Governance, Legislation, Tech & Democracy
Unpacking Trump’s AI Action Plan: Gutting Rules and Speeding Roll-Out
(Cristiano Lima-Strong – Tech Policy Press – 23 July 2025) The Trump administration on Wednesday released a long-awaited action plan on artificial intelligence that called for slashing regulations and hastening US deployment of the technology, deepening its split with the Biden administration’s focus on AI safety. The 28-page roadmap, “Winning the AI Race: America’s AI Action Plan,” recommends a raft of policies spanning federal procurement, research and development, infrastructure, energy and more. It is expected to be accompanied by a series of executive orders. The White House billed the document as a path to “achieve global dominance in artificial intelligence.”. – https://www.techpolicy.press/unpacking-trumps-ai-action-plan-gutting-rules-and-speeding-rollout/
The Case for Open Source Investment in Europe’s Digital Sovereignty Push
(Nicholas Gates – Tech Policy Press – 23 July 2025) With a new European Parliament and European Commission taking office amidst a rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape, the European Union is ramping up efforts to build ‘independent’ digital infrastructure. Such efforts are often framed under the banner of digital sovereignty, sometimes called tech sovereignty. These efforts have accelerated in recent months, with the new Commission’s announcement of the new Executive Vice President for Tech Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen, as well as the efforts of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) to write dual draft reports on technological sovereignty. As a result, European policymakers are doubling down on efforts to build autonomous, resilient digital systems – ones that align with EU values, ensure regulatory independence, and reduce strategic reliance on US-based technologies. Across the continent, this ambition is materializing through projects such as the EuroStack Initiative and a proposed Open Internet Stack from the European Commission’s DG CNECT (the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content, and Technology). But, we would like to ask: To what end? As calls to build sovereign digital infrastructure grow louder, this article adds two often-overlooked dimensions to the debate. First, we explore how to strategically leverage open source software as a key asset in digital sovereignty. Second, and perhaps more urgently, we argue for sustained investment in the maintenance of open source maintainer ecosystems via an EU Sovereign Tech Fund (EU-STF), building on the example of the German Sovereign Tech Fund, now part of the Sovereign Tech Agency (STF/STA). – https://www.techpolicy.press/the-case-for-open-source-investment-in-europes-digital-sovereignty-push/
Meta pushes back on EU AI framework
(DigWatch – 23 July 2025) Meta has refused to endorse the European Union’s new voluntary Code of Practice for general-purpose AI, citing legal overreach and risks to innovation. The company warns that the framework could slow development and deter investment by imposing expectations beyond upcoming AI laws. In a LinkedIn post, Joel Kaplan, Meta’s chief global affairs officer, called the code confusing and burdensome, criticising its requirements for reporting, risk assessments and data transparency. – https://dig.watch/updates/meta-pushes-back-on-eu-ai-framework
Italy challenges tech giants over VAT on user data
(DigWatch – 23 July 2025) Meta, LinkedIn and X have filed appeals against a sweeping VAT claim by Italy, marking the first time the country has failed to settle such cases with major tech firms. Italy is demanding nearly €1 billion combined over the value of user data exchanged during free account registrations. Italian authorities argue that providing platform access in exchange for personal data constitutes a taxable service, which if upheld, could have far-reaching implications across the EU. The case marks a significant legal shift as it challenges traditional definitions of taxable transactions in the digital economy. – https://dig.watch/updates/italy-challenges-tech-giants-over-vat-on-user-data
Rethinking Speech Rights in the Era of Corporate Information Control
(David McNeill – Tech Policy Press – 23 July 2025) In his speech to Congress introducing the proposed amendments to the Constitution that would become our Bill of Rights, James Madison described the fundamental constitutional rights to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and the right to petition in the following terms. “The people shall not be deprived or abridged of their right to speak, to write, or to publish their sentiments; and the freedom of the press, as one of the great bulwarks of liberty, shall be inviolable. The people shall not be restrained from peaceably assembling and consulting for their common good; nor from applying to the Legislature by petitions, or remonstrances, for redress of their grievances.”. These are the third and fourth sentences of Madison’s proposed fourth amendment, which became the basis for our First Amendment. Both Madison’s formulation and the broader congressional debates surrounding the adoption of the Bill of Rights make clear something we have largely forgotten to our peril. These rights were originally understood as the right of each member of the political community to freely participate in the deliberative practices of the political community. That is, freedom of speech as an individual right was understood as an essentially political right, inseparable from the demands of civic association and collective self-rule. We need to return to an essentially democratic, political conception of the constitutional right to free speech not because the original meaning of the constitutional document is, or should be, our law. We need to return to a political conception of free speech because an increasingly abstract and individualistic understanding of ‘expressive rights’ has left us poorly prepared to recognize and confront the greatest current threats to democratic self-governance. In a context where both the US government and tech oligarchs hide behind protestations of fundamental free speech rights to control the platforms through which information is exchanged, and the data exchanged on those platforms, our hope for the future of democratic self-governance depends upon recognizing the essential difference between data and speech. – https://www.techpolicy.press/rethinking-speech-rights-in-the-era-of-corporate-information-control/
Why media and information literacy are essential in the age of disinformation
(Sasha Havlicek, Daniel Dobrygowski – World Economic Forum – 21 July 2025) Disinformation is a more complex challenge than ever, amplified by technologies such as generative AI. Effective media and information literacy must be integrated across all ages and sectors to build widespread information resilience. A proposed new ecosystem model aims to identify gaps and target interventions at each stage of disinformation, while supporting systemic responses. – https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/07/disinformation-media-and-information-literacy/
Geostrategies
In the Race for AI Supremacy, Can Countries Stay Neutral?
(Anton Leicht – AI Frontiers – 23 July 2025) Increasingly, the US-China AI race is taking center stage. To win this race, Washington and Beijing are rethinking a range of policies, from export controls and military procurement priorities to copyright and liability rules. This activity, under the vague banner of race victories, conceals a deeper lack of clarity on strategic objectives. The Trump administration’s AI Action Plan provides yet another entry on what the US strategy might look like — but it shouldn’t be mistaken for an indication of strategic clarity, as US factions are still vying for dominance from decision to decision. All in all, Chinese and US AI strategies are both still nascent. This raises important questions: What will each country decide that “winning the AI race” means? And where does that leave the rest of the world? The obvious answer to the first question is: whichever great power comes out ahead is the winner. But reducing the answer in this way risks missing a critical point, while disregarding the often-cited justification for the race to begin with: that US AI dominance is essential to ensure AI goes well for the world. Conventional wisdom in the AI policy space holds that, with regard to advanced AI systems, the policies of the US and perhaps China matter above all else. There is, of course, a way in which that is very true: policy made in the places where AI is being developed has outsized leverage over the entire world. But there is a way in which it is untrue: when it comes to shaping the consequences of advanced AI for people’s lives, the many other nations and economies that do not develop their own frontier systems matter greatly. This is especially true for “middle powers,” the group of advanced economies that are currently leaving their options for AI strategy open: much of Europe, Japan, India, Canada, and more. This piece looks at the open questions around great-power AI strategy and what they might mean for the fate of middle powers — and, therefore, for global AI outcomes. – https://aifrontiersmedia.substack.com/p/in-the-race-for-ai-supremacy-can
How Washington Could Leverage Its Gulf AI Deals
(Marianne Lu, Nick Shafer – Lawfare – 23 July 2025) On the first overseas trip of his second term, President Trump inked high-profile artificial intelligence (AI) agreements with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia. Notably, they authorized the sale of advanced American semiconductor chips to the two Gulf states, a move enabled by Trump’s rollback of the Biden-era AI Diffusion Rule that had restricted such exports. As these deals inch toward finalization, many policy discussions have focused on their security risks, such as the potential for advanced chips to be diverted to or accessed remotely by China. Though important, these concerns obscure an important opportunity: Executed strategically, the deals offer a foundation to enhance U.S. AI leadership by anchoring Gulf states more firmly into the United States’s tech orbit and channeling their capital toward American AI interests. Trump’s four-day trip across the Middle East in May opened a floodgate of deals between American AI companies, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. Chief among them was the announcement of a new 5-gigawatt AI campus led by UAE tech giant G42 in Abu Dhabi, a project that would surpass the scale of all major AI infrastructure projects announced to date, including the U.S.-based Stargate. The UAE also secured a preliminary agreement to import 500,000 of Nvidia’s most advanced chips annually, with 20 percent going to G42 and the rest to American companies operating data centers there. These deals represent a win for the Gulf countries, which increasingly view AI as core to their post-oil futures. They also benefit U.S. semiconductor companies seeking new markets and AI companies eager to leverage the Gulf’s abundant capital and energy––key inputs for the data centers that drive AI development and deployment. – https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/how-washington-could-leverage-its-gulf-ai-deals
New AI strategy aims to attract global capital to Indonesia
(DigWatch – 23 July 2025) Indonesia is moving to cement its position in the global AI and semiconductor landscape by releasing its first comprehensive national AI strategy in August 2025. Deputy Minister Nezar Patria says the roadmap aims to clarify the country’s AI market potential, particularly in sectors like health and agriculture, and provide guidance on infrastructure, regulation, and investment pathways. Already, global tech firms are demonstrating confidence in the country’s potential. Microsoft has pledged $1.7 billion to expand cloud and AI capabilities, while Nvidia partnered on a $200 million AI centre project. These investments align with Jakarta’s efforts to build skill pipelines and computational capacity. – https://dig.watch/updates/new-ai-strategy-aims-to-attract-global-capital-to-indonesia
New AI pact between Sri Lanka and Singapore fosters innovation
(DigWatch – 23 July 2025) Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has approved a landmark Memorandum of Understanding with Singapore, through the National University of Singapore’s AI Singapore program and Sri Lanka’s Digital Economy Ministry, to foster cooperation in AI. The MoU establishes a framework for joint research, curriculum development, and knowledge-sharing initiatives to address local priorities and global tech challenges. – https://dig.watch/updates/new-ai-pact-between-sri-lanka-and-singapore-fosters-innovation
UK and OpenAI deepen AI collaboration on security and public services
(DigWatch – 23 July 2025) OpenAI has signed a strategic partnership with the UK government aimed at strengthening AI security research and exploring national infrastructure investment. The agreement was finalised on 21 July by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and science secretary Peter Kyle. It includes a commitment to expand OpenAI’s London office. Research and engineering teams will grow to support AI development and provide assistance to UK businesses and start-ups. – https://dig.watch/updates/uk-and-openai-deepen-ai-collaboration-on-security-and-public-services
America’s AI Pivot to the Gulf
(Ferial Saeed – Stimson Center – 18 July 2025) Facing domestic barriers to building data centers—regulatory bottlenecks, energy and capital constraints, and public resistance—the second Trump administration has embraced a strategy of “strategic diffusion,” lifting chip export controls to allow U.S. technology firms to partner with Gulf allies in building these facilities. This approach aims to extend American AI dominance and stall China’s momentum by binding Gulf states—namely the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia—to the U.S. AI ecosystem through proprietary platforms that limit interoperability. Geopolitical consequences of this pivot include the elevation of Gulf powers as strategic partners, the potential relative decline of Asia in American strategic thinking, and the rise of digital infrastructure as a new foundation of global power. Risks include the creation of future AI competition from the Gulf, partnerships with illiberal regimes, and that U.S. coercive use of these partnerships could alienate other states and push them toward China. – https://www.stimson.org/2025/americas-ai-pivot-to-the-gulf/
Defence, Intelligence, Warfare
UK nuclear submarine fires drone torpedo to sniff out hidden enemies at sea
(Interesting Engineering – 23 July 2025) The Royal Navy has successfully tested the launch and recovery of uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs) from a nuclear-powered submarine to expand its undersea warfare capabilities. The trials, part of Project Scylla, took place recently in the Mediterranean Sea and involved the deployment of UUVs via torpedo tubes from an Astute-class attack submarine. The tests aimed to enhance the submarine fleet’s ability to conduct underwater reconnaissance, seabed warfare, and secure undersea communications. – https://interestingengineering.com/military/britains-nuclear-submarine-drone-torpedo
Security
Bitcoin’s security under quantum threat
(DigWatch – 23 July 2025) A leading cybersecurity expert has raised concerns that Bitcoin’s underlying cryptography could be broken within five years. David Carvalho, CEO of Naoris Protocol, warned that quantum computers could soon break the cryptography securing Bitcoin transactions. He believes the threat could materialise sooner than most anticipate, urging immediate action. Carvalho pointed to Shor’s algorithm as the core concern. Once sufficiently advanced quantum machines are deployed, they could crack Bitcoin’s defences in seconds. – https://dig.watch/updates/bitcoins-security-under-quantum-threat
Frontiers
New Wi-Fi fingerprint tech tracks your body without device, phone, or camera
(Interesting Engineering – 23 July 2025) Surveillance in the digital age is no longer limited to cameras and smartphones. From facial recognition to GPS logs, the tools used to monitor people have grown increasingly sophisticated. Now, researchers in Italy have shown that even ordinary Wi-Fi signals can be used to track people, without needing them to carry any device at all. A team from La Sapienza University of Rome has developed a system called ‘WhoFi,’ which can generate a unique biometric identifier based on how a person’s body interacts with surrounding Wi-Fi signals. – https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/wifi-fingerprint-ai-tracking-without-device
OpenAI Confirms $30B Annual Cloud Deal with Oracle to Power Massive AI Infrastructure
(AI Insider – 23 July 2025) OpenAI has confirmed it is the company behind Oracle’s previously undisclosed $30 billion per year cloud deal, first revealed in an SEC filing last month. While OpenAI CEO Sam Altman did not confirm the financial terms, he acknowledged the agreement on X and in a company blog post. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/07/23/openai-confirms-30b-annual-cloud-deal-with-oracle-to-power-massive-ai-infrastructure/
Latent Labs Launches LatentX, a Web-Based AI Model for Protein Design
(AI Insider – 23 July 2025) Latent Labs, the biotech AI startup founded by former DeepMind scientist Simon Kohl, has unveiled LatentX, a browser-based platform that enables users to design entirely new proteins with atomic-level precision. Six months after emerging from stealth with $50 million in funding, the company is now offering its foundational model to academic researchers, biotech startups, and pharmaceutical firms. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/07/23/latent-labs-launches-latentx-a-web-based-ai-model-for-protein-design/
Amazon Acquires AI Wearables Startup Bee to Expand Ambient Intelligence Offering
(AI Insider – 23 July 2025) Amazon has acquired Bee, an AI wearables startup known for its voice-recording bracelet and Apple Watch app, according to Bee co-founder Maria de Lourdes Zollo. The deal, which has not yet closed, was confirmed by Amazon to TechCrunch. Bee’s product captures ambient conversations to generate reminders and to-do lists, functioning as a low-cost AI assistant with a $49.99 device and $19 monthly subscription. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/07/23/amazon-acquires-ai-wearables-startup-bee-to-expand-ambient-intelligence-offering/
Elon Musk’s xAI Reportedly Seeking Up to $12B for Chip-Powered AI Expansion
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence venture xAI is reportedly working with Valor Equity Partners to raise as much as $12 billion to fund its rapid expansion, according to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal. The capital would support the acquisition of high-end Nvidia chips for a large-scale data center powering Grok, xAI’s conversational AI platform. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/07/23/elon-musks-xai-reportedly-seeking-up-to-12b-for-chip-powered-ai-expansion/
Nexxa.ai Announces $4.4M in Funding to Bring Specialized AI to Heavy Industries
(AI Insider – 23 July 2025) Nexxa.ai has raised $4.4M in pre-seed funding led by a16z speedrun to accelerate development of AI agents that enhance industrial engineering workflows without replacing existing software. Its AI-native platform integrates with tools used by over 4 million industrial engineers, automating complex operations and driving measurable impact for Fortune 100 and midmarket firms. Backed by top investors and selected for a16z’s elite accelerator, Nexxa has achieved two consecutive quarters of 3x growth in annual contract value since its May 2024 launch. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/07/23/nexxa-ai-announces-4-4m-in-funding-to-bring-specialized-ai-to-heavy-industries/
Hadrian Closes $260M in Funding for New AI-Powered Facilities
(AI Insider – 23 July 2025) Hadrian has raised $260M in Series C funding led by Founders Fund, Lux Capital, and Morgan Stanley to build AI-powered factories for naval defense and shipbuilding, including a new HQ and a 270,000 sq ft facility in Mesa, Arizona. The Mesa factory (Factory 3) will focus on large-scale precision manufacturing and create 350 jobs, while the HQ will include a 400,000 sq ft R&D center aiming to employ thousands. The company is also launching Hadrian Maritime and plans future divisions in munitions and UAVs, using its proprietary Opus software and a factories-as-a-service model to scale U.S. defense production. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/07/23/hadrian-closes-260m-in-funding-for-new-ai-powered-facilities/
Spacely AI Secures $1M Seed Round to Supercharge Generative AI Design for Architects Worldwide
(AI Insider – 23 July 2025) Spacely AI has raised $1M in Seed funding led by PropTech Farm to accelerate product development, launch a U.S. presence, and expand globally with its AI-powered design tools. Its platform enables architects and designers to create renders, stage spaces, and convert 2D to 3D with up to 80% less manual work, integrating directly with tools like SketchUp. With 10× revenue growth, 1,500+ clients in 50+ countries, and multiple startup awards, Spacely AI is emerging as a top AI solution for the architecture and interior design industry. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/07/23/spacely-ai-secures-1m-seed-round-to-supercharge-generative-ai-design-for-architects-worldwide/
Quantum leaps: 3 ways banks can harness next-gen technologies for financial services
(Kate Whiting – World Economic Forum – 21 July 2025) Applications of quantum technologies are already being piloted by the financial services sector, with a number of key use cases. A new report from the World Economic Forum highlights the opportunities for financial institutions, while addressing the risks. From fraud detection and encryption to risk forecasting, here are three potential shifts to watch in the quantum era. – https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/07/banking-quantum-era-fraud-detection-risk-forecasting-financial-services/