welcome

SMARTgirls Tech · Session 4

The week in AI
two things worth your time.

A lot happened. Most of it is noise. Two stories actually reach your desk — one from China, one from Brussels.

22 July 2026 · Emma & Derek

Where we left off

Last time — three assistants

Social assistant — makes the post, you publish it.
Inbox assistant — sorts your mail, drafts the replies.
Newsletter agent — runs at night, asks your approval.

The thread was: the human stays in charge. Today that gets tested.

2 / n

The plan for today

Two stories, in order

1

China made good AI cheap

Kimi K3, and why a price drop is your news and not theirs.

2

Brussels published the rulebook

The Commission's guidelines on Article 50 — live from 2 August.

One makes your tools cheaper. One changes what you have to say out loud.

3 / n

The one idea

AI got cheaper. Using it got rules. Same month.

Those two are not opposites. Cheaper tools mean more of you will build something. Clear rules mean you can do it without guessing what you are allowed to say.

4 / n

Story one · China

Kimi K3

On 16 July, Moonshot AI released Kimi K3 in Shanghai. Open weights, performance just under the top American models — at a fraction of the price.

Markets called it a second DeepSeek shock. The chip index fell more than 20%.

fortune.com — 17 July 2026

5 / n

Read it properly

"Open" does not mean yours.

The model is 1.4 terabytes. Nobody in this room is running that on a laptop. It is open for companies, not for you and me. What reaches you is the price drop, not the download.

That is the whole story for a one-person business: the same work, for less money.

6 / n

Story two · Brussels

The rulebook arrived

On 20 July the European Commission published its guidelines on the transparency obligations in Article 50 of the AI Act.

Not a news report about the law. The law's own instruction manual — and it applies from 2 August 2026.

digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu — published 20 July 2026

7 / n

What Article 50 actually asks

Four situations, two roles

PROVIDER

People must know it is an AI

If someone is interacting with an AI system, the system has to be built so they are informed.

PROVIDER

A machine-readable mark

AI-generated or manipulated content carries a mark that can be detected — with exceptions for standard editing help.

DEPLOYER — THAT IS YOU

Deepfakes must be disclosed

AI-made image, audio or video that looks like a real person, place or event has to be labelled clearly and perceivably.

DEPLOYER — THAT IS YOU

AI text on public-interest matters

Published to inform the public, without human review or editorial control? Then it needs a clear label.

8 / n

So which one are you?

Almost certainly a deployer

✓ The marking is the model maker's job, not yours.

✓ A chatbot on your site has to say it is AI.

✓ You read and edit your posts — that human review is exactly what the fourth case turns on.

This is what the Commission's own page says — not legal advice. Check your own situation.

European Commission quick facts on transparency rules

Quick Facts: Transparency rules for AI systems — European Commission

9 / n

The fine print, from the source

Three things people get wrong

The fines are not aimed at you

Up to €15 million or 3% of worldwide annual turnover — with explicit proportionality for small and mid-sized companies.

Marking has a grace period

Until December 2026 for generative AI systems already on the market before 2 August 2026.

The Code of Practice is voluntary

A tool you can lean on to show you comply. Nobody is forcing you to sign it.

Deepfakes made before 2 August need no retroactive labelling — though it is encouraged.

10 / n

The part that matters most

An assistant wrote this briefing — and it missed this whole story.

It found a Dutch news article from 15 June and presented it as this week's news. Meanwhile the Commission published the actual guidelines on 20 July, inside the very week it was summarising. We only found them because a human went looking.

Same rule as last week: the human stays in charge. Go to the source, not the article about the source.

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Over to you · a round

Where does this land on your desk?

Do you publish anything that will need to say "AI"?
What would you try if the tools were half the price?

We shape the coming weeks around your answers.

No wrong answers.12 / n

This week · pick one

One thing properly — not four halfway.

Your source list — write down the three to five places you actually read. Bring it Friday.
The 2 August check — walk through the four cases and note which, if any, touch your business.

Share what you found.13 / n

How we do this together

Questions during the week?

Drop them in the group — no question is too small.
Friday morning: live Q&A.

See you Friday

SMARTgirls Tech · Session 414 / n

The week in AItwo things worth your time.