United Nations – UN rights chief warns of “Frankenstein’s monster” risk. Reporting from Geneva describes UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warning that generative AI could become “a modern-day Frankenstein’s monster”, with human rights “the first casualty” if powerful firms deploy systems without safeguards, transparency and accountability. Yahoo Finance – AI delay may threaten Europe’s economic future. Coverage of a speech by ECB President Christine Lagarde notes her warning that Europe is “missing the boat” on AI and risks jeopardising its future competitiveness. She calls for faster deployment, interoperable standards, diversified infrastructure and more uniform regulation to avoid fragmentation.

UK: AI and data tools for children with SEND. The UK government announced a new research programme to develop “data tools” to help schools and local authorities identify and support children with special educational needs and disabilities earlier, as part of a cross-government “Missions Accelerator”, with AI and advanced analytics clearly implied in the design of these tools. The initiative raises governance questions about children’s data, algorithmic decision support in education and the transparency of any AI models embedded in local authority systems.

EU: Digital Omnibus and digital fitness check announced. The European Commission published a Digital Omnibus package and a digital fitness check consultation to simplify and align EU digital rules, explicitly including the AI Act, GDPR, data, cyber and platform legislation. The initiative aims to ensure “timely, smooth and proportionate” implementation of AI obligations and to test the cumulative impact of digital rules on businesses and administrations. EU: Concerns that simplification weakens AI and privacy protections. Reuters reports that the new proposals would ease AI and privacy rules in areas such as high-risk AI deployment and data governance, prompting criticism from civil-society groups that the Commission is “caving to Big Tech”.