EU plans industrial data push, rules to rein in U.S. tech giants

The European Commission unveiled proposals on Wednesday to exploit Europe's vast trove of industrial data and set rules to govern artificial intelligence and to rein in U.S. tech giants such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon. The package, the first of a raft of plans, will shape Europe's digital future, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.

"It covers everything from cybersecurity to critical infrastructures, digital education to skills, democracy to media. I want that digital Europe reflects the best of Europe – open, fair, diverse, democratic, and confident," she said. The goal is to create a single European data market and ensure that the use of artificial intelligence technology will take into account privacy and ethical concerns. The plans also call for data centers to be climate neutral by 2030.