AI Geopolitical Economy Week #3025

This week’s newsletter reports on the accelerating intersection of technology, politics, and global power across Europe, the US and China.

In Europe, the publication of the new AI Act guidelines spurred controversies with tech giant Meta refusing to sign the voluntary conduct (though Open AI and Mistral agreed to adopt). Meanwhile in the US, Trump administration proposed a new AI Action Plan which has received some criticism from underrepresented groups. This is particularly interesting for those trying to understand the technological revolution from a historical perspective and the power dynamics of our time.

As for market trends, the AI-driven economy continues to dominate the headlines. Google reported earnings that exceeded expectations for Q2 2025 (confirming momentum in cloud services but reinforcing that search remains its main revenue source). In retail, Walmart announced AI solutions roll out for its e-commerce (using the attention-grabbing term super agents). And lastly, OpenAI’s CEO continues to warn officials about entire job categories being wiped out by the transformation.

Beyond tech, global geopolitics shows EU interests inevitably gearing toward China in response to Trump’s persistent trade hostility. The EU has in plan a massive €93 billion response package against US tariffs. In a summit in Beijing, attended by European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Xi Jinping called for a ‘proper handling of frictions” in EU-China relations.

The last article on the list is quite a treat. Published in the Financial Times, “The world is run by old men in a hurry” offers a sober analysis of contemporary political leadership ethos and the resulting risks for societal governance. Happy reading!

EU Tech Policy

Commission releases AI Act guidelines for general purpose AI models

The Brief – EU AI code passes the Meta stress test, now it’s time for hardball

US Tech Policy

Trump’s ‘Artificial Intelligence Action Plan’ is already stirring debate

AI Market Trends

Google tops expectations with $96.4bn in revenue after AI fuels second quarter

Walmart bets on AI super agents to boost e-commerce growth

OpenAI CEO tells Federal Reserve confab that entire job categories will disappear due to AI

You’re Not Imagining It: AI Is Already Taking Tech Jobs

What do we know about the economics of AI?

Geopolitics