EU and U.S. moves this fall signal a potential softening of AI rules: the European Commission is reportedly weighing pausing parts of the AI Act—under pressure from U.S. officials and firms such as Meta and Alphabet—including a leaked Digital Omnibus draft that could exempt narrow/procedural uses from high‐risk registration and grant a one‐year grace period for some obligations beginning after August 2027; the AI Act has been in force since August 2024 with key high‐risk duties slated from August 2026. In the U.S., the White House’s July 2025 AI Action Plan urges discouraging state AI laws while a proposed 10‐year House moratorium was removed by the Senate on 2025‐07‐01. These shifts matter for product launches, compliance costs, competitive advantage, and regulatory certainty; the final Omnibus on Nov 19, 2025 and state/federal moves in early 2026 are the next milestones to watch.

At COP30 in Belém, Brazil (2025-11-10 to 2025-11-21), negotiations have intensified as small island states demand nations "honour the 1.5 °C limit," the U.S. federal government—marking the first time America sent no delegation—declined official participation, and delegates debate the Baku-to-Belém Roadmap to align nations behind a $1.3 trillion-per-year climate finance target; concurrently, U.S. sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil and the EU’s 19th package—banning Russian LNG (effective 2027 for long-term contracts, six months for short-term)—have raised energy-market uncertainty, pushing prices up and heightening supply-risk concerns. Parties are pressing for $125–150 billion annually in climate finance and for tools like border carbon adjustments and emissions trading. Immediate next steps include finalizing the Roadmap, decisions on fossil-fuel subsidy phase-outs and NDC verification, monitoring any U.S. federal re-entry, and watching energy-sector responses to sanctions, which will shape whether coalitions convert commitments into enforceable action.