EU stays on top of Web3 with metaverse, AI and crypto strategies
The European Union has been vocal about its place in the rapidly expanding ecosystem of emerging technologies.
It has been a leader in establishing clear crypto regulations with its long-awaited Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework signed into law in late May. The EU has also been pushing forward on creating regulations for the development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) systems.
Most recently, on July 11, the European Commission released its latest plan to take the lead in metaverse development and prevent Big Tech from becoming too dominant in an economically viable sector.
A European vision of the metaverse
The latest EU proposal estimated that the global market size for metaverse developments will exceed 800 billion euro by 2030, compared with its end-of-year value of 27 billion in 2022. McKinsey’s latest report on the state of the metaverse even has an estimated value of $5 trillion in the same timeframe.
According to the commission’s initiative, it wants to get ahead on metaverse development to reflect EU values and fundamental rights, along with a push for openness and interoperability.
Margrethe Vestager, the vice president of the European Commission, said the EU needs to have “people at the center” in order to shape it according to its principles.
“We want to make sure Web 4.0 becomes an open, secure, trustworthy, fair and inclusive digital environment for all.”
The commission held European Citizens’ Panels in February and April of 2023, which focused on the metaverse. It aimed to formulate suggestions for a “vision, principles, and actions” that ensure EU-based virtual worlds are fair.
According to the commission, 140 EU citizens were randomly selected for participation, which resulted in 23 recommendations that guided the strategy.
Integrating digital and real worlds is no longer science fiction.
Early this year, 140 European citizens put forward 23 recommendations to guide the development of human-centric, secure and trusted virtual worlds.
See how they helped shape our new strategy on virtual worlds ↓
— European Commission (@EU_Commission) July 11, 2023
The current pillars that the EU has decided on for its metaverse strategy include empowerment and reinforcing skills to create a pool of specialists in the field of virtual worlds, supporting an EU Web4 on a business level, supporting societal progress and virtual public services, and shaping standards for open and interoperable virtual worlds.
But wait, what is Web4?
The European Commission’s tweet about its pillars for virtual worlds and Web4 strategy garnered a mixed response from users, with many asking what Web4 means, and other’s joking about developing Web5 and Web6 already.
According to the strategy, Web4 is distinguished from Web3 by integration with the real world. The commission’s statement recognizes that Web3 is still “currently developing,” with its main features being openness, decentralization and user empowerment.
“The next generation, Web 4.0, will allow an integration between digital and real objects and environments, and enhanced interactions between humans and machines.”
For the EU, Web4 could look like the introduction of smart cities with the right underlying infrastructure in place.
It is already investing in initiatives such as Destination Earth (DestinE) and Local Digital Twins for smart communities, as well as the European Digital Twin of the Ocean, which is said to allow researchers to advance science for the development of precision applications and help public authorities to make informed public-policy decisions on related issues.
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The commission also included “advanced artificial and ambient intelligence, the internet of things, trusted blockchain transactions, virtual worlds and XR capabilities, digital and real objects and environments” as full integrations in Web4 that will set it apart from Web3.
It claims this will enable a “truly intuitive, immersive experience, seamlessly blending the physical and digital worlds.”
On July 5, the European Blockchain Sandbox, which is part of its smart cities initiative, unveiled its first 20 use cases.
EU regulations in place
At the moment, Vestager said there are no current metaverse regulations drafted. However, she expects various other rules already in place to affect it, such as privacy, market power and forthcoming AI regulations.
As previously mentioned, the EU has recently signed its groundbreaking MiCA regulations into law, which became one of the world’s first comprehensive sets of rules to regulate the crypto industry.
On July 12, the European Securities and Markets Authority announced that it plans to release three consultative papers on its MiCA standards for crypto asset service providers while it fulfills its mandate under MiCA regulations.
There are already questions regarding the regulations’ policies on stablecoins and the exclusion of decentralized finance in the published regulations.
In addition to its recently published crypto legislation, the EU has been working on regulations that will affect the AI industry. On June 14, the European Parliament passed the EU AI Act, which would force tools like ChatGPT to disclose all AI-generated content and other measures against illegal content.
The race against big tech
All of these initiatives with virtual worlds and regulations for emerging technologies come as Big Tech companies like Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Apple and Google work on their own versions of the metaverse and AI tools.
The EU clearly stated in its metaverse strategy that virtual worlds will not be “dominated by a few big players” and should be “driven by open technologies.”
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, was openly committed to developing its own metaverse world accessible through its virtual reality headsets. However, by the end of 2022, the company lost billions due to its metaverse division.
In 2022, Microsoft announced a $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, one of the gaming industry’s key players.
Most recently, Apple dropped its latest version of its virtual reality goggles, the Vision Pro. However, instead of positioning them for use in the metaverse, it chose to use the wording “spatial computing.”
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Politics
25% of young children and pregnant women malnourished in Gaza, charity says, as PM vows to fly critical medical cases to UK
A charity has warned 25% of young children and pregnant women in Gaza are now malnourished, with Sir Keir Starmer vowing to evacuate children who need “critical medical assistance” to the UK.
MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, said Israel’s “deliberate use of starvation as a weapon” has reached unprecedented levels – with patients and healthcare workers both fighting to survive.
It claimed that, at one of its clinics in Gaza City, rates of severe malnutrition in children under five have trebled over the past two weeks – and described the lack of food and water on the ground as “unconscionable”.
Pic: Reuters
The charity also criticised the high number of fatalities seen at aid distribution sites, with one British surgeon accusing IDF soldiers of shooting civilians “almost like a game of target practice”.
MSF’s deputy medical coordinator in Gaza, Dr Mohammed Abu Mughaisib, said: “Those who go to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s food distributions know that they have the same chance of receiving a sack of flour as they do of leaving with a bullet in their head.”
The UN also estimates that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food – the majority near the militarised distribution sites of the US-backed aid distribution scheme run by the GHF.
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‘Many more deaths unless Israelis allow food in’
In a statement on Friday, the IDF had said it “categorically rejects the claims of intentional harm to civilians”, and reports of incidents at aid distribution sites were “under examination”.
The GHF has also previously disputed that these deaths were connected with its organisation’s operations, with director Johnnie Moore telling Sky News: “We just want to feed Gazans. That’s the only thing that we want to do.”
Israel says it has let enough food into Gaza and has accused the UN of failing to distribute it, in what the foreign ministry has labelled as “a deliberate ploy” to defame the country.
‘Humanitarian catastrophe must end’
In a video message posted on X late last night, Sir Keir Starmer condemned the scenes in Gaza as “appalling” and “unrelenting” – and said “the images of starvation and desperation are utterly horrifying”.
The prime minister added: “The denial of aid to children and babies is completely unjustifiable, just as the continued captivity of hostages is completely unjustifiable.
“Hundreds of civilians have been killed while seeking aid – children, killed, whilst collecting water. It is a humanitarian catastrophe, and it must end.”
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Israeli military show aid waiting inside Gaza
Sir Keir confirmed that the British government is now “accelerating efforts” to evacuate children from Gaza who need critical medical assistance, so they can be brought to the UK for specialist treatment.
Israel has now said that foreign countries will be able to airdrop aid into Gaza. While the PM says the UK will now “do everything we can” to get supplies in via this route, he said this decision has come “far too late”.
Read more:
WHO: Gaza faces ‘manmade’ starvation
UN: People in Gaza ‘walking corpses’
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Last year, the RAF dropped aid into Gaza, but humanitarian organisations warned it wasn’t enough and was potentially dangerous. In March 2024, five people were killed when an aid parachute failed and supplies fell on them.
For now, Sir Keir has rejected calls to follow French President Emmanuel Macron and recognise a Palestinian state – despite more than 220 MPs signing a cross-party letter to demand he takes this step.
The prime minister is instead demanding a ceasefire and “lasting peace” – and says he will only consider an independent state as part of a negotiated peace deal.
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