EU AI Act

AI Discovers Stronger, More Durable Plastics in Materials Science Breakthrough Researchers at MIT and Duke University have utilized machine learning to develop significantly more durable plastics, a breakthrough that could lead to longer-lasting products and a reduction in plastic waste. The AI model identified novel crosslinker molecules, known as mechanophores, that can be integrated into polymer materials to make them more resistant to tearing. These mechanophores respond to mechanical force, allowing the material to withstand greater stress before breaking. After the AI model performed a rapid computational analysis of thousands of potential molecules, a task that would have been incredibly time-consuming with traditional methods, researchers synthesized a polymer with one of the identified candidates. The resulting material was found to be approximately four times tougher than plastics made with standard crosslinkers. This AI-driven approach to polymer science not only accelerated the discovery process but also uncovered new design principles for creating more resilient polymers. ...

EU AI Act’s New GPAI Rules Take Effect, Mandating Data Transparency In a significant step for AI governance, new provisions from the EU’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act for general-purpose AI (GPAI) models became effective on August 2, 2025. Providers of new GPAI models must now maintain current technical documentation and publish detailed summaries of their training data. More stringent requirements are set for GPAI models identified as posing a “systemic risk.” To streamline compliance, the European Commission’s AI Office has issued a mandatory template for training data disclosure. While the complete AI Act will apply from August 2, 2026, these specific rules for GPAI models are now enforceable. A voluntary Code of Practice has also been released to guide companies in meeting their legal obligations. ...