Tech whistleblower calls for more protection

Big tech whistleblowers do not get enough protection, the man behind the leaked Uber Files has told Web Summit.

Mark MacGann, a former senior executive with Uber, said the big technology companies had become so powerful that fines for misbehaviour were meaningless. This, he said, represented a threat to society and democracy.

He said very few big tech whistleblowers had emerged over fear about the power of these companies and because public sector-like protections don’t exist.

The summit also heard on Wednesday that Europe was falling far behind the USA when it came to artificial intelligence technology. Entrepreneur Daniela Braga said Europe needed to spend billions of euro over a protracted period if it wanted to catch up.

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The chief executive of defined.ai, who is now living in the US, used her summit address to announce the launch of Accelerate AI — a project focused on developing conversational AI, such as that used by online chatbots. The venture has been 75 per cent funded by the Portuguese government and the EU’s recovery and resilience programme, which was launched in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I have been in my 22 years of career witnessing the deeper gap that Europe has been throwing against the United States in terms of AI development,” said Ms Braga. “We are €10 billion a year and 10 years behind the United States in terms of what it takes to build parity in terms of AI.”

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Asked why such a gap in AI technology matters to the citizens of Europe, Ms Braga said: “AI Is one of those technologies that will — very soon — be as important as the internet for us to survive. It matters when you run out of [silicon] chips and all the basic essentials that allow us to operate a daily life with quality.”

Separately, cryptocurrency exchange boss Changpeng Zhao took issue with EU authorities adopting tougher sanctions on Russians using digital wallets than they face doing business through commercial banks. The chief executive of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, suggested at the summit on Wednesday that the sanctions on digital wallets were too harsh.

Binance, which has invested $500 million (€500 million) in Twitter following Elon Musk’s takeover, has been accused in media reports of having links with the Russian state security service, the FSB.

When asked a question by Reuters ― the media organisation that had made the FSB claim ― Mr Zhao said, apparently sarcastically, that Reuters was his “favourite media”.

“Why are the sanctions harder on cryptoservices than on the commercial banks?” he asked, repeating a reporter’s question. “I have the same question, but we don’t get to decide. We’re waiting for expert advice on some of the reasons why banks are not sanctioned. It’s a tough situation.”

Meanwhile, the mayor of Lisbon, who held a press conference at the summit on Tuesday, said the municipality would always be a strong partner of the summit.

“This year we had a Web Summit with the largest audience ever,” said mayor Carlos Moedas. “We want to continue on this path and make the meeting more and more ambitious.”

The organisers say that this year’s event has attracted the biggest numbers since the event was inaugurated in 2009, with an attendance of 71,033.