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Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s (ETH) co-founder, has cautioned against basing political allegiances solely on a candidate’s stance on cryptocurrency.
In a recent blog post, Buterin expressed concern over the growing trend in the crypto community to support politicians primarily based on their crypto-friendly policies. He wrote:
I argue that making decisions [on who to vote based on the candidate’s position towards crypto]  carries a high risk of going against the values that brought you into the crypto space in the first place.
Vitalik Buterin noted that recent legislative efforts, such as the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21) in the United States and the Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation (MiCA) in the European Union, have spurred increased political engagement within the crypto sphere. However, he argues that this approach may contradict the fundamental values of the crypto movement.
Look beyond crypto in politics
Vitalik Buterin warns that supporting politicians solely for their pro-crypto stance could create a situation where candidates only need to claim support for crypto to gain backing, regardless of their other policies. Buterin suggests this oversimplification might lead to supporting politicians who, while nominally pro-crypto, could actually hinder the broader crypto ecosystem through other legislative actions:
All that politicians have to do is make sure it’s easy for you to trade coins.
Contrasting with Buterin’s perspective, billionaire Mark Cuban has expressed a different view. Cuban believes that crypto policy could be a decisive factor in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. He has suggested that President Joe Biden’s stance on crypto might even cost him re-election.

Do you really think he understands anything about crypto? Beyond saying he made money selling NFTs?
Neither of them does.
And I have said many times that Biden has to choose between Gensler or crypto voters or it could cost him the Whitehouse
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) June 9, 2024

Cuban emphasized the importance of crypto to younger and independent voters, stating, “Crypto voters will be heard this election.” He also asserted that Biden needs to choose between supporting SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s approach to crypto regulation or appealing to crypto-friendly voters.

If @joebiden loses, there is a good chance you will be able to thank @GaryGensler and the @NewYork_SEC Crypto is a mainstay with younger and independent voters. Gensler HAS NOT PROTECTED A SINGLE INVESTOR AGAINST FRAUD
All he has done is make it nearly impossible for… https://t.co/uBKupxLhS9
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) May 10, 2024

 
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Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp has confirmed it will not launch its multimodal AI model Llama 3 in the European Union due to concerns over the “unpredictable” regulatory environment. 
Meta made this declaration amid ongoing unease at the obstacles in its way, due to the bloc’s introduction of legislation such as the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the upcoming EU AI Act/ Many other firms share the consternation and reluctance to launch products in the EU due to what is viewed as unfavorable conditions.
“We will release a multimodal Llama model over the coming months – but not in the EU due to the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment,” said a Meta spokesperson, underlining the friction between big tech and Brussels.
Multimodal AI models like Llama 3 are designed to work with several formats, including images, text, audio, and video. However, there will be no introduction for the open-source model in Europe, at least not for the foreseeable future.
It is believed the decision to pull Llama 3 from the EU relates specifically to concerns over compliance with GDPR rules. Meta has been compelled to pause training its AI with posts from Facebook and Instagram users due to a potential violation of privacy rules.
In recent days, the EU issued compliance deadlines for AI companies to adhere to the incoming AI Act, giving operators until August 2026 to react and make changes in areas such as copyright, transparency, and AI output.
Apple’s pushback against the Digital Markets Act
Meta’s decision to abandon the EU rollout for Llama 3 follows a similar act by Apple, which has indicated it will likely skip Europe for the introduction of Apple Intelligence. This decision was directly impacted by the DMA, which is designed to prevent anti-competitive behaviors.
The iPhone maker believes compliance with the DMA rules would create vulnerability and potentially compromise the security of their devices.
Last month a company statement said, “Specifically, we are concerned that the interoperability requirements of the DMA could force us to compromise the integrity of our products in ways that risk user privacy and data security.”
Image credit: Via Unsplash
The post Meta abandons plans to introduce Llama 3 AI model in the EU appeared first on ReadWrite.