Newsletter
2025 Nr. 2: Our Top Summer Picks and Latest Activities
Published
July 14, 2025
Dear reader,
The past twelve months have been a special time for us: we are now interface – no longer Stiftung Neue Verantwortung – and we’re very pleased with this change, as our new name reflects our evolving focus and European orientation. In line with this, we’ve welcomed new colleagues based in Paris, Brussels, and Vienna – our European network is growing!
Most recently, we have also moved into Publix. Our Berlin team has already settled in well and is enjoying the inspiring atmosphere of this unique space.
Of course, we’re keeping beloved traditions alive: as we head into summer, we’re sharing our experts’ top reading and podcast recommendations with you. This newsletter also offers a glimpse into our work over the past months. If you’re interested in learning more or have any questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Best regards,
Luisa Seeling
Lead Writing, Editing & Publishing
and the entire interface team
Our Top Picks for the Summer
Mariah Blake — They Poisoned the World:
Life and Death in the Age of Forever Chemicals
In her gripping investigation, Mariah Blake traces how, despite clear evidence of the dangers of forever chemicals, the US chemical industry systematically misled the public and influenced policymakers to protect profits. The result: widespread, irreversible damage to human health and the environment. As the EU considers restrictions on PFAS – vital in the production of microelectronics – the book reminds us about the risks of relying on chemicals that never go away.
Recommended by Maria Nowicka,
Policy Researcher Global Chip Dynamics
Jeffrey Ding — Technology and the Rise of Great Powers:
How Diffusion Shapes Economic Competition
When thinking about what drives the rise and fall of great powers, we often highlight groundbreaking innovations – the "Eureka" moments – as decisive turning points. Jeffrey Ding’s timely book challenges this view, arguing that lasting geopolitical strength might depend less on invention itself and more on how widely technologies are integrated throughout an economy. For instance, Britain may have pioneered key innovations during the Second Industrial Revolution, but lost its edge to the US, which excelled at the diffusion of electricity as a general-purpose technology across its economy. There may be valuable lessons for AI as well.
Recommended by Lisa Soder,
Senior Policy Researcher Artificial Intelligence
Podcast: A Sense of Rebellion
A Sense of Rebellion uncovers the forgotten history of a secretive 1960s tech lab that profoundly influenced today's tech landscape. This podcast explores the lab's alternative approaches to computing – sensorial, social, and transformative – rooted in fluid and playful human-tech relations. It shows that today’s rational, personalized tech is the result of choices, not inevitabilities. Different digital futures were – and still are – possible. Thinking about visions for digital systems that enhance human autonomy and plurality rather than conformity and control is more relevant than ever.
Recommended by Corbinian Ruckerbauer,
Senior Policy Researcher Digital Rights, Surveillance and Democracy
Tae Kim — The Nvidia Way:
Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant
NVIDIA plays a defining role in Europe's AI Continent Action Plan and the push to build AI (Giga) Factories, as its Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) currently dominate AI compute infrastructure. To understand why, The Nvidia Way is essential reading. It traces the company’s early trial-and-error journey, blending technical insight with CEO Jensen Huang’s intense leadership. The book explains the evolution and complexity of a single chip type – helping a broader audience grasp why it’s so difficult to forecast where the industry is heading next.
Recommended by Julia Christina Hess,
Senior Policy Researcher Global Chip Dynamics
Podcast: Levittown
In March 2020, at the onset of the Covid pandemic, several young women from Levittown (Long Island, NY) discover fake nude images of themselves on a porn website. These pictures were scraped from their social media accounts and mixed with real photos using AI. This marks the start of a now well-known phenomenon: deepfakes. But how can you identify the person(s) behind this? How do you hold them accountable when these images aren’t "real" and the First Amendment of the US Constitution protects criminals by classifying deepfakes as artistic expression? This 6-episode podcast takes you on a journey for justice and repair, featuring testimonials from victims, investigators, and a global army of hackers who joined the cause.
Recommended by Jessica Galissaire,
Senior Policy Researcher Digital Public Sphere
Benoît Godin — Models of Innovation:
The History of an Idea
Models of Innovation is a great choice for anyone who enjoys pondering big questions over summer break. European policymakers are seeking to foster AI innovation – but how does innovation come about? The book retraces the models used to answer this question, starting with Joseph Schumpeter’s influential work. It manages to explain how we imagine the process of innovation in a thorough but not overly academic manner. Thereby, the book demonstrates that there are many models of innovation guiding AI policymaking today, each having emerged in distinct historical and social contexts.
Recommended by Nicole Lemke,
Senior Policy Researcher Artificial Intelligence
ABC News Documentary:
How Intelligence Agencies Catch Criminals
Very little is known about how Western nations conduct their cyber operations. Most IT security companies and so-called "threat intelligence" focus on criminal or state-backed campaigns originating from countries like Russia, China, North Korea, or Iran. While the United Kingdom, for example, has published a strategy paper outlining its approach, day-to-day insights into how such operations actually work remain rare. The ABC News documentary How Intelligence Agencies Catch Criminals offers a rare, vivid look inside the classified world of Australian government cyber operations – providing an unusual glimpse into how intelligence agencies track, investigate, and respond to threats.
Recommended by Sven Herpig,
Lead Cybersecurity Policy & Resilience
Podcast: Wind of Change
The podcast explores whether the West German rock band, the Scorpions, actually authored their 1990 hit Wind of Change – or whether the CIA should be credited with this instead. Wait, what?! Yes, the makers of this podcast take you on a journey to investigate this intriguing question, digging into whether this global hit was, in fact, a massively successful and artful act of influence peddling to win hearts and minds in Russia and beyond. Given the world’s many troubling events, perhaps a future tune will soon emerge – capable of working its magic, bringing people to the negotiation table, and advancing sustainable peace and promoting human rights.
Recommended by Thorsten Wetzling,
Lead Digital Rights, Surveillance and Democracy
Gareth Williams — A Monstrous Commotion:
The Mysteries of Loch Ness
A Monstrous Commotion is a perfect summer read for those who like mystery and detective stories. It tells the legend of the Loch Ness Monster through the eyes of the villagers, monster enthusiasts, and scientists who have encountered it. It is also a tale of the social process of knowledge production: Hunting for a mythical lake creature, researchers convinced by its existence misinterpreted scientific measures to find proof, businessmen fed the hype, the scientific establishment entangled itself in dispute, and the public watched in fascination. In times of daily news about AI, this book is an entertaining reminder of the promises and pitfalls of great scientific discoveries.
Recommended by Nicole Lemke,
Senior Policy Researcher Artificial Intelligence
Wired Videos: Cybersecurity Expert Answers Hacking History Questions & Every Cyber Attack Facing America
If you’re wondering how we got to where we are today – what the major cyber threats were in the past and which incidents shaped the field – check out the Wired video Cybersecurity Expert Answers Hacking History Questions on Youtube. Cybersecurity expert Jeff Crume takes a look back at key moments, offering a mix of insights and entertaining anecdotes. Looking ahead, the two Wired hosts Andy Green and Andrew Couts, dive into what might be coming next in cyberspace in What Are the Future Threats in Cyberspace? Both videos are great starting points if you're new to the topic – and still fun if you're more familiar with the field. You might even find yourself comparing answers: Who would you say is the most influential actor in cyber history?
Recommended by Helene Pleil,
Senior Policy Researcher Cybersecurity Policy and Resilience
Our Latest Publications
Solving Europe's AI Talent Equation: Supply, Demand and Missing Pieces
Authors: Siddhi Pal, Catherine Schneider & Laura Nurski
July 9, 2025
Our AI labor market experts Siddhi Pal and Catherine Schneider and Laura Nurski from the Brussels-based think tank CEPS analysed 1.6 million LinkedIn profiles from 31 countries and found major gaps between AI job demand and available talent in Europe. Most demand centers on software and data skills, but shortages exist at both entry and expert levels. The findings highlight the need for tailored national strategies to close these skill gaps and support an inclusive digital economy. This Data Brief builds on our experts' publication in April, Technical Tiers: A New Classification Framework for Global AI Workforce Analysis, which introduced a novel three-tier framework for analyzing AI talent.
In Case You Have Missed It
Talks, Panels & Public Debates
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Workshop on Technical AI Governance
Our AI analyst Lisa Soder will be hosting the inaugural Workshop on Technical AI Governance (TAIG) on July 19 at ICML 2025 in Vancouver. Co-hosted with the Oxford AI Governance Initiative, the workshop aims to foster collaboration between machine learning researchers and policy experts to advance AI governance. -
Is AI the New Plastic?
At this year’s Viva Tech Summit on June 13 in Paris, our Senior Policy Researcher Siddhi Pal joined a New York Times Debate exploring whether AI could become the next plastic – an innovation with lasting environmental costs – and argued that, with rising regulation and greater awareness, AI can be steered responsibly. -
AI, Borders, and Bytes: The Diplomacy of Data Sovereignty
On June 11 in Paris, Siddhi Pal presented her research at a roundtable on "AI, Borders, and Bytes: The Diplomacy of Data Sovereignty," hosted by Diplomatic Courier. This high-level roundtable explored the shape of the data economy, the role of data sovereignty in it, and how AI diplomacy can help us build a set of international norms supporting best outcomes. -
Inside OpenAI – What can Europe learn from the world's most famous AI Company? On June 2, interface hosted a background discussion with The Atlantic journalist and author of Empire of AI, Karen Hao, about OpenAI’s rise and the future of AI in Europe. Joined by our AI Assessment and Oversight analyst, Nicole Lemke, they explored whether OpenAI could serve as a model – or a cautionary tale – for European policy, and discussed potential alternative approaches.
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OSCE Workshop:
On May 27 and 28, our cybersecurity policy and resilience expert Christina Rupp was invited by the OSCE to participate in the cross-regional workshop on cyber/ICT security confidence-building measures (CBMs) held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. There, she spoke about the challenges and strategies for implementing UN cyber norms and moderated a session emphasizing the importance of a meaningful multi-stakeholder approach to cyberspace governance. -
interface at CPDP.ai
At this year’s CPDP.ai conference in Brussels (May 21 to 23), interface contributed to three key discussions. Our Digital Rights, Democracy & Surveillance analysts, Thorsten Wetzling and Corbinian Ruckerbauer, hosted a panel on advertisement intelligence, examining how European security agencies use commercially available data and its implications for individual privacy and democratic oversight. Meanwhile, our cybersecurity expert Sven Herpig joined a panel organised by the German Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte on vulnerability management, where he spoke about disclosure practices and ways to strengthen defences against spyware. Thorsten Wetzling also joined a panel organised by the German Bar Association on modern surveillance of communications and lawyer-client confidentiality. -
Workshop on Intelligence Oversight
Our Digital Rights team hosted a collaborative workshop of the European Intelligence Oversight Network on 20 May in Brussels. Co-organised with the Council of Europe, the event brought together delegations from 11 countries to discuss oversight of intelligence services' access to commercially sourced data. The results will feed into a publication planned for late 2025, highlighting shared challenges and innovative practices across several democracies. -
interface at German Forum on Security Policy
Helene Pleil from our Cybersecurity Policy and Resilience team presented on "Confidence-Building Measures as an Instrument of Cyber Diplomacy" at the German Forum on Security Policy (Deutsches Forum Sicherheitspolitik) organised by BAKS on May 7, discussing trust-building measures in international cyber relations. -
Strengthening Oversight and Accountability of National Security Agencies in South and South-East Asia
On May 5, our Digital Rights expert, Thorsten Wetzling, participated in a high-level event in Jakarta, jointly organised by the UN Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Directorate and the International Institute of Justice and the Rule of Law. The discussions focused on oversight, accountability, and Thorsten offered insights from the ongoing work with the European Intelligence Oversight Network.
interface in the Media
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The Global Race for Advanced AI Talent
As countries compete for AI leadership, it’s not just about quantity – but about securing the right kind of talent. In her latest op-ed for Diplomatic Courier, our Senior Policy Researcher for AI & Labour Markets, Siddhi Pal, explores how the global flow of AI experts is shifting along geopolitical lines – and why smarter, more strategic approaches are needed to stay competitive. -
How the Semiconductor industry can become more sustainable
RESET recently interviewed interface's chip and sustainability expert, Julia Hess, about the Semiconductor Emission Explorer, a tool developed to improve transparency around the environmental impact of semiconductor production. The conversation highlights key motivations behind the project and its relevance in the context of growing global chip demand.