Google has criticized the European Union’s intentions to achieve digital sovereignty through open-source software. The company warned that Brussels’ policies aimed at reducing dependence on American tech companies could harm competitiveness. According to Google, the idea of replacing current tools with open-source programs would not contribute to economic growth.

Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs and chief legal officer, warned of a competitive paradox that Europe is facing. According to the Financial Times, he said that creating regulatory barriers would be harmful in a context of rapid technological advancement. His remarks came just days after the European Commission concluded a public consultation assessing the transition to open-source software.

Google’s chief legal officer clarified that he is not opposed to digital sovereignty, but recommended making use of the “best technologies in the world.” Walker suggested that American companies could collaborate with European firms to implement measures ensuring data protection. Local management or servers located in Europe to store information are among the options.

The EU is preparing a technological sovereignty package aimed at eliminating dependence on third-party software, such as Google’s. After reviewing proposals, it concluded that reliance on external suppliers for critical infrastructure entails economic risks and creates vulnerabilities. The strategy focuses not only on regulation but also on adopting open-source software to achieve digital sovereignty.

According to Google, this change would represent a problem for users. Walker argues that the market moves faster than legislation and warns that regulatory friction will only leave European consumers and businesses behind in what he calls “the most competitive technological transition we have ever seen.” As it did with the DMA and other laws, Google is playing on fear. Kent Walker suggested that this initiative would stifle innovation and deny people access to the “best digital tools.”

The promotion of open-source software aims to break dependence on foreign suppliers, especially during a period of instability caused by the Trump administration. The European Union has highlighted the risks of continuing under this system and proposes that public institutions should have full control over their own technology.

According to a study on the impact of open-source software, the European Commission found that it contributes between €65 billion and €95 billion annually to the European Union’s GDP. The executive body estimates that a 10% increase in contributions to open-source software would generate an additional €100 billion in growth for the bloc’s economy.

Microsite.

After a sharp decline from 2021 to 2023, direct emissions from chip production are rising again. Could artificial intelligence be driving the increase? This brief explores one likely factor: surging demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM). Vertically stacking more memory layers requires more frequent etching and cleaning, which results in higher fluorinated gas use. We unpack the technology behind HBM, the market forces shaping demand, and the varying emission trends among leading memory chip manufacturers.

Maybe my memory is faulty, but I never remembered having to pay a surcharge to use a credit card. Now everywhere I go there are signs saying that there is a 2.5-3.5% surcharge to use a car (and others that say that there’s a 2.5-3.5% discount for using cash, I assume to get around wording)

“I want to say a ginormous f*** you to everyone in the tennis community who’s ever made me feel less than,” she wrote.

“F*** you to every single gambler who's sent me hate or death threats.

“F*** you to the people who sit behind screens on social media, commenting on my body, my career or whatever the f*** they want to nitpick."

And f*** you to a sport that hides behind so-called class and gentlemanly values," she wrote.

“Behind the white outfits and traditions is a culture that’s racist, misogynistic, homophobic and hostile to anyone who doesn’t fit the mould."

Well.. That was blunt, good on her, sorry it happened and all the best for the future.

Thirty airstrikes by mid-February mark an unprecedented rate of US attacks in Somalia. President Trump launched a total of 124 airstrikes in Somalia in 2025, according to AFRICOM numbers, breaking the previous annual record for airstrikes in the country, which he set at 63 in 2019. If the current pace keeps up, Trump will shatter the record he set in 2025.

An explosive allegation against President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein has surfaced in the Justice Department’s recent release of 3.5 million files, including disturbing details about a supposed body allegedly buried at one of Trump’s more than a dozen golf courses.

According to the document, the individual was formally interviewed by an FBI agent, and accused Trump of being aware of and having funded “underage sex parties at the Donald Trump Golf course.”

That individual went on to claim that they had “recordings of Trump, Epstein and Maxwell discussing marketing strategies for high profile sex parties,” according to the FBI official who drafted the document, their name also redacted. The individual claimed that in one of the recordings, Trump can be heard stating “he was aware of the underage sex parties.”

The tipster also told the FBI agent that they had personally witnessed Robin Leach – the British entertainment reporter and television host best known for “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” – “strangle a young girl during a sex party” at one of Trump’s golf courses or resorts.

The U.S. military completed the transfer of thousands of low-level ISIS prisoners from detention in Syria to Iraq, completing the effort that began last month at the request of Baghdad.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/60435083

Google accused "commercially motivated" actors of trying to clone its Gemini AI after indiscriminately scraping the web for its models.

Based and conform-pilled

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/34110609

Ford Motor shut down a battery factory and laid off 1,600 workers after President Trump and Republicans gutted government support for electric vehicles.

This is what happens when people don't consume news, and it's not made available to them for free.

Im not 100% sure i know what entrepreneur-ship means, but what exactly makes someone seen as a entrepreneur? what do they do usually?

Is it people who make money without a job, if so where do i start?

‘It is rule 62 of the Olympic Charter that we have to have a condoms story,’ says IOC spokesman Mark Adams

And only in this one photo apparently.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/43083257

Whangarei Native Bird Recovery Centre

We had a Morepork come in today who was covered in the seeds and sap of the dreaded Parapara tree or 'bird catching tree' as it's also called, and for a good reason!

In spring and summer, the parapara develops a glue- like coating on its seeds, designed to aid in seed dispersal, but remains sticky for months, trapping birds.

Why do birds get caught?

Birds are attracted to the seeds, possibly because of bugs stuck in the seed pods, and become entangled when they try to feed or fly.

Where it grows?

It's typically found on islands and coastal areas of the North Island, and is present in Auckland.

We use a citrus based solvent here at the centre which is safe on the birds and won't cause any irritation like some other common things used at home would. Please - If you find a bird that has been caught in a Parapara tree, bring it up to us rather than trying to remove them yourself

Most men don't know this, but females have infrared vision like the predator's helmet they can cycle through. One setting is "aura scan" and they can look at you and see your aura is black, that you sinned, and therefore they will call you "little jorkin' de peantis boy" and shun you.

Stay Woke

• Keystone-SDA;
• Bloomberg.

Switzerland is to hold a landmark vote on a right-wing party’s proposal to restrict the nation’s population to 10 million, amid divisions over immigration.

The proposal, put forward by the country’s largest political grouping the Swiss People’s Party (SVP), would require the government to act before the population – currently at 9.1 million – rises to the proposed 10 million upper limit.

If the vote, due to be held on June 14, is passed, the government would have to refuse entry to newcomers including asylum seekers and the families of foreign residents once the population reaches 9.5 million.

If the population hits 10 million, the government would be forced to end its free-movement agreement with the European Union (EU), which is Switzerland’s largest trading partner.

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/47449079

I stumbled across this link in the comment of another post, and thought it was super promising!

Someone mentioned something about in the US, this would be illegal due to DRM laws - not sure about the specifics of this, but regardless an open source printer seems like something we've needed for ages, as printers are something that always seem like way more of a headache then they need to be. It seems like such a simple technology that has existed for quite some time, but they are always such a pain to deal with. (Maybe it's just my bad luck with printers?)