🚀 Vilnius Founders: EU Data, AI & Advertising Rules — What Startups Need to Know
Europe’s digital regulations are moving from policy debates to practical obligations for startups.
The EU AI Act, new advertising rules, and changes to Europe’s wider digital rulebook increasingly affect how companies build products, use data, communicate with customers, and grow across the EU.
Join Vilnius Founders for a practical discussion covering current key EU regulations for startups:
🤖 The EU AI Act
Since August 2, 2026, new transparency requirements have applied to certain AI systems and AI-generated content. They can affect chatbots, AI agents, digital advertising, product images, synthetic audio, deepfakes, and AI-modified content.
Potential penalties can reach €15 million or 3% of worldwide annual turnover.
🇱🇹 Lithuania’s EU Council Presidency
Lithuania will hold the EU Council Presidency from January to June 2027, helping lead negotiations and broker agreements between member states.
What does this mean for Lithuanian startups? Which digital-policy decisions could move forward, and how can founders make their voices heard before positions are finalized in Brussels?
🍰 Simplification and the Digital Omnibus
Brussels wants stronger digital protections and greater European competitiveness at the same time. The Digital Omnibus promises to simplify parts of the EU’s AI, data, cybersecurity, and cookie rulebook.
Will it genuinely reduce the compliance burden for startups, or reorganize an already complex regulatory landscape?
📣 New rules for startups that advertise
Startups using paid acquisition, influencers, personalized offers, or AI-generated marketing need to follow Europe’s changing advertising rules.
The discussion will cover targeted advertising, influencer campaigns, dark patterns, AI-generated content, and political advertising requirements relevant to adtech companies and campaign providers.
For founders, the practical questions include:
When must users be told they are interacting with AI?
Which AI-generated advertisements and materials must be labeled?
Who is responsible when employees, agencies, or contractors use AI?
How will the Digital Omnibus change existing obligations?
Which advertising initiatives should startups prepare for?
How can Lithuanian founders engage with policymakers before new rules are finalized?
Expect an honest, practical conversation about what startups need to do now, which risks are commonly overlooked, and where regulatory change may create new opportunities.
Speakers
Eglė Markevičiūtė
Eglė is EU Affairs Manager at Consumer Choice Center Europe and a former Lithuanian Deputy Minister of Economy and Innovation. She also serves on the advisory boards of AI Chamber CEE and the Europe Startup Nations Alliance.
Keerat Sharma
Keerat leads Google’s Ads Privacy and Safety organization, where he oversees teams working to maintain a safe advertising ecosystem, build user and customer trust, and ensure global regulatory compliance for Ads products. His deep expertise in ads privacy and technology stems from over a decade at Amazon Ads, where he built and scaled their privacy team, directed targeting for the Demand Side Platform, and helped to launch and grow Amazon Marketing Cloud – a data clean room.
About Consumer Choice Center Europe
Consumer Choice Center Europe is a non-partisan, independent consumer advocacy organization promoting innovative, consumer-focused policies across Europe. It brings the perspectives of consumers and innovators into EU policy discussions and assesses how regulation affects consumer choice, competition, and innovation.
About 🚀 Vilnius Founders
Founder-driven meetups for builders and operators in Lithuania.
No slides. No suits. Honest conversations, practical advice, and focused networking.