LONDON — On the face of it, the new MI6 chief’s first speech featured many of the same villains and heroes as those of her predecessors. But in her first public outing Monday, Blaise Metreweli, the first female head of the U.K.’s foreign intelligence service, sent a strong signal that she intends to put her own stamp on the role – as she highlighted a wave of inter-connected threats to western democracies. Speaking at MI6’s HQ in London, Metreweli, who took over from Richard Moore in October, highlighted a confluence of geo-political and technological disruptions, warning “the frontline is everywhere” and adding “we are now operating in a space between peace and war.” In a speech shot through with references to a shifting transatlantic order and the growth of disinformation, Metreweli made noticeably scant  reference to the historically close relationship with the U.S. in intelligence gathering — the mainstay of the U.K.’s intelligence compact for decades. Instead, she highlighted that a “new bloc and identities are forming and alliances reshaping.” That will be widely seen to reflect an official acknowledgement that the second Donald Trump administration has necessitated a shift in the security services towards cultivating more multilateral relationships. By comparison with a lengthy passage on the seriousness of the Russia threat to Britain, China got away only with a light mention of its cyber attack tendencies towards the U.K. — and was referred to more flatteringly as “a country where a central transformation  is  taking place this century.” Westminster hawks will note that Metreweli — who grew up in Hong Kong and  so knows the Chinese system close-up — walked gingerly around the risk of conflict in the  South China Sea and Beijing’s espionage activities targeting British politicians – and even its royals. In a carefully-placed line, she reflected that she was  “going to break with tradition and won’t give you a global threat tour.” Moore, her predecessor, was known for that approach, which delighted those who enjoyed a plain-speaking MI6 boss giving pithy analysis of global tensions and their fallout, but frustrated some in the Foreign Office who believed the affable Moore could be too unguarded in his comments on geo-politics. The implicit suggestion from the new chief was that China needs to be handled differently to the forthright engagement with “aggressive, expansionist and revisionist” Russia. The reasons may well lie in the aftermath of a bruising argument within Whitehall about how to handle the recent case of two Britons who were arrested for spying for China, and with a growth-boosting visit to Beijing by the prime minister scheduled for 2026. Sources in the service suggest the aim of the China strategy is to avoid confrontation, the better to further intelligence-gathering and have a more productive economic relationship with Beijing. More hardline interpreters of the Secret Intelligence Service will raise eyebrows at her suggestion that the “convening power” of the service would enable it to “ defuse tensions.” But there was no doubt about Metreweli’s deep concern at the impacts of social-media disinformation and distortion, in a framing which seemed just as worried about U.S. tech titans as conventional state-run threats:  “We are being contested from battlefield to boardroom — and even our brains — as disinformation manipulates our understanding of each other.” Declaring that “some  algorithms become as powerful as states,” seemed to tilt at outfits like Elon Musk’s X and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta-owned Facebook. Metreweli warned that “hyper personalized tools could become a new vector for conflict and control,” pushing their effects on societies and individuals  in “minutes not months – my service must operate in this new context too.” The new boss used the possessive pronoun, talking about “my service” in her speech several times – another sign that she intends to put a distinctive mark of the job, now that she has, at the age of just 48,  inherited the famous green-ink pen in which the head of the service signs correspondence.  Metreweli is experienced operator in war zones including Iraq who spent a secondment with MI5, the domestic intelligence service, and won the job in large part because of her experience in the top job via MI6’s science and technology “Q”  Branch. She clearly wants to expedite changes in the service – saying agents must be as fluent in computer coding as foreign languages. She is also expected to try and address a tendency in the service to harvest information, without a clear focus on the action that should follow – the product of a glut of intelligence gathered via digital means and AI. She  was keen to stress that the human factor is at the heart of it all — an attempt at reassurance for spies and analysts wondering if they might be replaced by AI agents as the job of gathering intelligence in the era of facial recognition and biometrics gets harder.  Armed with a steely gaze Metreweli speaks fluent human, occasionally with a small smile. She is also the first incumbent of the job to wear a very large costume jewelry beetle brooch on her sombre navy attire. No small amount of attention in Moscow and Beijing could go into decoding that.

BRUSSELS — Just one year after the European Union adopted a landmark plan to cut the risks of artificial intelligence, it’s already preparing to put the brakes on. A call to pause the rollout of a large chunk of the EU’s 2024 Artificial Intelligence Act has gained traction over the summer amid heavy lobbying and vocal concerns. The EU’s executive has left the door wide open for such a pause, and — with a final decision to be taken soon — even those who oppose changing the law are now, in private, factoring in some kind of delay. One option being discussed could see companies breaching rules on the highest-risk uses of AI being given a pass to continue business as usual for up to a year longer than planned. A decision to change the law would solidify Europe’s surprising pivot from a global frontrunner in regulating AI to a region fearful of being left behind by the U.S. or China in the race to profit from the technology.  For many in the industry, it would also validate concerns that the EU failed to deliver a coherent and enforceable rulebook last year, which adequately balances risk with business interests. Former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who has written a blueprint on bolstering the EU’s economic prowess, last week slammed the law as a “source of uncertainty” in a surprise intervention that added further momentum. DRAWBACKS Next August is a major date in the law’s staged rollout, with rules kicking in for AI systems that can pose “serious risks” to health, safety and people’s fundamental rights. Among those are everyday AI tools such as those used in HR, education or the judicial system. Those systems will face various risk management and record-keeping obligations before being put on the market. But companies are awaiting technical standards that they have not yet received. Industry lobby groups and EU countries have stated that these standards should be ready well ahead of the August deadline so they can comply. In July, some of Europe’s top CEOs called for a two-year pause “to address the uncertainty.”  The Commission’s thinking on a potential pause has shifted over the last six months. If standards are not ready in time, “we should not rule out postponing some parts of the AI Act,” the EU’s tech chief Henna Virkkunen told the EU’s digital ministers in June.  If standards are not ready in time, “we should not rule out postponing some parts of the AI Act,” the EU’s tech chief Henna Virkkunen told the EU’s digital ministers in June.  | Omar Havana/Getty Images Later, she set a deadline of late August to decide if these standards were ready.  With no final assessment of the standards in sight, last week saw a fresh acceleration. Draghi declared publicly on Tuesday that the high-risk AI rules should be paused “until we better understand the drawbacks.” The same day, the Commission opened a consultation on an effort to simplify the EU’s tech rulebooks, in which it said that “targeted adjustments” to the EU’s AI Act are on the table as part of that package. Pausing parts of the act would require an adjustment to the law.  On Friday, POLITICO reported exclusively on an undated draft of the Commission’s plan to boost AI adoption, expected to be presented Oct. 8. The Commission said the standardization bodies “have not met the deadline to deliver the requested standards.” The Commission is still keeping its options open, saying in the draft it would not let this development “jeopardise” next August’s enforcement date. It has declined to be drawn on the next steps. “We have a digital omnibus coming up,” European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told reporters last Tuesday at a daily press briefing, referring to the simplification package that should be finalized in November. Poland — which helmed the presidency of the Council of the EU until June and has consistently been open to delays — meanwhile circulated a paper to fellow EU countries in which it suggested delaying fines for companies that breach the high-risk AI rules by six or twelve months.  Warsaw expressed concerns about the law’s “tight implementation deadlines” and warned that European startups could be incited to relocate to “less regulated jurisdictions” if no changes are made. Sweden and the Czech Republic have also shown themselves in favor of a pause. HAMMER TO DROP With EU countries set to discuss the Polish proposal on Tuesday, lawmakers within the European Parliament are also preparing for the hammer to drop.  The Parliament’s top lawmakers on artificial intelligence have called a meeting for Oct. 15 to discuss the effort to simplify the EU’s tech rulebooks and how it would touch on the AI Act.  One of them, Dutch Greens lawmaker Kim van Sparrentak, is still adamantly against a pause.  “It’s quite a bizarre proposal to start reviewing this all, while the AI Act has not yet been implemented. We don’t know yet how this law works in practice and how complicated it is,” she told reporters in a briefing last week.  Yet she acknowledged that damage limitation is now the name of the game.   “One of the things that we’re increasingly discussing with the people that are focused on the implementation of the AI Act is: how do we ensure that the damage remains limited?”

Belgium’s government issued new travel guidance on Friday for Belgian nationals heading to Hungary, amid rising tensions around the Budapest Pride march set for Saturday. “We remind you that participation in a demonstration that is not allowed by the Hungarian authorities is the responsibility of each individual participant,” Belgium’s foreign ministry said in a statement. “We advise any participants to exercise the necessary vigilance and to keep up to date with the current situation through the media and social media of the embassy in Budapest,” it said. Participants should keep distance from possible counter-demonstrations, “and in the event of disturbances, follow the guidelines of the local police.” The warning follows a decision by Hungarian police on June 19 to ban the annual LGBTQ+ march scheduled for Saturday. Authorities cited a law passed in March that asserts the protection of children must take precedence over the right to assembly. Following the new legislation, both the U.K. and Canada updated their travel advisories for Hungary ahead of the march, warning that participants could face criminal penalties or fines under new legislation that bans Pride parades and allows police to use facial recognition to identify attendees. On May 26, a coalition of at least 16 EU countries — including the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Denmark, France, Sweden and Austria — issued a joint statement condemning the Pride ban and urging the European Commission to take action. On Thursday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen released a video statement calling on Hungarian authorities to reverse the decision. “I call on the Hungarian authorities to allow the Budapest Pride to go ahead,” she said. “To the LGBTIQ+ community in Hungary and beyond: I will always be your ally.” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán swiftly responded, criticizing what he described as EU overreach. He stated that the European Commission should “refrain from interfering in the law enforcement affairs of member states,” adding that it is a matter “where it has no role to play.” In an interview with Hungary’s Kossuth Radio on Friday, Orbán reaffirmed his position and warned of “legal consequences” for those who defy the ban. “We are adults, and I recommend that everyone should decide what they want, keep to the rules … and if they don’t, then they should face the clear legal consequences,” he said.

BRUSSELS — Rights groups are pleading with the European Commission to intervene against Hungary’s potential use of facial recognition technology to identify attendees of the banned Pride this weekend in Budapest. Dozens of digital and human rights groups said Hungary’s use of the technology is “a glaring violation” of the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act, in an open letter sent to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and her colleagues in charge of technology, rule of law and equality, first reported by POLITICO. The groups want Brussels to open an infringement procedure against Hungary for breaking EU law. Such a step would add to ongoing tensions between Brussels and Budapest over whether the Hungarian government abides by the EU’s rule of law standards. So far, Brussels has only said it is looking at the matter — despite the fact Budapest Pride will take place on Saturday. The EU executive hasn’t responded to questions filed by dozens of European Parliament lawmakers. In April, POLITICO reported that the Commission was “assessing” a Hungarian law that allows police to use facial recognition technology to identify those at Pride events and would not “hesitate to take action, where appropriate.” Civil society is enraged by the silence since. “The inaction of the Commission to enforce fundamental and digital rights, despite urging from civil society, is deeply concerning,” said Blue Tiyavorabun, policy adviser at digital rights group EDRi, one of the signatories of the letter. The Commission didn’t respond to multiple requests to comment for this article. Hungary in mid-March banned Pride gatherings, saying the move was designed to protect children. With a series of amendments to existing laws, it opened the door for its police forces to use face scanning for any type of offense — including attending a banned gathering such as Pride. Brussels has only said it is looking at the matter — despite the fact Budapest Pride will take place on Saturday. | Zoltan Mathe/EFE via EPA If the facial recognition occurs in real-time, that would amount to a breach of the EU’s AI Act. The law forbids real-time biometric identification in public places by law enforcers, a rule that came into effect in February. Hungary’s case marks “the first known violation of the prohibitions,” the rights groups wrote in their letter, saying it would set a “worrying precedent.” “If unaddressed, this can cause a domino effect where other member states might feel emboldened to adopt similar legislation,” they wrote. But the Commission still has to assess whether Hungary’s use of the technology amounts to “real-time” use. The EU’s AI rulebook is less strict about biometric identification that is not deployed in real-time. For instance, such biometric identification would be allowed with court approval for specific criminal offenses after the facts took place. The digital and human rights groups are attempting to convince Brussels that Hungary’s system permits authorities to act “in ways that should be considered real-time,” according to the legal analysis they shared with the Commission, seen by POLITICO. Hungarian authorities haven’t released details on how the technology would be deployed, but the Hungarian Council for Civil Liberties Union compiled a list of questions and answers that makes some claims about the system. Facial recognition is performed based on still images, and the system can only identify individuals with a Hungarian photo ID, as the pictures are compared to a facial profile registry maintained by the Hungarian Institute for Forensic Sciences (HIFS), the Hungarian Council for Civil Liberties said in the list of questions and answers. The registry does not contain actual photographs but a “biometric identifier,” it said. In their legal analysis, the rights groups say the police could connect directly to the systems of the HIFS and see on the spot whether there’s a match between the image and the biometric identifier. That would fit the AI Act’s definition of real-time, which is “without significant delay,” they said. HIFS didn’t respond to a request for comment. A Hungarian government spokesperson said in April it believed “all is in line with our constitution and EU law.” Several high-profile European politicians are expected to attend Pride on Saturday, among them Equality Commissioner Hadja Lahbib, the chairs of the Socialist, liberal and Green groups, Spain’s Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun, Dutch Education Minister Eppo Bruins, former Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo and former Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.  Kim van Sparrentak, one of the AI Act’s co-drafters, has also said she’ll attend the parade. Von der Leyen on Wednesday night called on Hungary to allow the Budapest Pride to go ahead “without fear of any criminal or administrative sanctions against the organisers or participants.” In response, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said he would “urge the European Commission to refrain from interfering in the law enforcement affairs of member states, where it has no role to play.”