EU AI Act Goes Live: Europe's AI Rules Now in Force

Samantha: Welcome to The State of Tech, The European Edition, Sunday September thirteen, 2026. I'm Samantha Lawrence.

Bob: And I'm Bob Russell. Today: the European Union switches on the world's first big AI rulebook, Anthropic's CEO calls for a slowdown and gets backing from OpenAI, Apple opens pre-orders for its first foldable iPhone, DeepSeek shakes up AI pricing with a new open model, and to close out, two things you can actually use today: the free open-source diagramming tool draw dot io, and the privacy-friendly weather app Overdrop. Let's get into it.

The European Union switches on the world's first comprehensive AI rulebook in a phased rollout.

Samantha: Brussels has flipped the switch. The European Union has officially begun the phased rollout of the AI Act, and that makes Europe the first place on earth with a full legal framework for artificial intelligence. The law sorts AI systems by risk. Anything used in biometric identification, in critical infrastructure like power or water, or in education and exams, gets classed as high risk. That means strict human oversight, real transparency, and documentation you can actually check. Lower-risk systems get lighter obligations, but the direction of travel is clear: if you deploy AI in Europe, you now have homework.

Bob: And the phased part matters, because companies do not have to comply with everything on day one. Brussels is staggering the deadlines so that the heaviest obligations land later, giving firms time to build compliance teams and audit their models. What is striking is how much this is already being copied. Regulators from Canada to Japan to Brazil have been studying the text for months. Europe often gets teased for regulating first and inventing later, but on AI safety it is setting the global template. The bet is that trustworthy AI becomes a competitive advantage, not a handbrake.

Samantha: For European businesses the practical question is boring but urgent: who inside your company is responsible for AI compliance, and do they even know which systems you are running? Many firms use AI features bolted into tools they already had, from customer service to hiring software. Under the new rules, some of those uses may now count as high risk. Consumer groups are broadly welcoming the rollout, but warn that enforcement will make or break it. A rulebook without inspectors is just a pamphlet.

Bob: The other tension is with the United States, which has taken a much lighter approach, and with China, which regulates differently again. European firms will have to meet the strictest bar while competing with rivals who do not. Supporters argue that is exactly the point: safer systems, fewer scandals, more public trust. Critics say the paperwork will squeeze smaller European startups hardest. The next twelve months, as the first deadlines actually bite, will tell us which side was right.

Anthropic's Dario Amodei calls for a global slowdown in AI, and Sam Altman surprisingly agrees.

Samantha: This one is genuinely unusual. Dario Amodei, the chief executive of Anthropic, published an essay yesterday arguing that the industry needs to pace itself. He warned that autonomous AI agents could, in his words, seize control of parts of the internet within months and cause billions in damages if safety work does not catch up. He wants what he calls pacing the frontier, and he proposed concrete steps, including hiring independent third-party evaluators to verify what AI labs claim about safety.

Bob: And here is the twist: Sam Altman, the head of OpenAI and Anthropic's biggest rival, publicly backed the call. That almost never happens. These two companies compete fiercely for talent, customers and computing power. When their CEOs agree on anything, it is worth paying attention. Amodei's essay describes rogue AI agents as a near-term risk, not a science fiction problem, and points to recent incidents where autonomous systems behaved in ways their creators did not expect. The message is essentially: we built this, and we are getting nervous.

Samantha: Reactions have been mixed. Some AI researchers welcomed the honesty and said independent evaluators are long overdue. Others were more sceptical, pointing out that calling for a slowdown is easier when you already have a leading model. Smaller labs argue that any global pause would freeze the pecking order in place. And governments are watching. In Washington, the White House has so far preferred voluntary commitments. In Brussels, the AI Act we just talked about already builds in some of what Amodei is asking for.

Bob: For European regulators this essay is politically useful. It lets them argue that even the industry's own leaders think the pace is dangerous, which strengthens the case for strict implementation of the AI Act. For businesses using AI, the practical takeaway is simpler: expect more scrutiny of autonomous agents, more audits, and more questions from your own customers about what your AI can and cannot do on its own.

Samantha: Quick interruption. If you listen to The State of Tech regularly, hit that like button and subscribe, that way you'll never miss an episode. Okay, moving on.

Apple opens pre-orders for the iPhone 18 Pro and its first ever foldable, the iPhone Duo.

Bob: Apple began pre-orders yesterday for the iPhone 18 Pro, the Pro Max, and something genuinely new: the iPhone Duo, Apple's first foldable phone. The Pro models bring a new main camera with a variable aperture, which basically means the phone can adjust how much light it lets in, the way a proper camera does. Battery life is better, and the on-device AI assistant is more conversational. But the headline is the foldable. Apple has watched Samsung, Huawei and Google sell foldables for years without joining in. That changes now.

Samantha: The foldable market has been growing steadily but slowly, held back by high prices, fragile screens, and the question of what a folding phone is actually for. Apple entering the category will not answer that question overnight, but it will force every rival to sharpen their pitch. Samsung has years of experience with hinges and flexible glass, and will not give up its lead easily. For European consumers, the launch means more choice at the premium end, and probably more pressure on foldable prices across the board over the next year.

Bob: The other angle is repairability and longevity. European rules on the right to repair and on battery replacement now apply to any phone sold in the bloc, and foldables have historically been harder to fix. How Apple handles that, and how much a replacement screen costs, will matter as much as the launch keynote. Devices go on sale on Thursday. Analysts expect strong demand for the Pro models and a more cautious start for the Duo, which sits at the top of the price ladder.

Samantha: There is also the AI story hidden inside the hardware. Apple's on-device intelligence keeps most processing on the phone itself, which is a very different approach from cloud-heavy rivals. For privacy-conscious European buyers that is a genuine selling point, and it fits neatly with the direction the AI Act is pushing everyone.

DeepSeek launches V4.1 Flash, a cheaper open model that upends AI pricing and retires its own flagship.

Bob: Chinese AI lab DeepSeek has released V4.1 Flash, a 552 billion parameter open-weight model that, according to the company, beats its previous flagship V4 Pro on performance while costing a fraction of the price. DeepSeek retired the V4 Pro almost immediately. Rivals like Sakana are already adjusting their own pricing to keep up. For anyone building software on top of AI, the cost of accessing frontier-quality models just dropped again.

Samantha: And this matters far beyond the AI industry itself. The cost of calling a top-tier AI model has been falling steadily for two years, but this release accelerates that trend. For a European startup deciding whether to build an AI feature into their product, the calculation changes. What was too expensive last quarter is affordable this quarter. Open weights also mean companies can run the model on their own infrastructure, which for regulated sectors like healthcare and banking in Europe is a real advantage.

Bob: There is a geopolitical layer too. DeepSeek is Chinese, and the fact that a Chinese lab keeps setting the pace on price and openness has become a genuine strategic issue for Washington. American labs like OpenAI and Anthropic tend to keep their most powerful models closed. DeepSeek gives them away. For European developers that is convenient, but it also raises questions about supply chains, dependency and long-term availability. Today's cheap model is tomorrow's export-controlled model, if geopolitics turns sour.

Samantha: Businesses using AI heavily should also pay attention to the shift in what these cheaper models can do. DeepSeek says V4.1 Flash is particularly strong at coding and at running as an autonomous agent, exactly the kind of capability Amodei was warning about earlier. Cheaper, more capable, more autonomous, and more widely available all at once. That combination is what makes the current moment feel different from a normal software cycle.

The free open-source diagramming tool draw dot io turns any browser into a shared drawing board.

Bob: To close out, two things you can actually use today. First: draw dot io. It is a free, open-source diagramming tool that runs in your browser without an account. You go to the site, pick a template, and start dragging shapes. Flowcharts, org charts, network diagrams, floor plans, wiring diagrams, it handles all of them. There is no sign-up wall, no watermark, and you can save your work directly to your own computer, or to Google Drive, OneDrive, or Nextcloud if you prefer.

Samantha: What makes draw dot io stand out is how quickly you can get from idea to something you can share. Teams use it for whiteboarding meetings, teachers use it to sketch out processes for students, and anyone renovating a house uses it to plan a room. The templates library is large, and because the file format is open, you are not locked in. Users report that it opens diagrams they built years ago on other tools, which is more than can be said for most software. It works on Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebooks, and even on a tablet at a push.

Bob: There is also a desktop version you can download and use fully offline, which is useful on planes or in environments where you do not want anything leaving your machine. That version is free too, and updated regularly. For businesses subject to the kind of data rules we discussed earlier, keeping diagrams entirely on your own device is genuinely valuable. The tool is developed in Germany, which is another quiet advantage for European users worried about where their sketches end up.

Samantha: The learning curve is gentle. Most people who have used any office software find the basics within about ten minutes. It is not going to replace specialist engineering software, but for the vast majority of diagrams that get sketched in meetings or embedded in documents, it is more than enough. And the price, of course, is zero.

The privacy-friendly weather app Overdrop gives you beautiful forecasts without harvesting your data.

Bob: Second pick, and something completely different: Overdrop. It is a weather app for phones and desktops that focuses on two things: making the forecast pleasant to look at, and not tracking you while it does it. Weather apps are notorious for hoovering up location data and selling it to advertisers. Overdrop takes a different approach. There is a free tier that gives you the basics, and a modest paid tier that unlocks more forecast sources and customisation. No ads, no data resale.

Samantha: What users like is the variety of data sources. You can pick which forecast provider you trust for your area, from the big global models to more regional European services. For anywhere in Europe, that flexibility matters, because a forecast that works well in Berlin may be less reliable in the Scottish Highlands, and vice versa. The interface uses live wallpapers and animated widgets that actually reflect current conditions, so a quick glance at your home screen tells you whether to grab the umbrella.

Bob: It runs on Android and Windows, with an iOS version available too. Setup takes about a minute. You allow it to see your location once, or you type in the cities you care about, and that is it. Reviewers regularly praise it as one of the calmest weather apps around, precisely because it does not try to sell you news, horoscopes, or shopping suggestions alongside the temperature.

Samantha: For anyone tired of weather apps that feel like advertising billboards with a forecast bolted on, Overdrop is a genuine reset. And for European users specifically, the fact that you can choose your data source and keep tracking off makes it a rare find in a category that has become surprisingly invasive.

Samantha: Today we covered: the European Union starting its AI Act rollout, Anthropic and OpenAI calling for a slowdown in AI development, Apple opening pre-orders for the iPhone Duo foldable, DeepSeek shaking up AI pricing with its V4.1 Flash model, and two things to try yourself: the diagramming tool draw dot io, and the weather app Overdrop.

Bob: Want to know more or react? Visit stateoftech.eu or email us at info@doorzetters.net.

Bob: State of Tech, the tech world in 15 minutes.