Legislation
Italy enacts AI law covering privacy, oversight and child access
(Reuters – 17 September 2025) Italy’s parliament on Wednesday approved a new law covering artificial intelligence, making it the first European Union country with comprehensive AI regulations aligned with the EU’s landmark AI Act. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government spearheaded the legislation saying it establishes human-centric, transparent and safe AI use as core principles while emphasising innovation, cybersecurity and privacy protections. – https://www.reuters.com/technology/italy-enacts-ai-law-covering-privacy-oversight-child-access-2025-09-17/#:~:text=ROME%2C%20Sept%2017%20%28Reuters%29,the%20EU%27s%20landmark%20AI%20Act.
Governance
WTO report notes AI’s potential benefit to trade if divides are addressed
(DigWatch – 18 September 2025) The WTO launched the 2025 World Trade Report, under the title ‘Making trade and AI work together to the benefit of all’. The report argues that AI could potentially boost global trade by up to 37% and GDP by 12–13% by 2040, particularly through digitally deliverable services. It notes that AI can lower trade costs, improve supply-chain efficiency, and create opportunities for small firms and developing countries, but warns that without deliberate action, AI could deepen global inequalities and widen the gap between advanced and developing economies. – https://dig.watch/updates/wto-world-trade-report-notes-ais-potential-benefit-to-trade-if-divides-are-addressed – https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news25_e/wtr_15sep25_e.htm
EU AI Act enforcement gears up with 15 authorities named in Ireland
(DigWatch – 18 September 2025) Ireland has designated 15 authorities to monitor compliance with the EU’s AI Act, making it one of the first EU countries fully ready to enforce the new rules. The AI Act regulates AI systems according to their risk to society and began phasing in last year. Governments had until 2 August to notify the European Commission of their appointed market surveillance authorities. In Ireland, these include the Central Bank, Coimisiún na Meán, the Data Protection Commission, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, and the Health and Safety Authority. – https://dig.watch/updates/eu-ai-act-enforcement-gears-up-with-15-authorities-named-in-ireland – https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/news-and-events/department-news/2025/september/20250916.html
Tech Companies Must Rethink Public Data Sharing in the DOGE Era
(Ben Neumeyer – Tech Policy Press – 18 September 2025) The consolidation of sensitive federal datasets under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has transformed the privacy threat landscape. By centralizing data once siloed across agencies, seemingly in disregard of legal requirements, and combining it with powerful analytics tools, the Trump administration has created an unprecedented capability for surveillance and political targeting. Monitoring of individuals’ movements and online speech has already created chilling effects for individuals and communities, and news coverage shows the administration is exploring yet more use cases that may serve its political goals. While public debate has focused largely on the role of government data, a critical blind spot remains: datasets that tech platforms voluntarily make public about user activity or trends on their services. – https://www.techpolicy.press/tech-companies-must-rethink-public-data-sharing-in-the-doge-era/
AI reforms in Hong Kong expected to save millions in public services
(DigWatch – 18 September 2025) Hong Kong will establish a new team to advance the use of AI across government departments, Chief Executive John Lee confirmed during his 2025 Policy Address. The AI Efficacy Enhancement Team, led by Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk, will coordinate reforms to modernise outdated processes and promote efficiency. Lee said his administration would focus on safe ‘AI+ development’, applying the technology in public services and encouraging adoption across different sectors instead of relying on traditional methods. – https://dig.watch/updates/ai-reforms-in-hong-kong-expected-to-save-millions-in-public-services
WEF urges trade policy shift to protect workers in digital economy
(DigWatch – 18 September 2025) The World Economic Forum (WEF) has published an article on using trade policy to build a fairer digital economy. Digital services now make up over half of global exports, with AI investment projected at $252 billion in 2024. Countries from Kenya to the UAE are positioning as digital hubs, but job quality still lags. Millions of platform workers face volatile pay, lack of contracts, and no access to social protections. In Kenya alone, 1.9 million people rely on digital work yet face algorithm-driven pay systems and sudden account deactivations. India and the Philippines show similar patterns. – https://dig.watch/updates/wef-urges-trade-policy-shift-to-protect-workers-in-digital-economy – https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/09/building-a-fairer-digital-economy-how-can-trade-policy-help/
State Department hopes to use agentic AI to assist employee tasks, CIO says
(Natalie Alms – NextGov – 17 September 2025) The State Department wants to use artificial intelligence agents that can take action for employees, the department’s chief information officer Kelly Fletcher said Wednesday. The department already has an enterprise generative AI chatbot, dubbed StateChat, which it launched last year. That chatbot can help with things like translation or answer questions from the department’s foreign affairs manual, Fletcher said at an ACT-IAC event Wednesday. Moving forward, the department is looking at “AI agents that will take actions for humans,” said Fletcher. “I want it to not only tell me, ‘How much leave do I have’ … but then I want it to put in my leave slip, which is in a different system. We’re building to that.” – https://www.nextgov.com/artificial-intelligence/2025/09/state-department-hopes-use-agentic-ai-assist-employee-tasks-cio-says/408182/?oref=ng-home-top-story
Geostrategies
‘Tech Prosperity Deal’ Binds UK to US AI Dominance Strategy
(Megan Kirkwood – Tech Policy Press – 18 September 2025) The UK is continuing its push to build out massive compute capacity at all costs. As United States President Donald Trump touched down on UK soil on September 16, 2025, on his second state visit, a flurry of tech investments was announced as part of a new UK-US Tech Prosperity Deal. The deal is touted by officials as “developing the fastest growing technologies like AI, quantum, and nuclear” by combining the “resources and expertise” of the two nations. The deal follows from an already growing list of US companies embedding their technology in UK public infrastructure. – https://www.techpolicy.press/tech-prosperity-deal-binds-uk-to-us-ai-dominance-strategy/
Gas-powered computing: develop Beetaloo for Australia’s AI centre
(John Coyne – ASPI The Strategist – 18 September 2025) Energy, not algorithms, will decide who leads in artificial intelligence. At the AI Horizons Summit in Pittsburgh last week, the United States’ largest natural gas producer, EQT, made the case bluntly: the real contest is between Chinese coal and American natural gas. For Australia, to achieve our own AI capability, we must anchor it in our own energy, and the gas-rich but largely undeveloped Beetaloo Basin presents an opportunity. The Pittsburgh summit reframed the global AI race. No longer just about chips, models, or algorithms, it is also about the energy required to power them. – https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/gas-powered-computing-develop-beetaloo-for-australias-ai-centre/
Security
New York Blood Center Alerts 194,000 People to Data Breach
(Alessandro Mascellino – Infosecurity Magazine – 18 September 2025) The New York Blood Center (NYBCe) has confirmed that nearly 194,000 people were affected by a data breach earlier this year. According to the organization, an unauthorized party accessed its internal systems between January 20 and January 26 2025, and copied certain files. The compromised information includes names, Social Security numbers, driver’s license or state ID numbers, bank account details for those using direct deposit, health information and test results. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/new-york-blood-center-data-breach/
1 in 3 Android Apps Leak Sensitive Data
(Alessandro Mascellino – Infosecurity Magazine – 18 September 2025) A significant share of mobile applications are exposing sensitive information through insecure APIs, leaving users and businesses vulnerable to attack. The 2025 Zimperium Global Mobile Threat Report, published today, revealed that one in three Android apps and more than half of iOS apps leak data that can be exploited. Nearly half of all apps still contain hardcoded secrets such as API keys, which allow attackers to reverse-engineer and misuse them once the apps are published. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/android-apps-leak-sensitive-data/
NCA Singles Out “The Com” as it Chairs Five Eyes Group
(Phil Muncaster – Infosecurity Magazine – 18 September 2025) The UK’s leading serious and organized crime agency has said it will harness the full force of law enforcement across Five Eyes countries to tackle “The Com” over the next two years. The National Crime Agency (NCA) announced on Tuesday that it will take over as chair of the Five Eyes Law Enforcement Group (FELEG) for the first time since 2015. The group includes key policing agencies across the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, such as the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Australian Federal Police (AFP), Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and New Zealand Police. As part of its mission to make the alliance more “operationally focused” to deliver results, the NCA said it will focus on disrupting cybercrime, money laundering and online sexual abuse of children. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/nca-singles-out-com-chairs-five/
Why Shadow AI Is the Next Big Governance Challenge for CISOs
(James Coker – Infosecurity Magazine – 18 September 2025) Advanced AI tools, including large language models (LLMs), are beginning to demonstrate their promise to enhance operational efficiency in businesses. A 2025 McKinsey survey found that over three-quarters of firms use AI in at least one business function, with 71% regularly using generative AI. Integrating AI capabilities into operations, from data analysis to generating reports, is no longer a nice to have but an essential component for competing in today’s marketplace. However, there is a major security and privacy issue that threatens to derail the benefits offered by these technologies – shadow AI. Shadow AI relates to the use of AI tools and applications by employees outside the visibility and approval of the organization’s IT department. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news-features/shadow-ai-governance-cisos/
West London borough approves AI facial recognition CCTV rollout
(DigWatch – 18 September 2025) Hammersmith and Fulham Council has approved a £3m upgrade to its CCTV system to see facial recognition and AI integrated across the west London borough. With over 2,000 cameras, the council intends to install live facial recognition technology at crime hotspots and link it with police databases for real-time identification. Alongside the new cameras, 500 units will be equipped with AI tools to speed up video analysis, track vehicles, and provide retrospective searches. The plans also include the possible use of drones, pending approval from the Civil Aviation Authority. – https://dig.watch/updates/west-london-borough-approves-ai-facial-recognition-cctv-rollout – https://democracy.lbhf.gov.uk/documents/s132480/CCTV%20and%20Artificial%20Intelligence.pdf)
CISA wants more international involvement in cyber vulnerability catalog, official says
(David DiMolfetta – NextGov – 17 September 2025) The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency wants to involve more international partners in overwatching a long-standing cyber vulnerability cataloging project, which narrowly avoided vast defunding earlier this year, a top official said Wednesday. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Program faced a near complete lapse in government funding in April when MITRE, the research giant that supports much of the program’s functions, warned of an imminent end to federal backing for the cornerstone cybersecurity project. The lapse was reversed within hours after outcry from the cybersecurity community. The European Union’s cybersecurity agency, dubbed ENISA, for instance, is one desired organization to involve in the program, said Nick Andersen, the agency’s executive assistant director for cybersecurity. – https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2025/09/cisa-wants-more-international-involvement-cyber-vulnerability-catalog-official-says/408178/?oref=ng-homepage-river
Defense, Warfare, Intelligence
Shanghai University’s uncrewed vessels support China’s maritime push
(Astrid Young – ASPI The Strategist – 18 September 2025) ASPI’s newly expanded China Defence Universities Tracker reveals how leading Chinese research institutions, including Shanghai University (SHU), are developing advanced uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) to boost China’s military and territorial ambitions. SHU’s Jinghai series are reportedly the first Chinese uncrewed vessels to operate in the South and East China seas and the Antarctic. Equipped with advanced technologies such as radar sensors and control systems, SHU’s USVs conduct scientific missions that enhance China’s maritime domain awareness and its ability to project power in contested waters. USVs are becoming an important capability in the Indo-Pacific’s intensifying maritime contest. As marine vehicles that operate on the surface of the water, USVs are capable of long-endurance autonomy to support research, surveillance and military operations. Like drones, they also function without an onboard crew. – https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/shanghai-universitys-uncrewed-vessels-support-chinas-maritime-push/