
Brussels was the location of our third Thomson Talks with Madhav Chinnappa held on 25 June 2024, focused on the specific subject of AI/News & Regulation. Four kick-off speakers framed the topic from their respective perspectives before the open-ended discussion took place.
The event was held under the Chatham House Rule so where someone is named, it is with their explicit permission.
Claus Grewenig, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at RTL Deutschland co-hosted and shared the perspective of a large broadcasting and streaming company's as well as a news organisation's perspective around:
despite the pros of AI, the need for a robust (copyright) framework to protect and negotiate when content is used
the need for improvements in levelling the playing field and findability for value media
a focus on financial sustainability of the media sector (e.g. no ad restrictions)
Dan Nechita, Head of Cabinet for Dragos Tudorache, MEP with Renew Europe, spoke about how the European Parliament (EP) insisted on provisions for transparency regarding input data to increase our knowledge of how models are trained, about how AI labelling helps combat disinformation and electoral interference, and about the next steps in the AI Act implementation, for which the European Commission (EC), and in particular the AI Office, is in charge.
Kilian Gross, Head of Unit in the AI Office at the EC followed with outlining how the AI Office is a transversal organisation, not just a regulator and is trying to balance innovation and regulation while being inclusive, fast and conscious that actions need to be done with the global context in mind.
Ariane Bernard, a news industry and digital innovation leader who currently advises many News CEOs, spoke about the reality from the trenches where her current clients often express anxiety about the lack of clarity about where things are going which has led many news organisations to be slow or to fall back on a dependency on Big Tech so as not to fall foul of any interpretation of regulation.
Postive role for AI? Participants expressed a series of concerns about the AI world in terms of media sustainability, trust and disinformation as well as copyright concerns. There were many open questions about how regulation could or would play a positive force in the ecosystem overall.
It was acknowledged that AI tools could be positive and help freedom of expression and legitimate news organisations but this was tempered by concerns of how bad actors would use these tools and ignore any regulations. This led to a discussion about journalisms role in explaining AI to a wider audience, while things are moving so quickly - no easy task!
Sonja Schwetje of RTL Deutschland observed that while most media organisations have shown an immense effort catering to the preferences of younger audiences in terms of how and where to provide their content, there remains an ambiguity between balanced, impartial journalistic information and polarising, opinion-based content, with the latter being promoted much more via algorithms.
-- Play
-- --
Dialogue between all parties Some participants felt that the regulation system had failed news organisations by not protecting IP enough and worried that this would lead to a collapse of more news organisations which would then lead to undermining the AI models themselves. A point was made that much of news is based on so-called derivative content and thus based on the work of others, so news organisations have always done this and therefore need to acknowledge that first, before lecturing to tech companies.
The importance of dialogue between regulators, news organisations and tech companies was a recurring theme, especially as existing regulations may not be sufficient to address the challenges and speed of developments posed by AI. Is there a way to co-regulate holistically? Alexandru Giboi of The European Alliance of News Agencies made the point that more mutual understanding between tech & media companies could lead to better problem-solving in the future.
-- Play
-- --
There was a sidebar on the value of news: to society and also to tech companies. An observation was made that tech companies value news using the metric of revenue to them (which is de minimis) while news organisations judge their value in terms of societal value and importance to democracy. Thus, if the two sides are using different measures, they will never agree.
If news organisations believed they were so important to democracy, then they were challenged to try to speak with one voice to regulators as otherwise, their perspectives would not be understood nor factored in well enough. The difficulty is that there are multiple views on the multiple issues, including from within a single news organisation so getting to a singular would be very, very hard. But perhaps the potential existential challenge faced by the news ecosystem would drive different, more collaborative behaviour than in the past. And news organisations were also advised not to be slow, as it had been in the past.
In terms of solutions, a few were discussed, including:
Public education initiatives to raise awareness of AI and its potential pitfalls.
Investment in media literacy programs to help people critically evaluate information online.
Development of new economic models for the media industry that can thrive in the digital age.
Finding a balance between technological advancement, ethical considerations, and media viability will be crucial in the years to come in finding the right regulation to regulate AI and the news ecosystem.
Madhav Chinnappa Thomson Talks
Madhav Chinnappa, the former Director of News Ecosystem Development at Google and veteran news executive, leads our Thought Leadership events Thomson Talks.
Explore our projects across the globe
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
10/09/2026
France launch follows UK and Germany as Nielsen expands product across EMEA
Paris, France, September 10, 2026 - Nielsen, a global leader in audience measuremen...
10/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/09/2026
Leading professional audio manufacturers NUGEN Audio, RTW, Steinberg and Telos Alliance have joined forces with Fraunhofer IDMT to establish a common approach t...
10/09/2026
Built Into Setplex's Zapflex Platform, AI Insider Turns Video Service Data Into Actionable Insights
Setplex today introduced AI Insider, a breakthrough new...
10/09/2026
Managed service changes dialogue without actor-specific training or facial rigging while preserving the original performance and fitting established post-produc...
10/09/2026
The ACT Entertainment tvONE and Green Hippo Pixel Academy has released its autumn course schedule, with hands-on training dates in September, October and Novemb...
10/09/2026
Orange Polska continues to Rely on Viaccess-Orca for Secure TV Services and the Next Phase of its Technology Evolution
Viaccess-Orca (VO), a global leader in T...
10/09/2026
Generate and create directly in your timeline with new AI-powered innovations in...
10/09/2026
Tedial is introducing Media Business Hub (MBH) at IBC 2026, a new business enablement platform designed to help media organizations unlock the full value of the...
10/09/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, will unveil the next phase of its transformation at IBC2026 with a preview...
10/09/2026
Fabric Data and TMT Insights today announced that the two companies are combining to create Fabric Insights, uniting authoritative data, purpose-built software,...
10/09/2026
Operative, the preferred advertising and broadcast management provider for the world's leading media brands, today announced a comprehensive slate of new pr...
10/09/2026
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics of Europe, has announced the launch of its latest range of handheld signal generation, analysis and monitoring ...
10/09/2026
The partnership begins with native Zixi protocol support on the Kiloview D350 and will extend to deeper product integration and joint go-to-market initiatives
...
10/09/2026
Avid and FilmLight announce strategic partnership to reimagine the color pipelin...
10/09/2026
Maxon Brings Exclusive Preview of Fall Innovations to IBC2026
Brie Clayton September 10, 2026
0 Comments
IBC attendees will get the first look at new ...
10/09/2026
Puget Systems Launches Built Different by Puget Systems, A New Podcast That Go...
10/09/2026
Three Boston Conservatory Dance Alums Honored for Their Early-Career Promise India Hobbs and Demetrius Lee received Princess Grace Awards, while Lilly David t...
10/09/2026
MonoNeon Returns to Berklee to Kick Off Signature Series The Grammy-winning bassist and alumnus performs with students and faculty from the Planet MicroJam In...
10/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/09/2026
Agility Beyond Space and Levira partner to expand video distribution across Eura...
10/09/2026
RT to Broadcast Amgen Irish Open free-to-air
New multi-year agreement will see RT continue to bring the Amgen Irish Open to Irish audiences
Ryder Cup hig...
10/09/2026
More than 30 women report allegations of sexual harassment, misogyny and bullying within National Ambulance Service
Tonight on RT Prime Time, 9:35pm, RT One ...
10/09/2026
Series 3 of Nero's Class begins Friday 11 September on RT Listen
The third...
10/09/2026
Gear up: The latest PC games and major updates are ready to play on GeForce NOW ...
10/09/2026
AI inference chipmaker d-Matrix today announced it will use NVIDIA NVLink Fusion to connect its next-generation Raptor XPUs to NVIDIA's AI infrastructure pl...
09/09/2026
Sony Electronics has announced the SEL814G, the company's first fisheye zoom G Lens for full-frame Alpha E-mount cameras. The lens will be available in Octo...
09/09/2026
Telestream has announced an expansion of its Practical AI capabilities across th...
09/09/2026
Haivision and Chyron have announced a technology partnership integrating Haivisi...
09/09/2026
Omaha Productions has released ManningCast: Heist, a short film featuring Peyton and Eli Manning attempting to break into NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's o...
09/09/2026
Imagine Communications will demonstrate the next evolution of XVR at IBC2026 (Stand 1.B73, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14).
XVR is Imagine's channel-in-a-b...
09/09/2026
swXtch.io has announced abbe, an AI-based orchestration layer for live media workflows, making its world premiere at IBC2026 (Meeting Room 5.MR13, Hall 5, Septe...
09/09/2026
NFL Films has announced the second season of Inside the NFL on X as an X Original, premiering Wednesday, September 9. The series marks Inside the NFL's 50th...
09/09/2026
LiveU has announced an expanded partnership with The Associated Press, deploying the largest fleet of LU900Q intelligent production units in the industry as par...
09/09/2026
Diversified has announced plans to consolidate its four existing New Jersey locations into a new facility in Newark, expected to be fully operational by the end...
09/09/2026
Wisycom will exhibit new RF products at IBC2026 (Stand 8.D60, September 11-14), including the MATF Wideband Antenna Matrix, PFL Portable RF over Fiber Box, and ...
09/09/2026
Guntermann & Drunck (G&D) and VuWall, both Panoptec companies, will introduce vsNEO at IBC2026 (Stand 8.B63, September 11, RAI Amsterdam). Pre-orders open in ea...
09/09/2026
Mo-Sys has completed a business restructuring and relocated to a new facility in Canada Water, London. As part of the reorganization, Selin Kemal has been promo...
09/09/2026
Aicox has integrated TAG Video Systems' Core monitoring platform into Telef nica's TSAmediaHUB audiovisual contribution and distribution infrastructure....
09/09/2026
Blackmagic Design has released DaVinci Resolve 21.1, a free update available now through the Blackmagic Design website. The release adds new AI tools, workflow ...
09/09/2026
ESPN and Apple Music have announced a collaboration on music curation for Monday...
09/09/2026
Sacramento Production Services has completed a wireless audio overhaul at Sutter Health Park, home of the Athletics during their three-year residency in Sacrame...
09/09/2026
NDI and NVIDIA have announced a collaboration to develop AI-powered workflows enabling broadcasters to create and distribute multilingual content from a single ...