{"slug": "eu-watchdog-probes-von-der-leyens-ai-envoy-pick", "title": "EU watchdog probes von der Leyen’s AI envoy pick", "summary": "The EU ombudsman opened an inquiry into the European Commission's appointment of Siemens chairman Jim Hagemann Snabe as special envoy for industrial AI, following a complaint from NGOs including Transparency International, Corporate Europe Observatory, LobbyControl and the Good Lobby that Snabe's Siemens role \"may compromise the envoy's independence and impartiality.\" Snabe, who holds the unpaid role until the end of March 2027, is expected to produce a report on AI infrastructure, frontier AI technologies and industrial AI adoption, while Siemens lobbied to exempt machinery-rule products from the EU's flagship AI law. The Ombudsman has told the Commission to reply to the complainants' concerns by Sept. 29.", "body_md": "The EU ombudsman has opened an inquiry into the European Commission’s appointment of Siemens chairman Jim Hagemann Snabe as special envoy for industrial AI.\n\nA group of NGOs complained to the EU watchdog about the decision, warning that Snabe’s ongoing role at Siemens “may compromise the envoy’s independence and impartiality.”\n\nThat same group — including Transparency International, Corporate Europe Observatory, LobbyControl and the Good Lobby — wrote to the Commission on June 10 with their concerns about the move, but said they received no response.\n\nAdvertisement\n\nSnabe will serve in the unpaid role until the end of March 2027 and is expected to produce a report on issues including AI infrastructure, frontier AI technologies and industrial AI adoption.\n\nBut the appointment came under fire because of Siemens’ recent role in lobbying to loosen the AI rules now shaping Europe’s industrial strategy.\n\nSiemens was one of the main proponents of exempting products covered by the EU’s machinery rules from the bloc’s flagship AI law — a tweak EU legislators agreed to in the summer and which is now part of the law.\n\nSiemens is also part of European Tech Creators, a new lobbying force in Brussels that also includes SAP, ASML, Mistral, Airbus, Ericsson, Nokia and BMW. The group has met with von der Leyen and plans to seek meetings with the Commission president once a quarter.\n\nThe Ombudsman has told the Commission to reply to the concerns raised by the complainants by Sept. 29.\n\nThe Commission has defended Snabe’s appointment by saying that he will produce a publicly available report that is “subject to public scrutiny”, and that his advice will be “visible and accessible to all.”\n\nThe Commission denied access to a series of documents around Snabe’s appointment — both to European Parliament lawmakers and to POLITICO.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/eu-watchdog-probes-von-der-leyens-ai-envoy-pick", "canonical_source": "https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-ombudsman-ursula-von-der-leyen-ai-envoy-jim-hagemann-snabe/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS_Syndication", "published_at": "2026-09-10 11:17:34+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-10 11:30:49.463662+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy", "ai-ethics", "artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["European Commission", "Jim Hagemann Snabe", "Siemens", "EU ombudsman", "Transparency International", "Corporate Europe Observatory", "LobbyControl", "Ursula von der Leyen"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/eu-watchdog-probes-von-der-leyens-ai-envoy-pick", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/eu-watchdog-probes-von-der-leyens-ai-envoy-pick.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/eu-watchdog-probes-von-der-leyens-ai-envoy-pick.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/eu-watchdog-probes-von-der-leyens-ai-envoy-pick.jsonld"}}