Governance and Legislation
Trump signs AI executive order
(Alexandra Kelley, Frank Konkel, Natalie Alms – NextGov – 23 January 2025) President Trump Thursday signed an executive order calling for the development of an AI action plan within 180 days that would “sustain and enhance America’s global AI dominance.”. “The United States has long been at the forefront of artificial intelligence innovation, driven by the strength of our free markets, world-class research institutions, and entrepreneurial spirit,” the order states. “To maintain this leadership, we must develop AI systems that are free from ideological bias or engineered social agendas. With the right Government policies, we can solidify our position as the global leader in AI and secure a brighter future for all Americans.” – https://www.nextgov.com/artificial-intelligence/2025/01/trump-signs-ai-executive-order/402465/?oref=ng-home-top-story
AI: Lifting All Boats
(Hatem Dowidar, Brad Smith, Bill Thomas, Paula Ingabire, Kristalina Georgieva, Vijay Vythianathan Vaitheeswaran – WEF – 22 January 2025) As the race for AI leadership intensifies, access to resilient digital infrastructure, advanced computer capabilities and strong public-private investment are essential. A few countries are sprinting ahead, securing their competitive advantage, while others struggle to keep up. What strategies can bridge this growing AI divide and ensure more equitable access to AI benefits globally? – https://www.weforum.org/meetings/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2025/sessions/ai-lifting-all-boats/
Cracking the Code of Digital Health
(Roy Jakobs, Karen Tso, Shobana Kamineni, Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., Nikolaj Gilbert – WEF – 22 January 2025) From AI integration to data usage, the healthcare sector has capitalized on the post-COVID momentum to rethink its operations across the value chain. However, transformations remain in the early stages and organizations have yet to crack the code on generating value at scale. – https://www.weforum.org/meetings/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2025/sessions/cracking-the-code-of-digital-health/
Tech’s Answer to Pollution
(Takayuki Morita, Ronaldo Lemos, Manuela Kasper-Claridge, Jessika Roswall – WEF – 22 January 2025) Biotech, AI and other advanced technologies are opening new possibilities in material science and resource circularity. What are the most promising technologies and how can they address pollution in the air, land, or marine ecosystems? – https://www.weforum.org/meetings/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2025/sessions/techs-answer-to-pollution/
Deploying Advanced Energy Tech Faster
(Hans Kobler, Bob Mumgaard, Arunabha Ghosh, Xin Baoan, Kimberly Budil, Sophie Hermans – WEF – 22 January 2025) Technology readiness, demand, finance and public support are among the various challenges hindering the increased deployment of advanced clean energy technologies such as small modular reactors, geothermal and long-duration storage. What needs to change to accelerate the deployment of these technologies? – https://www.weforum.org/meetings/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2025/sessions/deploying-advanced-energy-tech-faster/
The Dawn of Artificial General Intelligence?
(Andrew Ng, Yoshua Bengio, Nicholas Thompson, Yejin Choi, Jonathan Ross, Thomas Wolf – WEF – 22 January 2025) Artificial general intelligence could possess the versatility to reason, learn and innovate in any task. But with rising concerns about job losses, surveillance and deepfakes, will AGI be a force for progress or a threat to the very fabric of humanity? – https://www.weforum.org/meetings/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2025/sessions/the-dawn-of-artificial-general-intelligence/
The OECD-African Union AI Dialogue 2.0: From strategy to implementation
(Joseph Phillips, Amr Farouk Safwat, Jamie Berryhill – OECD.AI – 22 January 2025) The OECD-African Union (AU) AI Dialogue, held in Cairo from 19 to 21 November 2024, brought together participants from more than 30 countries—including 20 AU member states—to work together on concrete action steps to implement the Continental AI Strategy. As a follow-up to the first OECD-AU AI Dialogue in March, the event featured more than 40 speakers across 11 sessions focused on achieving the strategy’s key objectives. – https://oecd.ai/en/wonk/the-oecd-african-union-ai-dialogue-2-0-from-strategy-to-implementation
What Just Happened: Trump’s Announcement of the Stargate AI Infrastructure Project
(Justin Hendrix – Just Security – 22 January 2025) On Tuesday, Jan. 21, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, and Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison appeared at the White House with President Donald Trump to announce the creation of a joint AI infrastructure project called Stargate. Introducing the CEOs, President Trump hailed Stargate as “ a new American company that will invest $500 billion at least in AI infrastructure in the United States and move and very, very quickly, moving very rapidly, creating over 100,000 American jobs almost immediately.” The goal of the venture, Trump said, is to “build the physical and virtual infrastructure to power the next generation of advancements in AI. And this will include the construction of colossal data centers, very, very massive structures. I was in the real estate business. These buildings, these are big, beautiful buildings.” – https://www.justsecurity.org/106688/what-happened-trumps-announcement-stargate-ai-project/
A Start for AI Transparency at DHS with Room to Grow
(Rachel Levinson-Waldman, Spencer Reynolds – Just Security) Last month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published an inventory of DHS systems that incorporate AI, covering systems that are active, in development, and sunsetted. The DHS AI inventory provides information about every one of its 158 active AI use cases, representing a significant achievement compared to the now-archived DHS 2023 inventory, which contained just 67 use cases. In many places, the inventory complements and expands on other DHS privacy documentation, while clarifying inconsistencies from the previous iteration. It also contains a more detailed inventory that provides information on several technical metrics. But while the inventory represents a significant expansion of the department’s public disclosures on its use of AI, it also falls short in important ways. In this article, we assess areas for improvement in the DHS inventory that the Trump administration should consider as it reevaluates AI policies. – https://www.justsecurity.org/106502/start-for-ai-transparency-dhs-room-to-grow/
Chinese Critiques of Large Language Models. Finding the Path to General Artificial Intelligence
(William Hannas, Huey-Meei Chang, Maximilian Riesenhuber, and Daniel Chou – Center for Security and Emerging Technology – January 2025) Large generative models are widely viewed as the most promising path to general (human-level) artificial intelligence and attract investment in the billions of dollars. The present enthusiasm notwithstanding, a chorus of ranking Chinese scientists regard this singular approach to AGI as ill-advised. This report documents these critiques in China’s research, public statements, and government planning, while pointing to additional, pragmatic reasons for China’s pursuit of a diversified research portfolio. – https://cset.georgetown.edu/publication/chinese-critiques-of-large-language-models/
Security
New GhostGPT AI Chatbot Facilitates Malware Creation and Phishing
(James Coker – Infosecurity Magazine – 24 January 2025) Cybercriminals are selling access to a new malicious generative AI chatbot called GhostGPT. The AI tool is designed to assist with malicious activities such as malware creation and phishing emails. Researchers from Abnormal Security observed the cybercrime tool being sold through Telegram from the end of 2024. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ghostgpt-ai-chatbot-malware/
DOJ indicts two Americans for running laptop farm used in North Korea IT worker scam
(Jonathan Greig – The Record – 23 January 2025) The Justice Department indicted five people for their role in a scheme that allowed North Koreans to gain employment with at least 64 U.S. companies and earn hundreds of thousands of dollars for Pyongyang’s government. North Korean nationals Jin Sung-Il and Pak Jin-Song were indicted alongside Americans Erick Ntekereze Prince and Emanuel Ashtor as well as Mexican national Pedro Ernesto Alonso De Los Reyes. – https://therecord.media/doj-indicts-americans-for-running-laptop-farm-north-korea-scheme
Cyber Insights 2025: Malware Directions
(SecurityWeek – 23 January 2025) Cyber Insights 2025 examines expert opinions on the expected evolution of more than a dozen areas of cybersecurity interest over the next 12 months. The continuing advance of AI brings the likelihood of effective, specific vulnerability-targeted new malware automatically produced in hours rather than days or weeks ever closer. – https://www.securityweek.com/cyber-insights-2025-malware-directions/
73% of UK Education Sector Hit by Cyber-Attacks in Past Five Years
(Beth Maundrill – Infosecurity Magazine – 22 January 2025) The UK education sector is a key target for cyber-attacks, with 73% of institutions having experienced at least one cyber-attack or breach in the past five years, according to new ESET research. The cybersecurity firm said that a fifth of institutions surveyed reported three or more cyber incidents. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/schools-hit-by-cyberattacks-in/
Ransomware Attacks Surge to Record High in December 2024
(James Coker – Infosecurity Magazine – 22 January 2025) The highest monthly volume of global ransomware attacks ever recorded occurred in December 2024, according to NCC Group’s latest Threat Pulse report. The security firm detected 574 ransomware attacks during the month, which is the highest number since it began monitoring ransomware activity in 2021. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ransomware-record-high-december/
Major Cybersecurity Vendors’ Credentials Found on Dark Web
(Kevin Poireault – Infosecurity Magazine – 22 January 2025) Thousands of account credentials belonging to major cybersecurity vendors on the dark web have been discovered by threat intelligence firm Cyble. In a January 22 report where Cyble researchers shared their findings, they said they found credentials for at least 14 security providers. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/cybersecurity-vendors-credentials/
Account Compromise and Phishing Top Healthcare Security Incidents
(Phil Muncaster – Infosecurity Magazine – 22 January 2025) The vast majority (84%) of healthcare organizations (HCOs) detected a cyber-attack or intrusion in 2024, with account hijacking and phishing the most common incidents, according to Netwrix. The cybersecurity software vendor polled IT and security professionals working in the sector globally as part of a wider study into hybrid cloud trends. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/account-compromise-phishing/
Frontiers
Counterspace Capabilities: Renewed Hope for Cooperative Governance?
(Almudena Azcárate Ortega, Victoria Samson – Centre for International Governance Innovation – 23 January 2025) Ever since humankind first launched objects into space, counterspace capabilities (also known as “space weapons”) were developed to disrupt or destroy them. Now that space is increasingly being used for both civilian and military applications, space technologies have evolved to meet these needs, but regulations to protect space have lagged behind. This paper looks at how the international community is addressing the threats posed by these technologies through multilateral efforts and regulatory mechanisms to enhance space security. – https://www.cigionline.org/publications/counterspace-capabilities-renewed-hope-for-cooperative-governance/