The European Commission has appointed Jim Hagemann Snabe, chairman of Siemens' supervisory board, as its special envoy for industrial AI. The move has drawn immediate criticism given that Siemens was among the companies that lobbied hardest to roll back the EU AI Act, which recently resulted in a 16-month delay to high-risk AI obligations and a new industrial AI exemption. Critics, including the Dutch Green MEP who led Parliament's work on the AI Act, argue the appointment hands policy influence to the same industry that successfully weakened the regulation. Snabe will suspend his Google Cloud and C3.ai board memberships for the duration of his unpaid mandate, but critics say suspending seats is not the same as severing ties. The Commission says it conducted a conflict-of-interest assessment but has not published its methodology or findings.
