Daily Digest on AI and Emerging Technologies (20 December 2024)

TOP OF THE DAY

 

Governance and Legislation

 

Artificial intelligence (AI) – Security Council, 9821st meeting

 

(UN Security Council – 19 December 2024) Ministerial-level briefing on artificial intelligence (AI) under the agenda item “Maintenance of international peace and security” – https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1k/k1krb448r7

UN chief urges global action to address AI’s threats to peace, security

(Merve Aydogan – AA – 19 December 2024) ‘Artificial Intelligence without human oversight would leave the world blind – and perhaps nowhere more perilously and recklessly than in global peace and security,’ says Antonio Guterres – https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/un-chief-urges-global-action-to-address-ais-threats-to-peace-security/3429323

AI presents significant opportunities to support international peace and security: UK statement at the UN Security Council

(GOV.UK – 19 December 2024) Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, at the UN Security Council meeting on artificial intelligence. – https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/ai-presents-significant-opportunities-to-support-international-peace-and-security-uk-statement-at-the-un-security-council

AI’s potential futures: Mitigating risks, harnessing opportunities

(Francesca Rossi, Michael Schoenstein, Stuart Russell – OECD.AI – 19 December 2024) AI is evolving at an extraordinary pace, reshaping industries and societies worldwide. Its vast potential and the uncertainty of its future trajectory put AI at the forefront of global discussions about technological progress. The OECD report,  Assessing potential future AI risks, benefits and policy imperatives, explores AI’s possible futures, analysing its risks, benefits and actions to navigate its challenges responsibly. – https://oecd.ai/en/wonk/ai-potential-futures

AI Data Centers Threaten Global Water Security

(Lakshmee Sharma – Lawfare – 19 December 2024) Data centers are essential computational infrastructure, powering nearly all of today’s digital activities, especially commerce. Lower- and middle-income countries, eager to capitalize on digital transformation and economic growth, have rushed to build this infrastructure. But there’s a problem: Data centers are water guzzlers, and many countries are currently expanding their data center footprints while ignoring potential water risks. This trend has already resulted in increased water scarcity in several regions, posing heightened social, political, and ecological risks. Further, the salience of artificial intelligence as a driver of data center demand is only increasing, as AI’s thirst is projected to rival or soon surpass other water-intensive industries such as cattle and textiles. Transparency about AI’s role in exacerbating data centers’ climate impacts is especially consequential now as climate change worsens and industries continue to push AI-based solutions for societal problems. – https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/ai-data-centers-threaten-global-water-security

China Leads on Generative AI Patents, but What Does that Mean?

(Alex He – Centre for International Governance Innovation – 19 December 2024) China is far ahead of the United States and other countries in terms of generative artificial intelligence (AI) patent applications, according to the Patent Landscape Report issued by the UN World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in July 2024. This raises the question: Could this be a game changer in the ongoing global AI arms race? Or is it simply an extension of China’s “quantity first” patent strategy into a new domain? The answer hinges on the quality of these generative AI patents — specifically, how many patent filings will be granted and commercialized into real-world applications, and whether they will have domestic or international relevance. Much also depends on whether these patents will be critically useful to the current technological trajectory of AI development, which is based on transformer neural network (deep learning) architecture and relies on the enormous computing power and high-quality data needed to train generative AI models. – https://www.cigionline.org/articles/china-leads-on-generative-ai-patents-but-what-does-that-mean/

EU Opens Door for AI Training Using Personal Data

(Kevin Poireault – Infosecurity Magazine – 19 November 2024) Using personal data without consent to train AI models will not necessarily infringe the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), according to a new opinion by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB). However, this is on the condition that the AI tool’s output does not reveal personal information. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/edpb-ai-training-personal-data/

 

Trustworthy AI for the enterprise: How to train an LLM to follow a code of conduct

 

(Shanen Boettcher – OECD.AI – 18 December 2024) How should a large language model behave in a business setting? Which questions should it answer, and which should it refuse? Should it interact differently with employees versus customers and customers versus partners? For me, as a developer of AI systems for the enterprise, these questions are not theoretical. Outlining clear guidelines for model behaviour is essential for ensuring the responsible use of AI and building systems that enterprises and their customers can trust. In this post, I share how AI21 utilised the OECD’s AI Principles to develop an AI Code of Conduct to promote the safe and responsible use of AI21’s large language models (LLMs) in the enterprise. – https://oecd.ai/en/wonk/how-to-train-an-llm-to-follow-a-code-of-conduct

Congress approves 2025 NDAA with important cyber provisions

(David DiMolfetta – NextGov – 18 December 2024) Wednesday to President Joe Biden’s desk with a list of cybersecurity measures focused on technology aid to foreign allies and cyber defense hardening at home. The National Defense Authorization Act passed 85-14 with an $895.2 billion topline, authorizing the distribution of funding for the U.S. military, defense and intelligence nexus. – https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2024/12/congress-approves-2025-ndaa-important-cyber-provisions/401764/?oref=ng-home-top-story

House AI Task Force recommends sector-specific regs in final report

(Alexandra Kelley – NextGov – 17 December 2024) Regulation by sector and an incremental approach to crafting policy are two key philosophies to regulating artificial intelligence technologies defining the final version of the House AI Task Force’s bipartisan report. Unveiled on Tuesday, the report dives into the best practices for deploying and governing AI systems across a range of applications. As Task Force Co-Chair Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., stated during a press conference, the report is intended to serve as future guidance for lawmakers working to regulate evolving AI systems. – https://www.nextgov.com/artificial-intelligence/2024/12/house-ai-task-force-recommends-sector-specific-regs-final-report/401731/?oref=ng-homepage-river

 

Four Chinese Industry Associations Issue Statements Condemning U.S. Sanctions

 

(Center for Security and Emerging Technology – 17 December 2024) The following translation combines statements issued separately by four Chinese industry associations on December 3, 2024 condemning the new sanctions and export controls aimed at Chinese companies that the United States announced the previous day. All four statements encourage Chinese companies to reconsider purchases of U.S. chips and semiconductor equipment and to look elsewhere for suppliers. The Chinese Communist Party controls all industry associations in the country, so the coordinated statements should be understood to reflect the concerns of the Chinese leadership. – https://cset.georgetown.edu/publication/china-industry-response-to-us-sanctions/

 

Frontiers

 

Five Key Issues to Watch in AI in 2025

 

(Andrew Imbrie – Center for Security and Emerging Technology – 13 December 2024) The task of navigating the road ahead in AI will require equal parts ambition, humility, and comfort with uncertainty. For those of you who are new to these debates and for those who are tracking them closely day to day, it’s helpful to step back and think about the major questions that will define the AI policy landscape in 2025.  – https://cset.georgetown.edu/article/five-key-issues-to-watch-in-ai-in-2025/

Defense, Intelligence, and War

White House charges Pentagon to develop cislunar monitoring tech, including for ‘planetary defense’

(Theresa Hitchens – Breaking Defense – 19 Decemberv 2024) While a new White House action plan for forwarding cislunar science and technology leans largely on NASA to lead the charge, it also taps the Defense Department to spearhead development of capabilities to keep watch on activity in the vast area of space between the Earth and Moon. DoD, with the assistance of NASA and the Commerce Department, are tasked to “identify and prioritize research and development needed to support extension of U.S. SSA [space situational awareness] capabilities into Cislunar space, to include aiding planetary defense, improved debris population modeling, and detection, tracking, and characterization of satellites in the Cislunar volume,” according to the National Cislunar Science and Technology Action Plan. – https://breakingdefense.com/2024/12/white-house-charges-pentagon-to-develop-cislunar-monitoring-tech-including-for-planetary-defense/

US Army extends Palantir’s contract for its data-harnessing platform

(Jen Judson – Defense News – 18 December 2024) The U.S. Army has awarded Palantir a $400.7 million contract to continue providing its artificial intelligence-enabled Vantage system as the service’s main data platform, the company announced Wednesday. The contract covers a period of up to four years and could ultimately be worth nearly $620 million if additional options are exercised. – https://www.defensenews.com/land/2024/12/18/us-army-extends-palantirs-contract-for-its-data-harnessing-platform/

US has the tech to down Jersey drones—but not the policy, officials say

(Patrick Tucker – Defense One – 17 December 2024) Counter-drone policy—not technology—is keeping U.S. agencies from responding more effectively to the reported drone sightings along the East Coast, U.S. officials said Tuesday. But that’s not stopping makers of anti-drone systems—including ones already protecting troops overseas—from showcasing their wares to protect airports and domestic infrastructure. Agencies and various levels of government have policy “gaps and seams” that can’t be closed without Congressional action, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Tuesday. – https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2024/12/us-has-tech-down-new-jersey-drones-not-policy-officials-say/401749/?oref=d1-featured-river-secondary

Security

New Malware Can Kill Engineering Processes in ICS Environments

(James Coker – Infosecurity Magazine – 19 December 2024) New malware attacks targeting industrial control systems (ICS) are capable of killing engineering processes, a Forescout analysis has found. The researchers identified clusters of two types of malware attacks targeting Mitsubishi and Siemens engineering workstations and listed on the VirusTotal repository from August to November 2024. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/malware-engineering-ics/

Crypto-Hackers Steal $2.2bn as North Koreans Dominate

(Phil Muncaster – Infosecurity Magazine – 19 December 2024) Threat actors stole $2.2bn from cryptocurrency platforms in 2024, with the majority (61%) of illicit funds attributed to North Korean hackers, according to Chainalysis. The blockchain analytics company has been analyzing cryptocurrency flows for several years and said that 2024 is the fifth year in the past decade that hackers have stolen over $1bn from crypto firms. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/cryptohackers-steal-22bn-north/

Interpol Calls for an End to “Pig Butchering” Terminology

(Phil Muncaster – Infosecurity Magazine – 19 December 2024) Interpol has called on industry commentators to rethink their use of the term “pig butchering,” arguing that it unnecessarily stigmatizes victims and potentially discourages incident reporting. The cybercrime to which the term refers was recently called out in the policing group’s new “Think Twice” campaign, designed to educate consumers about cyber-enabled financial crimes. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/interpol-calls-end-pig-butchering/

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