{"id":22486,"date":"2026-09-27T17:10:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T17:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=22486"},"modified":"2026-09-27T17:10:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T17:10:29","slug":"ai-startup-urges-optimism-from-europe-despite-safety-fears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=22486","title":{"rendered":"AI startup urges optimism from Europe despite safety fears"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 300px 160px; gap: 2px; width: 460px; background: #eee; padding: 2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u6574\u884c\u5bbd\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876674\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 90px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876676\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u7ad6\u6392 -->\r\n  <div style=\"height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876672\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"height: 500px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876680\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u6469\u5929\u697c\uff08\u548c\u5de6\u4fa7\u5b8c\u5168\u5bf9\u9f50\uff09 -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row: 3\/5; height: 750px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876678\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  \r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e6\" data-zoneid=\"5876682\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-right:0;padding-left:0\">\n<p>Europe needs to view artificial intelligence with more optimism \u2014 despite growing warnings about its dangers \u2014 or risk falling further behind, the head of a leading European AI start-up warned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the mindset in Europe needs to shift to one of optimism and to one of opportunity, and not to one of risk and fear,\u201d Robin Rombach, CEO of German AI image generation specialist Black Forest Labs, told AFP.<\/p>\n<p>Europe lags behind the United States and China when it comes to cutting-edge AI models. Policymakers and firms have been scrambling to find ways to make up lost ground.<\/p>\n<p>But the debate has shifted to safety in recent weeks, after security lapses sparked calls from some industry leaders for development of the technology to be slowed down.<\/p>\n<p>Based in the medieval German city of Freiburg, Rombach\u2019s company \u2014 which takes its name from the nearby Black Forest \u2014 has emerged as a prominent developer of AI image-generation models.<\/p>\n<p>The startup, valued at around $3.25 billion, recently hit the headlines when it announced US director Martin Scorsese as an advisor, prompting an angry response from some in Hollywood concerned about AI taking production jobs.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3865366\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3865366\" style=\"width: 768px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3865366\" src=\"https:\/\/www.digitaljournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/9cf56c3a7b095075d87363432feb9fdc822ef227.jpg\" alt=\"'The main thing that can wipe out humanity is stupidity,' says Robin Rombach, CEO of AI startup Black Forest Labs\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3865366\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u2018The main thing that can wipe out humanity is stupidity,\u2019 says Robin Rombach, CEO of AI startup Black Forest Labs \u2013 Copyright AFP Silas Stein<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Rombach, 33, helped develop latent diffusion, a breakthrough that underpins many of today\u2019s AI image-generation systems.<\/p>\n<p>This propelled Rombach and a group of fellow computer scientists to found the AI lab in 2024. With just over 100 staff, its FLUX models generate still and moving images from text, and the company is now also expanding into physical AI.<\/p>\n<p>Its latest model has been tested at carmaker Audi as part of a project aimed at enabling robots to perform production-line tasks.<\/p>\n<p>Despite its roots in Freiburg \u2014 Rombach comes from the area \u2014 the firm\u2019s ties to the United States and its tech scene are also strong.<\/p>\n<p>The company has a second headquarters in San Francisco and secured early backing from Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 \u2018Stupidity\u2019 is biggest risk \u2013<\/p>\n<p>Rombach said that when Black Forest Labs was founded, there was no \u201creal startup ecosystem\u201d in Europe, particularly for \u201cfrontier deep tech\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you want to build a frontier model in a very competitive space, you need to do this quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCertain ingredients\u201d are needed for success, such as a lot of capital and computing power, he added.<\/p>\n<p>As well as Black Forest Labs, Europe has other competitive AI companies, including France\u2019s Mistral, but is still seen as trailing US firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic and Chinese labs such as DeepSeek.<\/p>\n<p>Zach Meyers of CERRE, a Brussels-based think tank, echoed some of Rombach\u2019s concerns, saying the \u201cbiggest barrier\u201d to AI growth and innovation in Europe was access to capital.<\/p>\n<p>Most European companies rely on financing from banks, which are traditionally more cautious than venture capital investors about backing businesses that may take years to become profitable, said Meyers, an expert in EU digital policy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is not how technology markets work, particularly with a really nascent technology like AI,\u201d he told AFP.<\/p>\n<p>Safety concerns related to AI have escalated after incidents of the technology getting around controls during tests, sparking dire warnings from some about the threats that it poses.<\/p>\n<p>Rombach emphasised his company\u2019s focus on \u201copen-weight\u201d AI models, some of which can be downloaded by researchers and developers, \u201cincreases transparency, increases safety\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He called for an open approach to AI development, warning it would be \u201cfundamentally wrong\u201d for such a crucial technology to be controlled by a few companies, rendering oversight more difficult.<\/p>\n<p>But for Rombach, the biggest danger rests in potential human failings.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe main thing that can wipe out humanity is stupidity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- \u603b\u5bb9\u5668\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u5bbd908px Grid\u7d27\u51d1\u5e03\u5c40 -->\r\n<div style=\"display: grid; 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display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t\r\n<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114303\" data-width=\"125\" data-height=\"125\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114303});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u7ad6\u680f\uff1a160\u00d7600 \u6574\u5217\u9ad8\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row:3\/8; height:600px;  display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114301\" data-width=\"160\" data-height=\"600\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114301});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<br \/> AI startup urges optimism from Europe despite safety fears<br \/>\n<br \/>#startup #urges #optimism #Europe #safety #fears<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Europe needs to view artificial intelligence with more optimism \u2014 despite growing warnings about its&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1912,1232,42,2153,2161,775],"class_list":["post-22486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-europe","tag-fears","tag-optimism","tag-safety","tag-startup","tag-urges"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Artificial-Intelligence-\u00a9-Tim-Sandle-1K-01.jpg",1285,723,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Artificial-Intelligence-\u00a9-Tim-Sandle-1K-01-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Artificial-Intelligence-\u00a9-Tim-Sandle-1K-01-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Artificial-Intelligence-\u00a9-Tim-Sandle-1K-01-768x432.jpg",640,360,true],"large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Artificial-Intelligence-\u00a9-Tim-Sandle-1K-01-1024x576.jpg",640,360,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Artificial-Intelligence-\u00a9-Tim-Sandle-1K-01.jpg",1285,723,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Artificial-Intelligence-\u00a9-Tim-Sandle-1K-01.jpg",1285,723,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Artificial-Intelligence-\u00a9-Tim-Sandle-1K-01-1115x715.jpg",1115,715,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Artificial-Intelligence-\u00a9-Tim-Sandle-1K-01-800x500.jpg",800,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Artificial-Intelligence-\u00a9-Tim-Sandle-1K-01-1024x576.jpg",1024,576,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Artificial-Intelligence-\u00a9-Tim-Sandle-1K-01-540x340.jpg",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Artificial-Intelligence-\u00a9-Tim-Sandle-1K-01-400x250.jpg",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?cat=7\" rel=\"category\">Stories<\/a>","tag_info":"Stories","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}