February Global Regulatory Brief: Digital finance
The Global Regulatory Brief provides monthly insights on the latest risk and regulatory developments. This brief was written by Bloomberg’s Regulatory Affairs Specialists.
Digital finance regulatory developments
As technology continues to reshape financial services, regulators and policy setters are embarking on a range of digital-finance initiatives to manage risks and set appropriate standards. The following digital finance policy developments represent a sample of wider regulatory and policy coverage available to Bloomberg Terminal customers. Run REGS <GO> to find out more or contact your Bloomberg representative to learn more.
- EU: President of the EU Commission launches InvestAI to mobilize $200 billion for AI development
- ASEAN: Digital Ministers commit to strengthen regional cybersecurity measures
- South Korea: Ministry of Science and ICT plans to support AI
EU launches InvestAI to mobilize €200 billion for AI development
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the launch of InvestAI, a €200 billion initiative aimed at advancing AI in Europe. This includes a €20 billion fund for AI gigafactories, designed to foster open, collaborative development of complex AI models.
In detail: InvestAI is a new initiative by the European Commission to mobilize €200 billion for AI investment. It includes a €20 billion European fund specifically for AI gigafactories, which will provide the necessary infrastructure for developing advanced AI models.
Funding: InvestAI will include a layered fund, with shares of different risk and return profiles. The EU budget would derisk the investment of other partners. The Commission’s initial funding for InvestAI will come from existing EU funding programmes which have a digital component, such as Digital Europe Programme and Horizon Europe, and InvestEU.
Giga factories: The EU’s InvestAI fund will finance four future AI gigafactories across the EU, which will be specialised in training the largest AI models. Such next-generation models require extensive computing infrastructure for breakthroughs in specific domains such as medicine or science. The gigafactories will have around 100 000 last-generation AI chips. The Commission has already announced the initial seven AI factories in December and will soon announce the next five.
Context: The initiative was launched by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the AI Action Summit in Paris. InvestAI is part of the European Commission’s ongoing efforts to support AI innovation, which will include the launch of the ‘Apply AI’ initiative later this year to drive industrial adoption of AI.
ASEAN Digital Ministers commit to strengthen regional cybersecurity measures
Digital ministers of ASEAN member states convened in Bangkok for the 5th ASEAN Digital Ministers’ Meeting (ADGMIN) to discuss ongoing work to advance cybersecurity, anti-scam measures, cross-border data flows and AI governance. A media statement was published to highlight key takeaways from the ADGMIN.
Cybersecurity: The ASEAN Regional Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) was established in 2024 to promote and facilitate information sharing related to cyber incident response, and to complement the operational efforts by individual national CERTs in each member state. The Meeting acknowledged the progress made in operationalisation of the ASEAN Regional CERT, and noted ongoing negotiation progress of the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement to accelerate ASEAN’s digital transformation and improve cooperation in anti-online scams and cybersecurity.
AI governance: A Working Group on AI Governance (WG-AI) was established to oversee ASEAN’s initiative on AI, being the central coordination and advisory role for ASEAN in advancing AI governance. The Meeting also welcomed the Expanded ASEAN Guide on AI Governance and Ethics – Generative AI, which builds on the 2024 Guide with policy recommendations to address Generative AI concerns while fostering innovation.
Cross-border data flows and cooperation with other partners: ASEAN Digital Ministers committed to deepening cooperation with other dialogue and development partners such as China and Japan, in areas including AI, cyber and data security/governance and cross-border data flows.
The next meeting will take place in Vietnam in 2026.
South Korea Ministry of Science and ICT plans to support AI
The Ministry of Science and IT (MSIT) published its 2025 workplan with a vision of “Leading the Digital Transformation with artificial intelligence (AI), Pioneering the Future through Science and Technology”. The plan outlines nine core initiatives aimed at enhancing South Korea’s technological leadership and public welfare.
In more detail: Key initiatives include becoming a top global AI leader, advancing biotechnology and quantum science, and creating a technology commercialization ecosystem. The MSIT aims to foster talent, ensure digital safety, and drive regional innovation, all while increasing R&D investments significantly. Key measures include implementing the AI Framework Act, enacted in December 2024, to balance innovation with safety.
What’s next: The MSIT will establish a National AI Computing Center and revise regulations for data centers. It aims to formulate an AI Computing Infrastructure Master Plan by Q1 2025 and expedite subordinate regulations under the AI Framework Act by H1 2025. Safety management standards for high-impact AI and innovative measures such as deepfake watermarking are expected to be implemented by January 2026. These efforts aim to position South Korea among the top three global AI leaders while addressing risks through measures like deepfake watermarking and cybersecurity enhancement.
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