The EU’s new ‘AI Envoy’ is a tech CEO with extraordinary conflicts of interest

Watchdog organisations have called on the European Commission to revoke Mr Hagemann Snabe’s appointment as EU envoy for industrial AI due to potential conflicts of interest.
Mr Snabe’s role as chairman of Siemens AG, a company with stakes in the AI market, is a primary concern as Siemens has lobbied EU institutions to exclude sectoral AI from the scope of the Artificial Intelligence Act.
Although Mr Snabe has suspended his board memberships with Google Cloud and C3.ai, he reportedly still holds shares in C3.ai worth over $4 million, potentially influencing his mandate.
His position on the board of Bloom Energy Corporation, which provides on-site power for data centres, also poses risks given Mr Snabe’s ownership of a significant amount of the company’s securities.
Mr Snabe also serves on the board of Temasek Holdings, which has investments in major AI sectors, but it is unclear if he will suspend this role.
The organisations argue that it is impossible for him to mitigate these conflicts of interest, thus questioning the impartiality of his role as AI envoy, which carries a focus on AI infrastructure, including data centres.
The appointment is seen as potentially undermining public trust in EU’s decision-making processes, especially amid growing concerns about the regulation and environmental impact of AI.