E13: The EU AI Act Trap: How Brussels Is Killing Your Startup (While China Builds the Future)

Is Europe regulating itself into irrelevance? While technocrats in Brussels draft 1000-page rulebooks, companies in Vietnam, China, and the US are shipping AI products that change the world.

In this episode, Malcolm Werchota dives deep into the EU AI Act—now enforced as of July 2025—and asks the uncomfortable questions: Are these regulations protecting us, or are they a death sentence for European innovation? With fines up to €35 million or 7% of global revenue, small startups are hiring lawyers instead of engineers.

Malcolm breaks down:

• What the Act actually means for your company (spoiler: it's worse than you think)
• Why Google and other tech giants are already sounding the alarm
• The philosophical trap of trying to regulate creativity
• 3 practical hacks to survive the compliance nightmare without killing your innovation

Plus: A personal reflection on what happens when we teach the next generation to fear innovation instead of embracing it.

This isn't just about regulation—it's about the future of human creativity in the age of AI.