On Wednesday, the Commission appointed Jim Hagemann Snabe, Siemens’ chairman and a former CEO of software multinational SAP, as an adviser to President Ursula von der Leyen and tech chief Henna Virkkunen on how to boost Europe’s use of AI in industry.
The 60-year-old Dane will serve unpaid until the end of March 2027 and is expected to produce a report on issues including AI infrastructure, frontier AI technologies and industrial AI adoption, the Commission said Wednesday.
But the appointment is drawing fire because of Siemens’ recent role in lobbying to loosen the AI rules now shaping Europe’s industrial strategy.
A key part of the debate over the EU’s effort to revise its 2024 artificial intelligence law was whether industrial AI applications, covered by the EU’s machinery rules, should be largely exempt from the AI law’s scope.
Siemens publicly backed such an exemption, arguing that overlapping rules would hamper innovation. The company received support from top German officials, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. In May, a European Parliament committee agreed to grant the exemption, advancing the file toward a full plenary vote expected to be taken in two weeks time.
The German engineering firm is also part of European Tech Creators, a new lobbying force in Brussels that brings together Siemens, SAP, ASML, Mistral, Airbus, Ericsson and Nokia. The group has previously met with von der Leyen and plans to seek meetings with senior Commission officials once a quarter.