Governance, Legislation, and Geostrategies
New White House AI Policies Introduce Government by AI
(Kevin Frazier – Lawfare – 10 April 2025) While the Biden administration introduced government with artificial intelligence (AI), the Trump administration aspires for government by AI. The former encouraged agencies to explore AI use cases and generally experiment with how to integrate AI tools into services and systems, while adhering to a number of procedural safeguards. The latter retains some of those safeguards but establishes a default of using AI to streamline and improve government services. Two new policies issued by the Office of Management and Budget will usher in this era of government-by-AI. OMB Memo M-25-21 calls for accelerating federal use of AI. OMB Memo M-25-22 directs agencies to use an “efficient” acquisition process. The policies build on the administration’s Jan. 23 executive order, which centered “AI dominance” as the primary aim of President Trump’s AI strategy. Implementation of these policies may have a major influence on the public’s willingness to accept AI as a core part of government activity-—whether that influence is positive or negative depends on whether agencies adhere to the safeguards and transparency requirements outlined by the OMB memos while also leveraging AI to meaningfully improve government services and effectiveness. Current uses of AI by the administration—namely, by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team—may jeopardize this public trust, clashing with the aims of the OMB memos. DOGE has deployed AI systems with seemingly minimal oversight and in sensitive contexts. For example, Reuters recently reported that DOGE developed AI tools to monitor the communications of staffers within at least one federal agency to identify conversations that include critical opinions of the President and his agenda. Musk has even floated replacing government workers with AI. Effective government by AI—as articulated by the OMB memos—precludes such reckless, opaque employment of AI. As things stand, just 17 percent of the public expects that AI will have a positive effect on the US in the next two decades. Nearly 60 percent have concerns that the government will inadequately regulate AI, whereas just 21 percent think it will overreach and quash AI innovation. If the administration rushes to work AI into sensitive decision-making contexts without earning the public’s trust, then it may hinder future efforts to adopt AI into government processes. The unprecedented shift to government by AI represents a fundamental transformation of public administration that will not only redefine federal operations but also determine whether AI serves as a democratizing force or concentrates power further away from citizen oversight—making the implementation of these policies a critical battleground for the future of American governance. – https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/new-white-house-ai-policies-introduce-government-by-ai
EU Introduces ‘AI Continent Action Plan’ to Bolster Competitiveness and Simplify Regulations
(AI Insider – 10 April 2025) The European Commission has announced a sweeping new initiative to accelerate the bloc’s AI industry, aiming to better compete with the U.S. and China while addressing mounting concerns over regulatory burdens. The AI Continent Action Plan outlines investments in large-scale AI factories, gigafactories, and specialized data labs to support startups and developers with infrastructure and high-quality training data. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/04/10/eu-introduces-ai-continent-action-plan-to-bolster-competitiveness-and-simplify-regulations/
UK Launches $54M Integrated Quantum Networks Hub to Develop Advanced Quantum Network Infrastructure
(Quantum Insider – 10 April 2025) The UK has launched the Integrated Quantum Networks Hub, led by Heriot-Watt University and backed by over £42 million, to develop scalable, secure quantum communications infrastructure as part of the UK’s 2035 quantum strategy. The Hub unites 12 leading universities, two national laboratories, and more than 40 industry partners to tackle key challenges in quantum networking, including interoperability, security protocols, and integration with current fiber infrastructure. Researchers are advancing core technologies such as quantum memories, light sources, detectors, and satellite-enabled systems to enable both metropolitan and intercontinental quantum communication. The initiative supports national goals in workforce development and commercialization, aligning with the UKRI’s broader network of quantum technology hubs totaling £106 million in investment. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/04/10/uk-launches-54m-integrated-quantum-networks-hub-to-develop-advanced-quantum-network-infrastructure/
The UAE and KSA’s AI Hedge in a Divided Global Order
(The Soufan Center – 10 April 2025) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia leverage AI investments as a dual instrument of economic diversification and geopolitical influence. Against the backdrop of great power competition, there is increasing pressure on the UAE and Saudi Arabia to divest from Chinese technology companies in return for access to advanced semiconductors from the United States. The geopolitical and security environment of the Gulf, shaped partly by the Houthi insurgency in Yemen and the importance of its waterways for trade and energy security, has also spurred investment in AI integration in defense. The very qualities that make Gulf countries attractive as regulatory sandboxes to develop AI technologies and test governance frameworks also raise significant concerns regarding human rights and civil liberties, particularly in the areas of privacy and data protection. – https://thesoufancenter.org/intelbrief-2025-april-10/
Alphabet unleashes $75 billion war chest as big tech races for AI dominance
(Interesting Engineering – 10 April 2025) Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has reiterated its plan to spend around $75 billion this year to expand its data center capacity despite growing concerns over U.S. tariffs and the hefty costs tied to AI investments. Investors have been uneasy about the soaring capital expenditures required for AI development, especially as market uncertainty deepens with renewed tariff tensions under U.S. President Donald Trump. CEO Sundar Pichai, making an unexpected appearance at Alphabet’s annual cloud conference, said the investment would go toward chips and servers essential for enhancing core products like Search and powering AI tools such as the Gemini model. – https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/alphabet-doubles-down-on-ai
US ownership of TikTok won’t protect democracies from digital threats
(Isabella Wilkinson, Rowan Wilkinson – Chatham House – 8 April 2025) Last weekend, US President Donald Trump extended the 5 April deadline for TikTok to sell its assets to a US owner or face a nationwide ban, the second time he has postponed the ultimatum facing the popular Chinese-owned social media platform since returning to office. The delay followed a desperate scramble between ByteDance (TikTok’s Chinese parent company), prospective buyers and the administration to reach a deal. TikTok is not short on admirers: with over 135 million active users in the US, for many Americans, TikTok is the go-to platform for news, culture and entertainment. But the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act – passed with bipartisan support in April 2024 – issued a firm ultimatum to the platform: sell up, or be banned, citing significant threats to national security. Taking place against the backdrop of the intensifying US-China technology race, the order comes after years of US concern over Chinese-owned platforms and technologies. These constraints reflect a longstanding US policy belief shared by President Trump: that domestic control over digital platforms and emerging technologies helps guarantee safety, security, prosperity and sovereignty. Trump even suggested that the TikTok deal could be used as a bargaining chip in tariff negotiations. – https://www.chathamhouse.org/2025/04/us-ownership-tiktok-wont-protect-democracies-digital-threats
AI and the Future of the U.S. Electric Grid
(RAND Corporation – 4 April 2025) Despite its age, the U.S. electric grid remains one of the great workhorses of modern life. Whether it can maintain that performance over the next few years may determine how well the U.S. competes in an AI-driven world. AI is a big part of the challenge. Its vast data centers suck up energy like small cities. But a recent RAND study suggests AI could be a big part of the solution, too. There are risks here—some obvious, some not—and grid operators need to move with caution. But AI could usher in an energy future that is more resilient, more efficient, and more affordable for customers. “The important thing is to do it without rocking the boat,” said Ismael Arciniegas Rueda, a former energy executive, now a senior economist at RAND. “The grid can fail, definitely, and I don’t think people understand the consequences if that does happen. It’s not just the lights going out. Our whole life depends on whether or not energy is available 100 percent of the time.” – https://www.rand.org/pubs/articles/2025/ai-and-the-future-of-the-us-electric-grid.html
Defense, Intelligence, and Warfare
How drones, data, and AI transformed our military—and why the US must follow suit
(Valerii Zaluzhnyi – Defense One – 10 April 2025) Ukraine’s tactical drones are “inflicting roughly two-thirds of Russian losses,” making them “twice as effective as every other weapon in the Ukrainian arsenal,” says a recent study by the Royal United Services Institute. This is a remarkable development for weapons considered relatively unimportant just three years ago—but it exemplifies how Ukraine is changing how the West will fight its wars. At the risk of oversimplification, wars have always been about managing information, people, and equipment. Stone-age warriors, Napoleon, Patton, and Schwarzkopf all faced these tasks, though certainly on a vastly different scale. Napoleon introduced new ways to control unprecedented quantities of soldiers and materiel, enabling him to operate across distances and against adversaries far more effectively than anyone before him. Decades later, Helmuth von Moltke refined battlefield management by loosening the Napoleonic grip. “War is an art, not a science,” he wrote, acknowledging human judgment in command and control and introducing extensive planning, decentralization, and flexibility. The Prussian leader’s ideas have formed the basis for Western warfare strategy ever since—until the Russo-Ukraine conflict changed everything. – https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2025/04/how-drones-data-and-ai-transformed-our-militaryand-why-us-must-follow-suit/404444/?oref=d1-featured-river-secondary
Frontiers
IBM Quantum CTO Says Codes And Commitment Are Critical For Hitting Quantum Roadmap Goals
(Quantum Insider – 10 April 2025) IBM says a new quantum error correction method called the Gross code could enable practical quantum advantage within two years. The code reduces the number of physical qubits needed per logical qubit by a factor of ten and enables a modular design easier to manufacture and scale. Gross code is a type of low-density parity check (LDPC) code that spreads quantum information sparsely, allowing for efficient error detection with simpler hardware layouts. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/04/10/ibm-cto-says-codes-and-commitment-are-critical-for-hitting-quantum-roadmap-goals/
Smart AI model thinks like real-life missing persons to help search and rescue
(Interesting Engineering – 10 April 2025) Researchers in Scotland have come up with a unique computer method to predict where missing people are likely to be found in the wilderness, based on patterns of their behavior in similar situations. The sophisticated computer system, developed by scientists at the University of Glasgow, uses real-world data on how people acted when lost outdoors. It further operates by creating a heat map that shows the likelihood of where they may be found in any given landscape. – https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/ai-model-predicts-lost-person-location
US engineers’ AI system converts simple text into real, walking 3D robots in a day
(Interesting Engineering – 10 April 2025) The traditional model of robotic design has long demanded extensive knowledge in engineering, AI systems, and hardware integration. Often protracted and resource-intensive, the process historically excluded all but the most technically adept. However, a research team at Duke University is disrupting this paradigm with Text2Robot, a generative AI framework that converts natural language commands directly into functional, physically manufactured robotic systems. – https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/robots-from-text-using-ai