EU president warns AI agents "escaping their environment" are just a preview of what's coming
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen used her State of the Union 2026 address to warn that AI is now a foundation of the economy and national security, while insisting its risks must be kept in check. She wants to offer major US AI labs European expertise on slowing down AI development. Citing the Hugging Face incident, she said models under development will enable hacking on a level never thought possible. AI agents “escaping their environment” are merely a preview, she added, and the dangers of self-improving models are becoming ever more apparent. Von der Leyen said that if the people developing the technology are clear about these risks, then policymakers should be too. She plans to work with Canada, the UK and other partners on model evaluation, verification and AI safety, and to invite the major frontier labs to talks. She called the AI Act a crucial piece in putting guardrails in place. The article notes that the EU reportedly still lacks reliable access to the most advanced cybersecurity models from the big AI labs.
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