolutist and has criticized Twitter's moderation of a hugely influential platform that is populated by millions of users and global leaders.

The EU has rules under which content forbidden offline is also forbidden online, Breton said.

Under a Digital Services Act (DSA) agreed by the EU's 27 member states and lawmakers last week, Alphabet unit Google, Meta and other large online platforms will risk hefty fines if they do not control illegal content.

Breton said big platforms of more than 45 million users would have to have more moderators than smaller ones, including moderators in every European language, and they would have to open their algorithms to regulators.

Under the DSA, big tech companies face fines up to 6% of their global revenue for violating the rules while repeated breaches could see them banned from doing business in the EU.

The new rules ban advertising aimed at children or based on religion, gender, race and political opinions.

Critics of Musk's takeover of Twitter fear it will mean less moderation and the reinstatement of banned individuals, including former US President Donald Trump.

Breton said he had no intention of interfering in the Trump question because such matters would now be regulated in Europe and company boards would not have a say.

"Remember, the information space does not belong to any private company," he said. "The information space is part of our responsibility as politicians. Like territorial space ... airspace, our digital space is our responsibility to organize."



Huawei Shows off AI Computing System to Rival Nvidia’s Top Product

An AI (Artificial Intelligence) sign is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China July 6, 2023. (Reuters)
An AI (Artificial Intelligence) sign is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China July 6, 2023. (Reuters)
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Huawei Shows off AI Computing System to Rival Nvidia’s Top Product

An AI (Artificial Intelligence) sign is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China July 6, 2023. (Reuters)
An AI (Artificial Intelligence) sign is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China July 6, 2023. (Reuters)

China's Huawei Technologies showed off an AI computing system on Saturday that one industry expert has said rivals Nvidia's most advanced offering, as the Chinese technology giant seeks to capture market share in the country's growing artificial intelligence sector.

The CloudMatrix 384 system made its first public debut at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), a three-day event in Shanghai where companies showcase their latest AI innovations, drawing a large crowd to the company's booth.

The system has drawn close attention from the global AI community since Huawei first announced it in April. Industry analysts view it as a direct competitor to Nvidia's GB200 NVL72, the US chipmaker's most advanced system-level product currently available in the market.

Dylan Patel, founder of semiconductor research group SemiAnalysis, said in an April article that Huawei now had AI system capabilities that could beat Nvidia.

Huawei staff at its WAIC booth declined to comment when asked to introduce the CloudMatrix 384 system. A spokesperson for Huawei did not respond to questions.

Huawei has become widely regarded as China's most promising domestic supplier of chips essential for AI development, even though the company faces US export restrictions.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told Bloomberg in May that Huawei had been "moving quite fast" and named the CloudMatrix as an example.

The CloudMatrix 384 incorporates 384 of Huawei's latest 910C chips and outperforms Nvidia's GB200 NVL72 on some metrics, which uses 72 B200 chips, according to SemiAnalysis.

The performance stems from Huawei's system design capabilities, which compensate for weaker individual chip performance through the use of more chips and system-level innovations, SemiAnalysis said.

Huawei says the system uses "supernode" architecture that allows the chips to interconnect at super-high speeds and in June, Huawei Cloud CEO Zhang Pingan said the CloudMatrix 384 system was operational on Huawei's cloud platform.