Google and Apple have a big leg up in the AI race: their control of billions of smartphones around the world. That’s according to the European Commission, which is now cracking down on what that means for AI assistants.

In CNN’s coverage of this topic in their article, “Google and Apple are clashing with the EU over the future of AI assistants,” Veilant’s Mike Stokes, SVP, Emerging Technology, provided his perspective:

The EU’s new mandate also highlights critical questions over privacy in the AI era — and the challenges tech companies and regulators face in solving them.

…And what happens if the AI assistant malfunctions? The consequences could be critical if an agent has access to a user’s messages, location, and their device’s screen and microphones.

“It could exercise the user’s delegated authority to do other things that maybe the user might not have wanted it to happen,” said Michael Stokes, senior vice president of emerging technologies at Veilant, a company that sells secure infrastructure and communications products.