Commission launches major hiring push for AI Office

The European Commission has launched a hiring call to boost the headcount of its units responsible for enforcing the EU’s new artificial intelligence rules. The EU’s executive confirmed Friday that it is seeking contract agents for two units within the two-year-old Artificial Intelligence Office, which is part of the Commission’s technology department, DG Connect. The power of that office is expanding on Sunday with the activation of an arsenal of new rules, including sanctions against companies that fail to comply. One of the units seeking staffing is in charge of AI regulation and compliance, while another is specifically focused on policing how cutting-edge AI models handle risks such as cybersecurity attacks or loss of control. Both units currently have a combined staff of 71 people. The Commission expects 40 jobs to open up in both units over the course of 2027. From Sunday onwards, the Commission’s AI Office gains full powers to police how AI frontrunners handle the risks posed by their models, with the authority to impose fines or even require providers to pull their models from the market. EU policymakers and AI experts had questioned the AI Office’s capacity to take on the big models in the lead-up to Sunday’s enforcement. Professor Yoshua Bengio, considered one of the three “godfathers of AI,” was asked by POLITICO in February about the AI Office’s capacity. “They already have really good people,” he responded, “but not enough.”