Governance, Legislation, Regulation, Geostrategies

Countries must increase AI regulation to avoid ‘existential risks’: Türk – Voluntary self-regulation by companies developing frontier artificial intelligence (AI) is “nowhere near sufficient” to address existing harms and prevent advanced autonomous AI models from circumventing human safeguards, UN human rights chief Volker Türk wrote on Monday. “The current race towards ever more powerful AI is a step change towards greater existential risks to every aspect of our lives,” he wrote in an open letter. The High Commissioner’s message comes six days after a former researcher at Anthropic – the company behind the chatbot Claude – resigned from his position while warning that “the people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade”. Several recent incidents, including Jacob Coxon’s resignation and announcements by OpenAI and Anthropic that their models had broken out of testing environments, have intensified the global debate over the extent to which governments should regulate the technology. – https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/09/1168326

Why a swift AI pause is unlikely: No one trusts AI companies – Most agree the AI industry needs oversight. Few really trust the industry, or the safety advocates who come from inside the house. Factions in the Trump administration, business executives wary of competitive threats, and advocates for cheaper, more customizable “open” models fear that new regulatory hurdles will offer frontier AI companies too much power. “I do not want a few humans in control of intelligence,” Gavin Baker, a top tech investor and commentator on the AI race, said Sunday on X. Baker said Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei was surely sincere when he proposed new AI regulatory proposals in an essay Saturday, although the moves “would be good for his business over the long-term”. Four leading U.S. AI companies endorsed a potential pause in AI development this weekend after a series of troubling hacking incidents and awe-inducing displays of new model capabilities. The suggested pause caused a dip in global markets Monday as investors pondered what a slowdown in AI, one of the few reliable engines of economic growth this year, would do to economies around the world. Any hope of quick action extending from that fragile unity quickly shattered as critics spoke up and made clear just how much they distrust frontier AI players. – https://www.axios.com/2026/09/15/ai-trust-safety-anthropic-openai

“I am the Hoax Buster”: Trump’s war on AI doomers gets personal – President Trump declared war on the AI safety panic Monday, dismissing the industry’s apocalyptic warnings as part of a “sick conspiracy” to sabotage America and his legacy. Trump is rewriting a complex, years-long debate over AI’s dangers in the partisan grammar that has defined MAGA for a decade — hoaxes, conspiracies, traitors and, at the center of it all, one man. “The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT,” Trump wrote in a barrage of pro-AI Truth Social posts, where he accused Democrats of stoking the panic. Monday marked a sharp escalation in the administration’s long-standing opposition to AI regulation, as Trump recast the safety debate in starkly personal terms. Trump explicitly placed AI doomerism in the same bucket as the Russia investigation, climate change and his impeachments — the latest entry in a catalog of “hoaxes” that has also included the Epstein files and the affordability crisis. He turned his fire on the AI leaders urging restraint, questioning why CEOs would seek regulations that could cripple their own companies and arguing that any slowdown would squander America’s lead over China. Trump’s campaign against AI doomerism then spilled onto the stage of the All-In Summit in Los Angeles, where Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang took a call from the president in the middle of a live interview. Addressing thousands of tech executives, investors and founders on speakerphone, Trump dismissed fears of an AI takeover as a “hoax” and assured the crowd that “the robots will not be taking over.” – https://www.axios.com/2026/09/15/trump-ai-doom-safety-regulation-hoax

Saudi Arabia, UNESCO call for stronger global cooperation on ethical AI  – (Al Arabiya) Saudi Arabia, UNESCO and the International Center for AI Research and Ethics (ICAIRE) issued a joint statement calling for stronger international cooperation to ensure the safe, ethical and inclusive development of artificial intelligence, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday. The statement followed a closed ministerial meeting in Riyadh held as part of the Fourth UNESCO Global Forum on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, hosted by Saudi Arabia from September 14 to 17 and attended by ministers and senior officials representing around 60 countries. – https://english.alarabiya.net/News/saudi-arabia/2026/09/15/saudi-arabia-unesco-call-for-stronger-global-cooperation-on-ethical-ai

If AI really could kill us all, why give any ground to China? – China isn’t messing around. The government recently unveiled a comprehensive strategy to make China the world’s AI leader by the end of this decade — a roadmap that includes massive, coordinated funding and resources on a scale that one-party rule makes significantly easier. Sure, the Chinese Communist Party is prone to hyperbole, but the country’s leaders view AI as an existential threat to their power, and they’re throwing the kitchen sink at the problem. They’re already catching up to the United States. Meanwhile, the American AI industry says it wants to tap the brakes on its own development. Their fear is a different one: Silicon Valley is building a technology that could outstrip its makers’ control and eventually destroy humanity. The likelihood and capability of AI’s destructive power is hotly debated and inconclusive. But the United States and China are nevertheless locked in an arms race that mirrors the Cold War’s nuclear standoff — the most dire of threats that forced the bitterest of enemies to come to the table and establish rules to protect humanity, even as both sides possessed enough power to blow up the world multiple times over. Both the United States and China are feverishly debating the correct balance of AI regulation and technological advancement, and each side has distinct advantages in the race. Meanwhile, the global industry appears to be nearing a crucial, if ill-defined tipping point that could force developers and political leaders to reckon with AI’s power. – https://edition.cnn.com/2026/09/15/tech/ai-kill-everyone-china

Trump and Xi should rethink how to run the AI race – This past week, the geniuses building the world’s most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems began to sound less like technology evangelists poised to save the world and more like mad scientists fearing their Frankenstein monsters were escaping the lab. It’s time for global leaders to act. In particular, US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping should shift the agenda of their September 24 White House meeting to address the dangers inherent in their own accelerating AI race. Nothing could be more appropriate, forty years after US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev addressed the nuclear arms race in Reykjavik, Iceland. – https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/content-series/inflection-points/trump-and-xi-should-rethink-how-to-run-the-ai-race/

What the proposed AI slowdown means for the US, China, and humanity at large – It’s a brake test at breakneck speed. This weekend, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei proposed to “slow the pace” of artificial intelligence (AI) development amid rising safety concerns, a call that was quickly joined by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis, and SpaceXAI’s Elon Musk. The new push comes after increasing reports of out-of-control AI and researchers raising alarm about the risks to humanity. – https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/dispatches/what-the-proposed-ai-slowdown-means-for-the-us-china-and-humanity-at-large/

Data centre growth faces tighter power and water constraints – Data centre expansion is expected to face increasing constraints related to electricity and water as governments respond to pressure on power grids and local resources, according to BMI analysis reported by BusinessToday. The research firm points to electricity constraints already affecting data centre development in several markets. Ireland requires new projects to provide generation or storage capacity matching their maximum grid demand, while restrictions on large projects have been introduced in parts of the Netherlands and some areas of Texas have suspended new connections. BMI expects similar pressures to emerge in Asian markets, including Malaysia and India, as data centre capacity expands. – https://dig.watch/updates/data-centre-power-water-constraints

EU urged to act on Canada’s Bill C‑22, the Lawful Access Act – European civil society organisations and digital rights experts have called on EU institutions to intervene over Canada’s Bill C-22, warning that the proposed Lawful Access Act could weaken encryption, expand surveillance capabilities, and impose broad metadata retention requirements. The open letter, published on 14 September, was addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath, and members of the European Parliament. The signatories argue that the bill could affect European technology providers, including companies without Canadian users, if they have a Canadian entity or belong to a corporate group that carries out business activity in Canada. They warn that the legislation could allow Canadian authorities to require providers to develop technical capabilities enabling government access, potentially creating vulnerabilities that could affect users beyond individual surveillance targets. – https://dig.watch/updates/eu-urged-to-act-on-canadas-bill-c-22

Canada welcomes C$52.5 billion Saskatchewan AI infrastructure plan – Canada has welcomed plans by Bell Canada to expand its AI computing infrastructure in Saskatchewan by up to 900 MW, potentially creating a 1.2 GW AI infrastructure hub in the province. The proposed expansion of Bell AI Fabric could involve capital investment of up to C$52.5 billion and create 4,500 jobs, according to the Canadian government. Ottawa is presenting the project as part of a broader effort to increase domestic computing capacity so that AI systems and other digital services can operate on infrastructure governed by Canadian law and located under Canadian control. – https://dig.watch/updates/canada-sovereign-ai-infrastructure-saskatchewan

Security and Surveillance

A new JRC–Europol study look on how emerging privacy technologies could reshape law enforcement – A new joint foresight study by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and Europol examines how emerging privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) could reshape the future operating environment of European law enforcement(LEA) . Horizon scanning on emerging privacy enhancement technologies assesses how technologies designed to protect personal information and secure digital communications could simultaneously strengthen cybersecurity and privacy while creating new obstacles for criminal investigations. This new study based on a participatory horizon-scanning exercise involving experts from law enforcement, academia, industry, research, and civil society, considered almost 200 technological and contextual signals before identifying ten emerging technologies and innovations with particular relevance to future law enforcement operations, and to Europol activities. – https://dig.watch/updates/jrc-europol-study-emerging-privacy-technologies

INTERPOL SG welcomes launch of International Alliance Combating Telecom and Cyber Fraud – Speaking at the Global Public Security Cooperation Forum in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, which ran from 8 to 10 September 2026, INTERPOL Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza has highlighted the trans‑national nature of major crimes and described China as a ‘strong supporter and partner of INTERPOL’ in the fight against fraud, called for stronger multilateral cooperation as fraud, cybercrime and other forms of trans‑national crime grow in scale and complexity. In this regard, he has welcomed the launch of the International Alliance Combating Telecom and Cyber Fraud, describing the initiative as an important step in strengthening international cooperation against one of the fastest-growing forms of transnational organised crime. – https://dig.watch/updates/interpol-sg-international-alliance-cyber-fraud

One Exploit Chain, Two Espionage Campaigns: Chrome and Windows Under Fire – Two China-linked threat actors used the same Chrome/Windows zero-day against NGOs starting September 1, 2026, Volexity’s new report lays out the whole chain in detail. On September 1, Volexity detected a spear-phishing campaign by UTA0560 targeting several NGOs. The emails sent victims to a legitimate US university website, which had a cross-site scripting flaw that attackers used to redirect visitors to their own servers. The victims were then exposed to a multi-stage attack using a Chrome zero-day CVE-2026-85046. Volexity later found JungleBamboo (also known as APT31, Violet Typhoon, or TA412) using the same exploit chain against different targets. The code was the same, but the infrastructure and final malware were different. – https://securityaffairs.com/199104/apt/one-exploit-chain-two-espionage-campaigns-chrome-and-windows-under-fire.html

Non-Zero-Day VPN Flaw Left Japan ‘s Government Shared Network Platform Exposed: 246,000 Records at Risk – Japan ‘s Digital Agency disclosed that attackers exploited a vulnerability in a VPN device to access its Government Solution Service (GSS), potentially leaking personal information belonging to approximately 246,000 government employees, public officials, and contractors. The breach was detected on June 25 and confirmed as a VPN exploitation on July 9, meaning the public disclosure came 78 days after the initial detection and 63 days after the intrusion method was identified. “It has come to our attention that, due to unauthorized external access, some files containing personal information handled on the Government Solution Service (GSS), operated by the Digital Agency, may have been leaked to an external party.” reads the advisory. “We have confirmed that the personal information that may have been leaked pertains to employees of various ministries and agencies that use GSS (hereinafter referred to as “GSS user organizations”) and those involved in their work, and does not include personal information of the general public”. GSS connects 23 Japanese ministries and agencies through shared IT infrastructure. A breach of this platform could potentially affect many government organizations at once. – https://securityaffairs.com/199090/security/non-zero-day-vpn-flaw-left-japan-government-shared-network-platform-exposed-246000-records-at-risk.html

Shared Hosting at Risk: LiteSpeed Enterprise Bug Can Grant Root from a Single Tenant – cPanel warned that a critical flaw in LiteSpeed Enterprise can let a low‑privilege website user break out of their account and gain root on the whole server. On a box where dozens or hundreds of customers live side by side, that’s not a theoretical risk. It’s a full cross‑tenant compromise. Attackers could then access or modify other websites and the server itself. “We have received notice that a critical privilege-escalation vulnerability has been identified in LiteSpeed Web Server Enterprise. On shared-hosting servers, a malicious low-privilege website user could potentially gain root-level access to the server. This could allow an attacker to access or alter other hosted websites and the server itself.” reads the advisory. “This issue can bypass expected account isolation controls, including CageFS, allowing a malicious website user to potentially escape its restricted environment and gain root-level access to the server.” – https://securityaffairs.com/199127/security/shared-hosting-at-risk-litespeed-enterprise-bug-can-grant-root-from-a-single-tenant.html

Telegram Desktop Flaw Could Turn Old Chat Exports Into Data Theft Traps – A vulnerability in Telegram Desktop could have turned an ordinary chat export into a serious data leak. Security researchers Denis and Aleksander Rostilov of ExPatch found a stored cross-site scripting flaw in the application’s HTML export feature that allowed malicious JavaScript to hide inside a Telegram message and run later when someone opened the exported file in a browser. “A stored XSS in Telegram Desktop lets an attacker plant invisible JavaScript in an exportable chat through a bot’s inline keyboard button. The payload can sit in message history for months and detonates when a participant opens an HTML export page containing that message.” reads the report published by ExPatch. “No second click, no warning: every message and metadata field rendered in that document can be shipped to the attacker’s server, and the page itself can be rewritten. The bot never joins the target chat — one forwarded message can be enough”. The attack is unusual because the attacker doesn’t need to be a member of the target group. A bot can create a message containing a specially crafted inline keyboard, and that message can then be forwarded into other chats. Once included in the conversation history, the payload can remain there for months or even years, waiting for someone to export the chat. – https://securityaffairs.com/199076/security/telegram-desktop-flaw-could-turn-old-chat-exports-into-data-theft-traps.html

Frontiers

Neurotechnology: Brain-computer interface (BCI) unlocks simultaneous speech and body language – A new brain–computer interface (BCI) developed by neurotechnology researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) demonstrates a step towards restoring more natural communication for people with severe paralysis by simultaneously decoding speech and body language from brain activity. Published on 14 September 2026, the study shows that a single high-density electrocorticography (ECoG) implant can capture neural signals associated with both speech and upper-body movements and translate them in real time into the actions of a personalised virtual avatar. The particularly important development in neurotechnology is that the system moves from single-function speech BCIs towards simultaneous, multimodal communication through one cortical interface. – https://dig.watch/updates/neurotechnology-bci-unlocks-speech-and-gesture

Cryptocurrencies, Stablecoins, Decentralized Finance

ECB paper finds weak monetary policy transmission to DeFi rates – The new European Central Bank’s Working Paper, titled ‘DeFi-ying the Fed? Monetary policy transmission to stable-coin deposit rates’, finds that changes in US monetary policy have a limited and uneven effect on interest rates on stablecoin deposits in decentralised finance (DeFi) lending markets. Rates for USDC, USDT and DAI remain only loosely connected to traditional short-term interest rates, although they tend to converge towards them over longer periods. From January 2021 to January 2026, decentralised finance deposit rates were on average around 100 basis points above the Federal funds rate, but also remained below it for extended periods. – https://dig.watch/updates/ecb-weak-monetary-policy-transmission-to-defi