Governance
UN Reaches Consensus on AI. Now Comes the Hard Part
(Vidisha Mishra, Nicole Manger – Tech Policy Press – 11 September 2025) On August 26, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution A/RES/79/325 (the AI Modalities Resolution) by consensus, without a vote, following months of negotiations. At a time when consensus is elusive and the multilateral system is under constraint, this follow-up to the Global Digital Compact (GDC) marks a timely and substantive step towards global AI governance. This challenge transcends borders and demands collective action. The resolution creates two new institutional mechanisms that stand out for their ambition and design. The “Independent International Scientific Panel on AI” will comprise forty experts serving in their personal capacity, with appointments balanced by gender and geography. Members will serve three-year terms, disclose conflicts of interest, and elect co-chairs from both developed and developing countries. The Panel is tasked with producing an annual, evidence-based assessment synthesizing existing research, accompanied by thematic briefs as needed. These reports will be presented not only to the General Assembly but also to the Global Dialogue on AI Governance, anchoring political deliberations in independent science. The “Global Dialogue on AI Governance” is the second mechanism. It is significant as the first truly global and inclusive platform, bringing more than 100 countries – particularly from the Global South and LDCs – onto equal footing in shaping AI governance. These countries have largely been excluded from existing processes led by the G7, G20, Council of Europe, EU, AU, and OECD. By design, the Dialogue broadens participation, deepens North–South exchange, and helps close digital divides. – https://www.techpolicy.press/un-reaches-consensus-on-ai-now-comes-the-hard-part/
UN Launches AI Panel and Dialogue, But Questions Linger Over Inclusion and Impact
(Amaj Rahimi-Midani – Tech Policy Press – 11 September 2025) On August 26, after months of difficult negotiations, the United Nations General Assembly achieved a historic milestone: all 193 Member States reached consensus on one of the most consequential questions of our time — how should artificial intelligence be governed. Under the co-facilitation of Costa Rica and Spain, governments agreed to establish an Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and to launch a Global Dialogue on AI Governance. This resolution is more than just another UN document — it marks the first collective attempt to place AI governance within the world’s most universal forum, where every country has a voice. Based on recommendations made nearly a year earlier by the UN High-Level Advisory Body on AI, which called for creating a scientific panel and a global policy dialogue, alongside proposals for a global AI fund to reduce inequalities between developed and developing nations, the process was designed to engage a broader international process, involving a range of stakeholders beyond powerful states or technology companies. – https://www.techpolicy.press/un-launches-ai-panel-and-dialogue-but-questions-linger-over-inclusion-and-impact/
Decision in US vs. Google Gets it Wrong on Generative AI
(Kate Brennan – Tech Policy Press) Last week, federal court Judge Amit Mehta issued a ruling in the US v. Google remedy case rejecting many of the Department of Justice’s bold, structural remedies to unseat Google’s search monopoly position. As I wrote in Tech Policy Press earlier this year, generative AI was the elephant in the room in this case given Google’s exceptional position to leverage its search monopoly to achieve dominance in the generative AI market. In fact, the DOJ’s proposed remedies were acutely aware of this, initially proposing that Google must, among other bold structural remedies, divest from any interests in rival AI companies. Despite how much attention generative AI is given in the decision—Judge Mehta wrote that “The emergence of GenAI changed the course of this case”—the decision fails to seriously contend with the tremendous advantages Google holds in the generative AI market due to its search monopoly. It also fails to draw the necessary connections between Google’s search dominance and its control of AI across the entire AI stack. – https://www.techpolicy.press/decision-in-us-vs-google-gets-it-wrong-on-generative-ai/
FTC Opens Inquiry Into AI Chatbots and Their Impact on Children
(Ben Lennett – Tech Policy Press – 11 September 2025) The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched an inquiry into consumer-facing AI chatbots, with a particular focus on how these technologies affect children and teenagers. On Thursday, the agency issued orders to seven companies – Alphabet, Character Technologies, Instagram, Meta Platforms, OpenAI, Snap, and X.AI. The orders enable the FTC to conduct broad studies without pursuing a specific law enforcement action. According to the FTC announcement, the inquiry aims to understand how companies 1) “evaluate the safety of their chatbots when acting as companions,” 2) “limit the products’ use by and potential negative effects on children and teens,” and 3) “apprise users and parents of the risks associated with the products.” – https://www.techpolicy.press/ftc-opens-inquiry-into-ai-chatbots-and-their-impact-on-children/
EU considers social media restrictions for minors
(DigWatch – 11 September 2025) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the EU is considering tighter restrictions on children’s access to social media platforms. During her annual State of the Union address, von der Leyen said the Commission is closely monitoring Australia’s approach, where individuals under 16 are banned from using platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat. – https://dig.watch/updates/eu-considers-social-media-restrictions-for-minors – https://www.euronews.com/next/2025/09/10/von-der-leyen-looking-into-eu-social-media-ban-for-minors
Google decision demonstrates need to overhaul competition policy for AI era
(Tom Wheeler, Bill Baer – Brookings – 9 September 2025) The remedies in the Department of Justice’s case against Google reflected the inadequacy of antitrust policies in the age of AI and rapid innovation. The rise of generative AI played a sizable role in the court’s decision, with the judge finding that the technology has made online search more competitive. Yet, Google still dominates the search engine market. To keep pace with technological change, antitrust policies cannot be the only tool used. Forward-looking AI competition policy is needed. - https://www.brookings.edu/articles/google-decision-demonstrates-need-to-overhaul-competition-policy-for-ai-era/
Why humans matter most in the age of AI: Jacob Taylor on collaboration, vibe teaming, and the rise of collective intelligence
(Jacob Taylor, Junjie Ren – Brookings – 9 September 2025) Amid breathless coverage of AI’s power to disrupt, CSD Fellow Jacob Taylor asks a sharper question: How can humans design and use AI to amplify—rather than eclipse—our collective problem-solving? From the rugby scrum to the policy arena, Taylor reflects on teamwork, explores the promise of collective intelligence, and lays out the principles of vibe teaming. At the core: Human embodiment, expertise, creativity, and judgment remain indispensable in the age of AI. – https://www.brookings.edu/articles/jacob-taylor-on-ai-collective-intelligence-vibe-teaming/
Legislation
California Assembly Passes Landmark Bill Regulating AI Companion Chatbots
(AI Insider – 11 September 2025) The California State Assembly has passed SB 243, legislation introduced by Senators Steve Padilla and Josh Becker to regulate AI companion chatbots and protect minors and vulnerable users. The bill, which passed with bipartisan support, now heads to the state Senate for a final vote. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/09/11/california-assembly-passes-landmark-bill-regulating-ai-companion-chatbots/
Experts scrutinized Ofcom’s Online Safety Act governance. They’re concerned
(The Register – 11 September 2025) Industry experts expressed both concern and sympathy for Ofcom, the Brit regulator that is overseeing the Online Safety Act, as questions mount over the effectiveness of the controversial legislation. The UK’s Communications and Digital Committee heard from academic and industry leaders this week about various aspects of how the Online Safety Act (OSA) is being enforced, many of whom criticized the regulator’s recent comments. Particular attention was given to Ofcom’s previous claim that the OSA could potentially have prevented situations similar to the Southport riots which broke out in 2024, had it been in force at the time. – https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/11/concern_and_sympathy_as_experts/
Cybersecurity protections for US companies at risk as key law nears expiration
(DigWatch – 11 September 2025) As cyber threats grow, a vital legal safeguard encouraging US companies to share threat intelligence is on the verge of expiring. The US Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 (CISA 2015), which grants liability protection to firms that voluntarily share cyber threat data with peers and the federal government, is set to lapse at the end of the month unless Congress acts swiftly. – https://dig.watch/updates/cybersecurity-protections-for-us-companies-at-risk-as-key-law-nears-expiration – https://news.bloomberglaw.com/privacy-and-data-security/trump-cuts-imperil-private-sector-cybersecurity-cooperation
Defence, Warfare
Shield AI and HII Partner to Accelerate Modular Cross-Domain Mission Autonomy Solutions
(AI Insider – 11 September 2025) HII, America’s largest military shipbuilder, and Shield AI announced a partnership at DSEI 2025 to advance modular, cross-domain mission autonomy by integrating Shield AI’s Hivemind software with HII’s Odyssey suite. The collaboration will focus first on unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and later expand to unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs), leveraging HII’s maritime expertise and Shield AI’s autonomy proven on air platforms such as the MQ-20 Avenger, V-BAT, and F-16. By pairing autonomy software with decades of shipbuilding and integration experience, the companies aim to deliver scalable, resilient solutions enabling U.S. and allied forces to operate across air, land, surface, and undersea domains with greater speed and flexibility. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/09/11/shield-ai-and-hii-partner-to-accelerate-modular-cross-domain-mission-autonomy-solutions/
Security
Leverage the CLOUD Act To Protect Encryption
(Bob Goodlatte, Greg Nojeim – Tech Policy Press – 11 September 2025) When you meet in person with a neighbor or a friend, you would be deeply troubled if the government demanded that you spoke loudly enough so its agents could eavesdrop on everything you both say. Why should that be any different in your online communications as well? Encryption ensures that emails, texts, and other communications are kept private between the sender and the receiver. In an age of cybersecurity threats, encryption protects sensitive personal medical and financial information, and the trade secrets that underlie the success of American business. This technology, among the most important data security tools companies offer, is important for more than just privacy. Encryption protects journalists from malevolent governments. It shields women and their children from stalkers and abusers. Such reasons are partly why late last year the cybersecurity agencies of four of the Five Eyes countries urged network managers to ensure that communications traffic is encrypted end-to-end. These agencies made this recommendation in the wake of the “Salt Typhoon” attacks, in which hackers believed to be associated with the Chinese government infiltrated the networks of major US telecom operators. The UK stood apart, refusing to join cybersecurity agencies in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in this pro-encryption declaration. – https://www.techpolicy.press/leverage-the-cloud-act-to-protect-encryption/
Senator blasts Microsoft for ‘dangerous, insecure software’ that helped pwn US hospitals
(The Register – 11 September 2025) Microsoft is back in the firing line after US Senator Ron Wyden accused Redmond of shipping “dangerous, insecure software” that helped cybercrooks cripple one of America’s largest hospital networks. Wyden’s letter, delivered to FTC chair Andrew Ferguson on September 10, paints Microsoft not just as a careless vendor, but as a danger to national security. “I urge the FTC to investigate Microsoft and hold the company responsible for the serious harm it has caused by delivering dangerous, insecure software to the US government and to critical infrastructure entities, such as those in the US healthcare sector,” Wyden wrote. – https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/11/wyden_microsoft_insecure/
Brussels faces privacy crossroads over encryption backdoors
(DigWatch – 11 September 2025) Europe, long seen as a bastion of privacy and digital rights, will debate this week whether to enforce surveillance on citizens’ devices. Representatives from member states will meet on Friday to consider legislation critics call Chat Control, aka “laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse,” which seeks to require ISPs or messaging app providers to scan user content or backdoor encryption so that intelligence agencies can do it themselves. It’s the latest attempt in a three-year campaign by some in the community to allow government agencies unprecedented access to private communications. The proposed legislation has been in the works since 2022 but immediately drew fire from security professionals. After being rejected by EU member states repeatedly, this latest attempt has come at the request of the Danish delegation, which currently holds the EU presidency, and should go to a full vote next month. – https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/11/eu_chat_control/
Attacker steals customer data from Brit rail operator LNER during break-in at supplier
(The Register – 11 September 2025) One of the UK’s largest rail operators, LNER, is the latest organization to spill user data via a third-party data breach. It confirmed the incident on Wednesday, saying customer contact details and “some information about previous journeys” was accessed at a third-party supplier. London North Eastern Railway (LNER) did not name the third party responsible for the intrusion, but assured that whichever company it was, it does not store details such as bank accounts, payment cards, or passwords. – https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/11/lner_says_customer_data_stolen/
Cyberattacks against schools driven by a rise in student hackers, ICO warns
(Alexander Martin – The Record – 11 September 2025) The U.K.’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) warned on Thursday that student hackers motivated by dares are driving an increasing number of cyberattacks and data breaches affecting schools. It advised parents to “to have regular conversations with their children about what they get up to online” and warned that children hacking into their school’s computer systems may be setting themselves up for lives of cybercrime. The privacy regulator said it identified “a worrying pattern” in the 215 insider threat breach reports from the education sector between January 2022 and August 2024, with 57% of incidents caused by students who were likely motivated by “dares, notoriety, financial gain, revenge and rivalries.” – https://therecord.media/cyberattacks-against-schools-driven-by-student-hackers
Frontiers
IonQ Announces IonQ Federal to Meet the Increasing Demand for Quantum Advantage Across U.S. And Allied Governments
(Quantum Insider – 11 September 2025) IonQ announced the creation of IonQ Federal to integrate its quantum computing and networking technologies for the U.S. government and allied agencies. The new entity consolidates IonQ’s government-focused work, building on over $100 million in contracts with agencies such as the Air Force Research Lab, DARPA, Oak Ridge National Labs, and ARLIS. Robert Cardillo, former Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and current IonQ board member, has been appointed Executive Chairman of IonQ Federal to lead strategic operations and partnerships. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/09/11/ionq-announces-ionq-federal-to-meet-the-increasing-demand-for-quantum-advantage-across-u-s-and-allied-governments/
Teton.ai Raises $20M to Reinvent Elderly Care
(AI Insider – 11 September 2025) Teton.airaised $20M in a Series A led by Plural with backing from Bertelsmann Investments, Antler Elevate, Nebular, and PSV Tech, to expand its predictive AI healthcare platform. Its proprietary AI and computer vision shift care from reactive to predictive, improving patient outcomes, caregiver efficiency, and operator performance, with reported ARR growth of 13x and partnerships including Nvidia. The funding will support U.S. nationwide launch, European expansion, and scaling of its engineering team to advance predictive intelligence in senior care and hospitals. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/09/11/teton-ai-raises-20m-to-reinvent-elderly-care/
A-typical Ventures Backs Metric, Abu Dhabi-Based AI Fintech for SMEs
(AI Insider – 11 September 2025) A-typical Ventures has announced its investment in Metric, an Abu Dhabi-headquartered AI fintech startup that provides real-time financial intelligence to small and medium-sized businesses. The round also included participation from 500 Global, Hub71, i2i Ventures, Plus VC, Epic Angels, Oqal Angels, and Accelerate Prosperity, alongside regional angel investors. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/09/11/a-typical-ventures-backs-metric-abu-dhabi-based-ai-fintech-for-smes/
NVIDIA Introduces Rubin CPX GPU for Ultra-Long Context AI Inference
(AI Insider – 11 September 2025) Nvidia unveiled the Rubin CPX, a new GPU optimized for processing context windows exceeding 1 million tokens, at the AI Infrastructure Summit. The processor is part of the upcoming Rubin series and is designed for disaggregated inference, enabling stronger performance on complex, long-context workloads such as video generation and software development. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/09/11/nvidia-introduces-rubin-cpx-gpu-for-ultra-long-context-ai-inference/
Microsoft Expands AI Partnerships with Anthropic to Power Office 365 Applications
(AI Insider – 11 September 2025) Microsoft is set to integrate Anthropic’s Claude models, including Claude Sonnet 4, into Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint, according to reporting from The Information. The agreement reduces Microsoft’s exclusive reliance on OpenAI, whose models currently drive much of the company’s productivity suite. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/09/11/microsoft-expands-ai-partnerships-with-anthropic-to-power-office-365-applications/
Astrus Secures $8M to Accelerate AI-Driven Microchip Design
(AI Insider – 11 September 2025) Astrus, a Toronto- and Waterloo-based AI startup, raised $8M led by Khosla Ventures to build the world’s first physics-aware foundation model for chip design. Its reinforcement learning system automates the analog layout process — traditionally months of manual engineering — by generating thousands of high-quality layouts in seconds. Founded by Brad Moon and Zeyi Wang, with a team trained under AI pioneers, Astrus will use the funding to expand research, scale compute infrastructure, and deliver tools to leading semiconductor companies. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/09/11/astrus-secures-8m-to-accelerate-ai-driven-microchip-design/
Otovo USA Launches with $4+ Mill in Funding to Create an AI-Driven Home Energy “Power Partner” for American Homeowners
(AI Insider – 11 September 2025) William J. “John” Berger, founder of Sunnova, launched Otovo USA with $4M in initial funding led by EIC Rose Rock, introducing an integrated home energy service combining retail, service, and trading. Partnering with European leader Otovo, the company debuts in Texas with plans to expand nationwide, offering solar, batteries, EV chargers, generators, and AI-driven optimization through its Endurance™ platform. Otovo USA’s membership model provides homeowners with simplified procurement, proactive maintenance, and reliable power management, aiming to transform the U.S. residential energy market. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/09/11/otovo-usa-launches-with-4-mill-in-funding-to-create-an-ai-driven-home-energy-power-partner-for-american-homeowners/
Realbotix Enters Distribution Partnership With Grupo Kuo
(AI Insider – 11 September 2025) Realbotix Corp. signed an exclusive strategic partnership with Grupo Kuo to distribute its AI-powered humanoid robots in Spain and Portugal, effective August 31, 2025. Grupo Kuo will deploy Realbotix robots in top hotels and shopping malls, enhancing both guest services and advanced security through autonomous monitoring, concierge functions, and real-time incident response. The alliance positions Realbotix to accelerate adoption in Southern Europe, while Grupo Kuo leverages its 1,500-strong workforce and centralized control center in Madrid to integrate robotics into hospitality and retail security services. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/09/11/realbotix-enters-distribution-partnership-with-grupo-kuo/