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Dear Reader,

 

The C4DT weekly newsletter brings you a selection of articles or books that interested us.

 

Enjoy reading!

C4DT Team

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Weekly Picks
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Trop divisé, le Conseil fédéral repousse encore l'encadrement des plateformes numériques

RTS — 11/09/2026

Suzanne's take

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Mauvaise nouvelle pour la protection des utilisateurs et utilisatrices des grandes plateformes en ligne que le retrait de l'ordre du jour du Conseil fédéral de la loi sur la régulation des plateformes numériques (LPCom). Face à un clivage entre les différents bords politiques, l'institution a en effet décidé de reporter l'analyse de ce texte à une date ultérieure. Pourtant, les enjeux sont considérables face aux risques de manipulation et d'addiction présents sur ces très grands services en ligne. Derrière ces discussions se cachent par ailleurs d'autres enjeux pour la Confédération, notamment ceux liés à son indépendance et à sa souveraineté. Comme le mentionne cet article, c'est aussi le souhait de ne pas fâcher l'administration Trump dans le cadre des négociations des droits de douane qui semble avoir être pris en considération ici et avoir influencé le calendrier des débats sur ce texte. 

Misleading Metaphors and Real Risks

AI: A Guide for Thinking Humans — 10/09/2026

Carine's take

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Melanie Mitchell's take on the Hugging Face attack and similar incidents in the last few weeks is what the public debate on AI currently desperately needs: a measured and thoughtful analysis of what actually happened, what to learn from it, and, crucially, how to talk about it.

AIs as Modern Genies

Lawfare — 02/09/2026

David's take

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The genie metaphor is compelling. However, a folklore genie is mischievous: it deliberately exploits the gap between what you said and what you meant. AI agents aren't gaming your instructions; they're simply executing an interpretation without knowing it might be wrong. The problem isn't misunderstanding, it's misinterpreting your intentions. A human flags that uncertainty. AI agents don't. They just execute, confidently, and the misinterpretation stays invisible until something breaks.

C'est quoi le problème avec les lunettes connectées ?

Le Point J — 26/08/2026

Suzanne's take

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Plus d'une vingtaine de signalements reçus en quelques mois par l'association française e-Enfance concernant des femmes filmées à leur insu par les lunettes connectées Ray-Ban Meta. Ce chiffre, assez bas en apparence, doit être remis dans son contexte : la plupart des victimes ne se rendent pas compte qu'elles ont été enregistrées et une autre majorité d'entre elles se sentent démunies et ne savent pas forcément comment agir ! Ce chiffre doit donc nous inquiéter et nous faire réfléchir sur la façon dont nous souhaitons aborder ces technologies intrusives. Pour aller plus loin, vous pouvez écouter le podcast Le Point J dans lequel j'ai répondu aux questions de Jessica Vial.

Agentic AI systems as a responsibility-attribution problem in autonomous cyber operations

Taylor & Francis Online — 27/07/2026

Linus' take

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I'm following the discussion on whom to blame for LLM attacks on our internet infrastructure. I found the following article which summarises the debate nicely, even though I don't completely agree on who should be doing the work. The article compares three approaches to responsibility: state regulation, product liability, and electronic personhood. But all fail to correctly grasp the new challenge these attacks present. My personal take is that the government should make it clear that the companies creating these tools are responsible for the resulting hacks and must be held accountable.

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Upcoming Events
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SAVE THE DATE!

 

28 October 2026: C4DT Track at the Swiss Data Space Forum 2026 — Unlocking Data for AI

 

Where? Unlimitrust Campus, 42 Route des Flumeaux, 1008 Prilly

 

Time? 09:00 – 17:00 (C4DT track: between 11:30 and 15:30 — exact slot TBC)

 

Why participate?

Artificial intelligence thrives on data — yet most of it remains locked in siloed structures. The Swiss Data Space Forum 2026, organised by digitalswitzerland, brings together policymakers, researchers, industry leaders and innovators to tackle one of the defining challenges of the digital age: how to unlock data for AI in a way that is secure, trustworthy and values-driven.

 

C4DT is organising a dedicated 90-minute track titled Your Data, Your AI — Keeping the Keys. Unlocking data for AI should not mean handing it over. The track demonstrates — through working examples from EPFL’s Research Computing Platform and EPFL spin-off Anyway Systems — that sovereign AI is operational today, and broadens to the governance dimensions every serious deployment must address, with senior practitioners from ELCA, DuoKey and others.

 

The forum also features keynote addresses, breakout sessions and interactive workshops, with speakers including Martina Hirayama (SERI), Adrian Lobsiger (Federal Privacy Commissioner), Stefaan Verhulst (GovLab, NYU) and Astha Kapoor (Aapti Institute).

 

 

For more information, please click here.

 

To purchase tickets, please click here.

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SAVE THE DATE!

 

10 November 2026: C4DT Conference on AI Sovereignty: Charting Switzerland’s Path Amid US and Chinese AI Dominance

 

Where? Starling Hotel, 1025 Saint-Sulpice

 

Time? 9:30 – 18:30

 

Why participate?

As the global AI landscape consolidates around US and Chinese dominance, every nation outside this duopoly faces an urgent question: how can countries retain meaningful control over a technology increasingly expected to shape their economic competitiveness, national security, and societal resilience? From the viability of sovereign cloud architectures and open-weight foundation models to the governance mechanisms needed to ensure AI systems reflect Swiss values and legal frameworks, this conference brings together industry leaders, researchers, legal experts, policymakers, and civil society actors to assess the concrete levers of AI sovereignty and work toward actionable recommendations for a Swiss sovereign AI strategy.

This event is organized by the Center for Digital Trust (C4DT), EPFL.

 

For more information, please click here.

 

For registration, please click here. Registration is free but mandatory.

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