https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from France in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed AI watermarking and deepfake labelling will soon be required by law in the EU as the transparency part of the bloc’s sweeping AI Act comes into force on August 2nd. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260727/explained-eus-new-rules-on-ai-deepfakes-and-chatbots Mon, 27 Jul 2026 11:38:09 +0200 explained-eus-new-rules-on-ai-deepfakes-and-chatbots The European Union will from Sunday have the power to enforce landmark artificial intelligence rules and hit any companies breaking the law with fines. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260801/eu-gets-new-powers-over-powerful-ai-from-sunday Sat, 01 Aug 2026 16:30:47 +0200 eu-gets-new-powers-over-powerful-ai-from-sunday Lawmakers in France are scheduled to vote on Tuesday to ban social media for under-15s -- one of 20 countries worldwide to have proposed or introduced such measures, with many of them in Europe. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260713/eu-to-limit-childrens-access-to-social-media Mon, 13 Jul 2026 12:02:47 +0200 eu-to-limit-childrens-access-to-social-media The European Union demanded Thursday that Google share data with other search engines and open up its Android system to rival AI services, but the US giant said the measures would put privacy at risk. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260716/google-accuses-eu-of-undermining-privacy-of-millions-of-europeans Thu, 16 Jul 2026 16:10:36 +0200 google-accuses-eu-of-undermining-privacy-of-millions-of-europeans Unsolicited sales calls will become illegal in France from August 11th as a law passed back in June 2025 comes into full effect. But how will it protect residents and will it work? https://www.thelocal.fr/20260706/how-will-frances-new-ban-on-cold-calls-protect-residents Mon, 06 Jul 2026 15:58:10 +0200 how-will-frances-new-ban-on-cold-calls-protect-residents The European Union is moving closer to creating a digital euro as an alternative payment system for Europeans. But why are lawmakers so keen to create a virtual currency and how would it work for EU residents? https://www.thelocal.fr/20260623/europeans-are-fully-awake-why-the-eu-is-pushing-for-a-new-digital-euro Tue, 23 Jun 2026 09:28:04 +0200 europeans-are-fully-awake-why-the-eu-is-pushing-for-a-new-digital-euro As Europe pushes for more tech sovereignty, social network W believes it has the X-factor to win users away from other platforms: it's European. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260618/forget-x-heres-w-the-new-european-social-network-to-take-on-musk Thu, 18 Jun 2026 11:50:29 +0200 forget-x-heres-w-the-new-european-social-network-to-take-on-musk France's domestic intelligence agency will stop working with American AI giant Palantir, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on Tuesday, as European nations increasingly doubt the dependability of the United States. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260616/french-spies-drop-ai-giant-palantir-over-us-overreliance-fears Tue, 16 Jun 2026 11:15:16 +0200 french-spies-drop-ai-giant-palantir-over-us-overreliance-fears Inside a factory in southern France, millions of tiger mosquitoes are being bred, not to have them spread, but to stop them from reproducing - though scaling up such efforts poses a mighty challenge. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260616/scaling-up-key-as-french-firm-bets-on-sterile-mosquitoes Tue, 16 Jun 2026 08:44:12 +0200 scaling-up-key-as-french-firm-bets-on-sterile-mosquitoes Three French telecoms giants said on Saturday they had signed a deal to buy rival SFR after months of negotiations over a takeover of the ailing firm. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260607/french-telecom-giants-reach-deal-to-buy-ailing-rival-sfr Sun, 07 Jun 2026 08:20:04 +0200 french-telecom-giants-reach-deal-to-buy-ailing-rival-sfr France's ambition to compete in the global rush to build artifical intelligence data centres is dividing a small village outside Paris, where a massive planned facility stokes both hope for an economic dividend and fears of disruption. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260605/frances-data-centre-ambitions-bump-up-against-rural-fears Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:30:17 +0200 frances-data-centre-ambitions-bump-up-against-rural-fears Two French astronauts are to blast into space next year, one of whom will stay on board the world's first commercial space station, under a new deal sealed between France and the US company Vast. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260602/french-astronaut-to-fly-to-commercial-space-station-under-deal Tue, 02 Jun 2026 15:40:12 +0200 french-astronaut-to-fly-to-commercial-space-station-under-deal France tops the list of EU countries whose citizens “stood up to social media companies” challenging their content moderation decisions in the past year, a report has revealed. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260528/france-tops-list-of-eu-countries-standing-up-to-social-media-giants Thu, 28 May 2026 10:32:27 +0200 france-tops-list-of-eu-countries-standing-up-to-social-media-giants US-based tech boss Elon Musk is the subject of a formal complaint for homophobic abuse, after his online tirade against the French prosecutors investigating possible abuses on his X social network. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260509/musk-rants-at-french-prosecutors-probing-his-x-platform Sat, 09 May 2026 16:40:04 +0200 musk-rants-at-french-prosecutors-probing-his-x-platform After standardising chargers for mobile phones, from Tuesday new computers sold in EU countries must also use the USB-C charging point, as the latest phase of EU anti-waste legislation comes into force. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260428/eu-anti-waste-law-new-laptops-sold-in-europe-must-now-use-usb-c-chargers Tue, 28 Apr 2026 12:16:33 +0200 eu-anti-waste-law-new-laptops-sold-in-europe-must-now-use-usb-c-chargers France’s government has completed the purchase of the supercomputing arm of IT firm Atos, which builds machines for nuclear weapons development as well as artificial intelligence and quantum computing. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260401/french-state-buys-nuclear-supercomputer-firm Wed, 01 Apr 2026 08:49:49 +0200 french-state-buys-nuclear-supercomputer-firm President Emmanuel Macron is hoping France will become one of the first European Union countries to ban social media for under-15s, following similar moves in Australia and Indonesia. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260401/france-eyes-ban-on-social-media-for-under-15s Wed, 01 Apr 2026 08:46:00 +0200 france-eyes-ban-on-social-media-for-under-15s Do you like and trust The Local? Then please take a moment to add us as a preferred source on Google to ensure our articles appear in your searches. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260216/how-to-make-the-local-your-preferred-source-on-google Mon, 16 Feb 2026 14:02:08 +0100 how-to-make-the-local-your-preferred-source-on-google Supporters say it would let Europeans make online payments without relying on US payment system, but critics fear it would allow governments to surveil citizens' payments. How would the digital euro work? https://www.thelocal.fr/20260211/replacement-for-cash-how-the-new-digital-euro-would-work-for-europeans Wed, 11 Feb 2026 13:58:55 +0100 replacement-for-cash-how-the-new-digital-euro-would-work-for-europeans The rollout of high-speed fibre internet across France enters a new phase this year. If you live in rural France, please take a minute to complete a quick survey to let us know how you would rate your internet connection. Has it improved or is it as slow as an escargot? https://www.thelocal.fr/20260205/tell-us-how-would-you-rate-the-internet-connection-in-you-part-of-rural-france Thu, 05 Feb 2026 13:42:17 +0100 tell-us-how-would-you-rate-the-internet-connection-in-you-part-of-rural-france