Speech by Executive Vice-President Virkkunen at the International AI Summit in Dublin

Minister Smyth, Minister Burke, thank you for inviting me.

I would like to begin with a remarkable story from Ireland's past.

In 1858, on Valentia Island, off the coast of Kerry, a cable was brought ashore, opening one of the first telegraphic links between Europe and North America.

Until then, a message crossing the Atlantic had to travel at the speed of a ship. Suddenly, information could cross an ocean in minutes rather than weeks. In many ways, it was the internet of its time.

More  than  160  years   later,  Ireland  continues   to  play a distinctive role in connecting Europe with the wider world.

And this Summit is itself a  powerful illustration: bringing together policymakers, technology companies and industry leaders to discuss one of the most consequential technologies of our time — Artificial Intelligence.

I welcome also the effort of European Ministers yesterday, who committed, with a joint declaration, to a Europe that advances AI safety and sovereignty, builds trust in applied AI capabilities - including for the public sector- and invests in AI infrastructures and skills, while collaborating with like-minded third countries.

Over the summer, we have seen AI agents escaping their environment; inserting malicious code; using social deception on humans.

Such incidents undermine trust in AI and threaten our public safety.

The good news is that in the EU we have already a legal framework to tackle these challenges: the AI Act, which regulates high-risk AI systems and requires that providers in the EU assess and mitigate systemic risks from the most advanced AI.

This applies to all the advanced models placed on the European market. No matter whether the provider is based in Münich, Shanghai or San Francisco.

Mind you, there were no modern AI agents when the AI Act was adopted. Yet, our regulation is well equipped to deal with these developments.