‘Stop using US tech’: EU lawmaker says Starlink service cutoff led to deaths

“Stop using U.S. tech. That’s my message,” Finnish EPP lawmaker Aura Salla declared Thursday at the European Pulse Seminar. In an interview with POLITICO, Salla argued that last month’s speed cap on the SpaceX military Starshield service in Ukraine was “yet another example of a kill switch,” which in this case led directly to battlefield deaths. “We are losing lives in Ukraine. It’s about our defense, because defense is technology.” Salla issued her stark warning as a pushback against Brussels’ growing focus on AI adoption over building frontier models in Europe. In her Sept. 16 State of the Union address, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “We do not need to be the ones who develop the frontier technology to be the ones who draw the greatest value from it.” Salla argued that Europe needs frontier models to have “any room in these negotiations,” over the direct of artificial development and safety. Leading French frontier lab Mistral has likewise warned that Europe will be shut out from shaping AI without a player leading development of the most advance models. Salla said building frontier firms also requires capital and a more integrated market. She called for harmonized insolvency and tax rules and cross-border pension-fund investment, citing Danish funds financing weapons development in Romania as an example.