DUBLIN — The Irish capital, which doubles as Europe’s de facto tech capital, hosted two very different AI summits in the past week. Most eyes were on the International AI Summit, the signature tech event of Ireland’s six-month presidency of the Council of the EU, where top brass from the world’s biggest tech firms discussed ways to harness artificial intelligence and minimize safety risks. But the weekend before, a very different conversation was taking place at the Workers’ AI Counter Summit, as Ireland’s tech workers demanded a say in how the burgeoning technology reshapes the workplace and society. Ireland’s lucrative tech sector has been rattled by waves of AI-driven layoffs — and the country’s fledgling tech union has seen an exponential spike in sign-ups from workers who are worried about their future.   There’s an “awakening” happening right now among workers in Ireland’s tech sector, and a growing “awareness that they’re not bulletproof,” said Sinéad Gibney, a social democrat lawmaker who previously worked for Google.   “I do think what we will see is that parts of roles will be automated, which means that people will be competing more heavily for the same roles,” she said. “They won’t have the same labor power and therefore we’re going to see a drop in quality of work, we’re going to see more zero-hour contracts, in more places than we already see it.” The labor movement brewing in Ireland, where many of the world’s tech giants have their EU bases, is part of a wider trend among tech workers globally, who have seen their work disrupted by rapidly evolving AI. RISE IN LAYOFFS Ireland’s dedicated union for tech workers, the Digital and Techworker Alliance (DATA), has seen a five-fold increase in membership since it was first founded in 2023.   In its first year and a half of existence, membership hovered around 270 people. In the past year-and-a-half, it’s jumped to more than 1,350 members, DATA organizer John Bohan told POLITICO.  He added that this number tends to spike around layoffs and other actions. “The tech industry was founded on the idea that it would never have a union, because they’re making people rich, and treat them really well,” Bohan said.  “But post-Covid, workforce adjustments happened again and again, with layoffs and declining conditions in the sector. We started to see more people wanting to get organized around redundancies.”   The spike in sign-ups coincides with a wave of layoffs in Ireland’s tech bubble (and the tech sector globally), as companies corrected pandemic-era overhiring, and diverted investment to AI.   Ireland hosts the EU headquarters of most of the world’s largest tech companies, and more than 170,000 people are employed in the tech sector, according to the country’s statistics institute. Social media giant Meta has roughly halved its workforce in Ireland since the pandemic, axing well over 1,000 roles to offset AI investment and boost efficiency. Separately, Meta subcontractor Covalen also announced massive layoffs earlier this year, cutting more than 700 people.   Video-sharing platform TikTok announced this year it would shed around 300 Irish jobs, mostly from its trust and safety team, shifting the work to other countries, outsourced vendors or automated AI solutions.   A report by the IMF earlier this year warned that Ireland’s labor market is “relatively more exposed” to AI than many advanced economies, partly due to its concentration of tech workers.   The AI race is also creating new jobs on the Irish market – as AI firms like Anthropic and OpenAI are setting up Irish bases and trying to lure Big Tech workers with even bigger salaries.   Amid the uncertainty and volatility of the AI boom, tech workers are turning to unions for the first time as a safety net. One tech worker who used to work in trust and safety at a big tech firm told POLITICO that there used to be a feeling that as a “pampered” tech worker you “can’t ask for your rights, because you already have it so much better.”  But as layoffs continue and teams get leaner, workers in fields like trust and safety “now have to deal with these issues with fewer and fewer resources”, and face a “constant threat of being chopped,” the worker said.   That’s causing an “undoing of a certain perspective that we have of ourselves as tech sector workers,” they said, “because of undeniable experiences that now put us in situations where we clearly see our rights being violated, even if we may have it so much or somewhat better than most people.”  A different tech worker who currently works for Covalen told POLITICO that there is a sense that “if they believe they can replace you with AI, they will do that.”   “All these Big Tech firms only care about profit, and what I have realized is the Irish government protects that Big Tech capital [rather than workers],” the Covalen worker said. “But the question is, what’s the government going to do when the tech bros change their mind and move elsewhere?”   WORKERS AT THE CENTER The speaker list at this week’s AI summit was a flex of the country’s strength as a tech hub, as top names from the world’s biggest companies like Google and Microsoft took to the stage. Fionnuala Ní Bhrógáin, head of organizing and campaigning at Ireland’s Communications Workers’ Union (DATA’s parent union), was the only union voice on the line-up. “The fact that 36 executives and industry bosses featured on the program, compared with just one trade union speaker — invited at the last minute after attention was drawn to the absence of workers’ voices — says a lot about the value the Irish government places on AI’s impact on workers,” she told POLITICO. “The reality is that a meaningful conversation about AI’s future can only happen through genuine engagement with workers and collective bargaining,” Ní Bhrógáin added. “Without that voice, we risk deepening mistrust and resistance rather than creating the conditions for workers to shape these changes collectively.” DATA organized its counter-AI summit the previous weekend, to put “workers at the center of the debate about power, AI, technology and the future of work.”  The event cut through the “hype and futurism of politicians and industry figures to focus on the real present harms faced by ordinary workers and communities,” DATA’s Bohan said.   The union is pushing for stronger legal protections for tech workers caught up in AI-driven layoffs in Ireland, including making it mandatory for employers to recognize unions during collective bargaining. It is also calling for a ban on cooling-off clauses that prevent laid-off workers from moving between Big Tech subcontractors.   A spokesperson for Ireland’s department for enterprise told POLITICO in a written statement that the government is “committed to strengthening collective bargaining and industrial relations” and has published an action plan to do so between now and 2030.   They said that employers already have to comply with obligations under Irish employment law, including consultation and notification procedures for collective redundancies, and workers who feel those rules have been broken can complain to the Workplace Relations Commission.  Firefighting to future-proofing  Naoise Ó Cearúil, a center-right Fianna Fáil lawmaker who chairs the AI committee, pointed out that while there have been high-profile job cuts in Ireland’s tech sector, “the actual net is that there has been an increase [in jobs], particularly over the past year and even five years.”  According to Ireland’s central statistics office, total employment in tech and related sectors surpassed 177,000 in the second quarter of this year, up from around 144,000 at the same time in 2021.   Ó Cearúil pointed out that many job losses were in trust and safety jobs like content moderation that are “very difficult mentally,” and now tech firms are able to “utilize AI and software to be able to do a lot of detection, rather than using humans.”   He has called for a national program to be established, to support workers whose jobs are at risk due to AI and automation.   A spokesperson for Ireland’s department of enterprise acknowledged that the country’s tech sector has “experienced significant adjustment in recent years,” but said the changes were generally part of wider global restructuring “rather than reflecting any Ireland-specific weakness.”  They said the Irish government is currently focused on “ensuring workers and businesses are equipped to adapt to technological change through investment in education, training, lifelong learning and digital skills.”  

U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Saturday that the U.S. used cyberattacks or other technical capabilities to cut power off in Caracas during strikes on the Venezuelan capital that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. If true, it would mark one of the most public uses of U.S. cyber power against another nation in recent memory. These operations are typically highly classified, and the U.S. is considered one of the most advanced nations in cyberspace operations globally. “It was dark, the lights of Caracas were largely turned off due to a certain expertise that we have, it was dark, and it was deadly,” Trump said during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago detailing the operation. Gen. Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during the same press conference that U.S. Cyber Command, U.S. Space Command and combatant commands “began layering different effects” to “create a pathway” for U.S. forces flying into the country early Saturday. Caine did not elaborate on what those “effects” entailed. Spokespeople for the White House, Cyber Command and Space Command did not respond to requests for comment on the cyber operations in Venezuela. Internet tracking group NetBlocks reported a loss of internet connectivity in Caracas during power cuts early Saturday morning. Alp Toker, founder of NetBlocks, said in an email Saturday that if cyberattacks contributed to these outages, “it will have been targeted, not impacting the broader network space.” Saturday’s offensive marked the latest cyberattack targeting Venezuelan infrastructure in recent weeks. Venezuelan national oil and gas company PDVSA, or Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., last month accused the U.S. government of carrying out a cyberattack that led to delays in operations across the country. The Trump administration has not publicly commented on whether the U.S. was involved in the December attack. PDVSA said its facilities were not damaged in the strikes on Saturday.

A tech-savvy Italian schoolboy who died in 2006 is to become the first saint from the millennial generation in the Catholic Church on Sunday. Carlo Acutis has been dubbed “God’s influencer” and the “saint in sneakers.” The curly-haired Italian youngster died from leukemia aged 15 but is still celebrated by Catholics for how he put his web skills to use to promote his faith. Having begun coding at the age of eight, Acutis used his programming skills to build websites for the Church, including a site listing all reported miracles. As the Church struggles to connect with young people, Acutis represents a relatable role model, an example of how to evangelize in the digital age. The Church is increasingly recognizing the power of influencers who speak the language of Gen Z on video-sharing platforms like TikTok, and who can counter the Church’s perception of being outdated. Last month the Vatican hosted an event for 1,000 digital missionaries and Catholic influencers as part of its Holy Year celebrations. Catholics influencers have also been credited with a recent surge in young adult and teenage baptisms in countries including France. Initially scheduled for April 27, Acutis’ canonization at the Vatican was postponed when Pope Francis died. Pope Leo XIV is set to lead the mass and canonization in St. Peter’s Square, along with that of another young person, Pier Giorgio Frassati.  Critics have claimed that Acutis’ popularity, which has generated a multitude of books and documentaries about his life, is the result of a marketing campaign from the Church made possible by his family’s wealth and connections. But the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints said Acutis is part of a group of younger people that have been or are to be recognised by the church as evangelists. “Acutis’ canonization, strongly desired by Pope Francis, is not intended to acclaim him as a theologian. … It is intended to demonstrate that even today young Christians can live the Gospel faith in a consistent and all-encompassing way and have a relationship with Christ,” the dicastery wrote. Acutis’ death preceded the rise of social media like Facebook, Instagram and others. But, unlike most other saints, his followers can still watch videos of him talking about his faith. Acutis was moved to the city of Assisi in Umbria in 2017, where his tomb lies. Fittingly, he can be seen through its glass-sided casket on a web camera 24 hours a day, his body dressed in jeans, Nike sneakers and a sweatshirt. More pilgrims come to Assisi to visit Acutis’ tomb than that of St. Francis, buried in the same city, according to the local church. The Church’s newest saint “was well aware that the whole apparatus of communications, advertising and social networking can be used to lull us, to make us addicted to consumerism,” Pope Francis wrote in a 2019 apostolic exhortation, a document on papal teaching. “Yet he knew how to use new technology to transmit the Gospel.”

Blockages in the technology innovation pipeline and digital skills shortages were just some of the topics discussed by industry stakeholders during a DSEI-hosted roundtable held in July. Chaired by the UK minister for defense procurement, Maria Eagle, attendees included the likes of KX, Forcys, Dell and Amazon Web Services, all of which are attending DSEI UK 2025. The theme of the roundtable was ‘developing defense technology at pace to meet modern battlefield requirements’, a key theme at this year’s DSEI UK. Under the banner of this overarching theme, four sub-themes were discussed by the group as company representatives directed questions and suggestions toward the minister. The minister opened the proceedings by outlining the priorities of the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD), calling the current moment a “pivotal” one for UK defense as the country looks to return to warfighting readiness. Technology will be central to this move and the UK is set on becoming a leading “tech-enabled defense superpower by 2035,” she said, with priorities based on the lessons learned in Ukraine. Changes like these will require some changes in the government’s approach to technology, though. “We’ve got to innovate at the speed of technology … there’s no point taking six years to get to contract on a drone — you’d just be contracting to put it in the museum,” she added. > We’ve got to innovate at the speed of technology … there’s no point taking six > years to get to contract on a drone — you’d just be contracting to put it in > the museum. Changing the way the UK government acquires and utilizes innovative defense technology at speed and scale will require stronger collaboration between government and industry, however, and there is still some way to go to ensure this relationship works, according to industry stakeholders at the roundtable. Bolstering the innovation pipeline A major hurdle for defense firms is navigating the ‘valley of death’ — the time between developing an initial concept and the point at which the company starts to see returns on its investment. Businesses need considerable support to stay liquid and avoid bankruptcy in this period. “I think part of the challenge that we’ve identified is taking an operational concept demonstrator, which we’ve been involved with in defense, and bringing that into core [military programs],” a representative from KX, a software company based in Northern Ireland, said. “[It’s] the valley of death or the cup of opportunity, as I call it — and nobody seems to be drinking from that cup,” the representative said. “A lot of attention goes to the SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises] and the concept demonstration, and the primes get a huge amount of attention at the other end of the scale, but dragging those concept demonstrators into a core program, that seems to be a key challenge, and it would be great to understand how that can be accelerated so that concepts don’t just wither on the vine.” Eagle recognized that concept demonstrators are sometimes shelved with “no follow up,” noting that the “valley of death has been a big problem.” To address this, the UK is “establishing UK innovation,” with the goal of getting “new ideas and concepts, and new ways of doing things to the warfighter.” Company representatives and moderator gathered at DSEI UK roundtable.  Is there enough support for SMEs? Another portion of the roundtable focused on how SMEs position in the defense ecosystem can be further supported, particularly by other key stakeholders such as the UK MoD and DSEI UK. Eagle noted the UK government’s plans to establish an SME hub in the “not too [distant] future” to provide smaller defense tech companies with assistance for working in the sector and with the MoD. A representative from Forcys welcomed plans to establish an SME hub but did push back against the minister, arguing that many of these initiatives designed to fund innovation do not come with “sufficient money.” “The average DASA [Defence and Security Accelerator] award is £50,000 to £100,000 — its buttons to what’s actually required to develop something at pace and really develop it properly, rather than just playing into it,” the representative argued. The representative also rallied against the problems faced by Forcys due to its size, given it is defined neither as an SME nor a prime. This means it doesn’t get the support infrastructure afforded to smaller firms or the advantages that come with having the scale of a prime.   The future of dual use and next-gen skills issues Looking ahead, stakeholders at the roundtable also discussed what the future might look like for the defense industry, given the changing nature of dual-use technology and the concerning digital skills gaps in the sector. > Stakeholders at the roundtable also discussed what the future might look like > for the defense industry, given the changing nature of dual-use technology and > the concerning digital skills gaps. Understanding the defense supply chain is crucial on the dual-use front, according to a representative from PQShield. They pointed to the untapped potential in dual-use, explaining that many companies don’t know how to sell to the defense industry. “We’re struggling to pitch it to defense right now because we don’t know the best place to go,” the representative said, speaking about PQShield’s cryptography products and solutions. Discussion also turned to the difficulties the defense industry faces in acquiring workers with the right skills or having access to graduates and those early in their careers. “We’re being outgunned by gaming, by fintech, by the finance industry — we’re not getting the best people. We say we do, we don’t because we just simply can’t pay for them,” said Rob Taylor, founder of training technology firm 4GD. Adding to this point, the representative from KX said that they would like to see schools doing more to incentivize students to seek out technology jobs. A good approach would be to start from year seven or even younger, they said. Eagle agreed that the skills issue is “tremendously important,” adding that the UK’s skills system has not worked as well as it could for some time and that many industries are suffering the same skills shortages. “As we’ve had the last few years, where you’ve got a war on our doorstep and things like that going on, there’s been a shift back towards understanding the value of defense. But there’s some ways still to go, so we’ve got more work to do on that,” Eagle said.

Children’s math and reading skills have “significantly worsened” across most European Union countries, posing a huge risk to how well the bloc’s future workforce can power its economy, according to a European Commission employment report. Rates of underachievement – when students don’t reach minimum proficiency – have been increasing over the past 12 years with a dramatic decline in basic skills in 2022, possibly as a result of pandemic school closures. The EU is currently far off its target to reduce underachievement to 15 percent by 2030, the report said. Nearly one in three 15-year-olds didn’t have basic skills in math and one in four couldn’t reach minimum levels in reading and science. The report rated these poor results as a threat to labor productivity and competitiveness in the medium term. It cited employer surveys as saying it’s crucial to have skilled workers and pointed to labor shortages as holding back companies’ ability to scale up production. “Well-functioning and effective education and training systems are thus crucial for equipping young people and adults with labour market-relevant skills for quality jobs, also in view of the big transformations that the EU is facing,” it said. Roxana Mînzatu, the Commission’s executive vice president for skills, said the figures show the danger that the green and digital transition could “risk leaving our citizens behind.”  Underachievement rates for math are worst in Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania. Poorer students across the EU do far worse with nearly half underperforming in math in 2022, “a significant increase from 38.2% in 2018,” the report said. But the decline also hit richer children with the report flagging a lack of qualified teachers, “aggravated in the last few years by, among others, the COVID-19 pandemic.” Several governments are taking action with Finland introducing more mandatory lessons and the Dutch planning to give €500 per student to schools willing to improve basic skills. Mînzatu is due to present a skills plan at the beginning of March. She said this “will focus on investment in skills, adult and lifelong learning, vocational education and training, skills retention and skills recognition.” The Commission also intends to review a digital education plan and draw up a roadmap on the future of digital education and training. Giovanna Coi contributed to this story.

The rapid rise of AI presents an opportunity to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness, productivity and innovation. To achieve these benefits and realize European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s vision of a competitive and inclusive economy where everyone can thrive, the EU will need to ensure its workers have the critical AI skills that will power organizations.   Challenges do exist. Mario Draghi’s report, The future of European competitiveness, highlights that 42 percent of Europeans lack even basic digital skills. But if EU leaders act now to embrace a skills-first labor market and invest in the AI skills of its workforce, the EU can unlock its workforce’s full potential.  Critical AI Skills Are Growing But Still Nascent  The EU must foster at least two critical sets of AI skills to power its competitiveness — technical and literacy skills. AI technical skills (such as machine learning and model training) are necessary to develop AI productivity tools and services while AI literacy skills (such as Copilot for Microsoft 365, GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT) are required for workers to utilize these AI productivity tools effectively.   AI technical skills in the EU workforce are nascent but growing. LinkedIn’s new AI in the EU report shows 71 percent growth in these skills among LinkedIn’s EU members in the last year alone.  Even so, only a tiny percentage of these workers,  just 0.41 percent, have acquired the critical technical skills necessary to develop AI productivity tools and services.   > To foster Europe’s competitiveness, EU leaders must act now to embrace a > skills-first labor market and invest in the AI skills of its workforce Moreover, there is currently a significant gender gap among the EU workers that have acquired these crucial AI technical skills. Across the EU, this figure stands at just 26.3 percent for women despite the fact that women make up 46.4 percent of workers. At the current pace, it would take the region 162 years to achieve gender parity.  EU workers are more rapidly adopting AI literacy skills. As new AI tools and technologies emerged throughout 2023, EU workers seized the opportunity to experiment heavily and integrate them into their daily workflows. LinkedIn data shows that the share of members adding AI literacy skills was 80 times greater in 2023 than 2022.  The EU is Leading on Responsible and Green AI Skill Development In a world where nations are racing to develop the AI skills of their workforces, LinkedIn’s data shows that the EU is out in front in two key areas.   First, AI professionals in the EU lead in green skills — performing jobs in a more environmentally sustainable way — compared with their peers in the US and UK. Today, 8.1 percent of AI talent in the EU have at least one green skill, compared with 5.8 percent in the US and 7.4 percent in the UK. Given that many green solutions are based on technological innovations such as AI, these twin skill sets can help power a productive green future for Europe.  The EU is also leading on responsible AI, the approach to developing, assessing and deploying AI systems in a safe, trustworthy and ethical way. Among EU AI talent, responsible AI ranked eighth on the list of AI talent’s fastest-growing skills — ahead of global AI talent, where it ranked 14th.  Developing Skills Can Unlock Europe’s Potential The United States and China are advancing rapidly, driven by investments in AI and expanding digital talent. In comparison, the EU’s ability to compete may be held back by a skills shortage and slower adoption of new technologies.  To foster Europe’s competitiveness, EU leaders must act now to embrace a skills-first labor market and invest in the AI skills of its workforce. By increasing access to AI technical and literacy skills training, the EU can unlock its workforce’s full potential. Fostering sector-specific AI upskilling initiatives will help workers and businesses — especially SMEs — adapt to the rapid pace of change.  Additionally, making the most of available data and granular skills intelligence is key to this effort. To this end, partnering with platforms, including LinkedIn, which track the evolving impact of AI on jobs, skills and industries, can help workers, businesses and governments to navigate change more effectively. By leveraging these insights, the EU can drive targeted AI upskilling and ensure that digital skills development aligns with real-world needs, unlocking Europe’s potential in the age of AI.  The EU can seize this opportunity by putting people and skills at the heart of European growth plans. When focusing on skills, we can create a resilient, modern workforce that will power innovation, drive investment and help position the EU as a leader in the AI economy.