Top of the Day
What Would a ‘Sputnik Moment’ for US–China AI Competition Look Like?
(Huw Roberts – RUSI – 4 February 2025) On 4 October 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the world’s first artificial satellite, into orbit. This launch sparked panic in the US on account of the perceived capabilities gap between Soviet and US space technologies. In 1958, President Dwight Eisenhower argued that if this gap was maintained, US leadership and national security would be threatened. Shortly afterwards, NASA was established. A similar alarmism has been present among many Western commentators following the recent release of cheap, high-performance AI models by the Chinese company DeepSeek. Commentaries on the subject have made wide-ranging claims. Some suggest that DeepSeek’s models are evidence of the US taking the wrong approach to AI development and of US export controls on semiconductor chips failing. The most alarmist comments have stated that this is a ‘Sputnik moment’ for AI development, with China ‘leapfrogging’ the US. – https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/what-would-sputnik-moment-us-china-ai-competition-look
DeepSeek diplomacy: Disruption, dominance and data
(Miah Hammond-Errey – Lowy The Interpreter – 4 January 2025) DeepSeek’s emergence doesn’t solve AI hallucinations. The problems with the reliability of information persist. But the sudden splash caused by the Chinese company’s large language model is disruptive, challenging as it is to US tech dominance along with data access concerns. – https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/deepseek-diplomacy-disruption-dominance-data
The Just Security Podcast: Diving Deeper into DeepSeek
(Brianna Rosen, Lennart Heim, Keegan McBride, Lauren Wagner, Paras Shah and Clara Apt – Just Security – 4 February 2025) The tech industry is calling this AI’s “Sputnik Moment” – and President Donald Trump has said it’s a “wake-up call” for U.S. companies. We’re talking about DeepSeek, the Chinese AI startup that has rapidly emerged as a formidable contender in the global AI race. DeepSeek is making waves for developing powerful open-source language models that rival leading U.S. competitors – at a fraction of the cost and with far lower computational requirements. The DeepSeek saga raises urgent questions about China’s AI ambitions, the future of U.S. technological leadership, and the strategic implications of open-source AI models. How did DeepSeek get here? What does its rise mean for competition between China and the United States? And how should U.S. policymakers respond? – https://www.justsecurity.org/107337/just-security-podcast-diving-deeper-into-deepseek/
Bill Gates Sees Quantum Computing’s Potential Arrival in Three to Five Years
(Matt Swayne – Quantum Insider – 4 February 2025) Bill Gates believes practical quantum computing could arrive in the next three to five years, challenging longer timelines suggested by others. Microsoft is working on a powerful quantum machine, set to be released later in 2025, with Gates expressing confidence in its progress. Nvidia’s Jensen Huang has suggested that quantum computing may take 15 to 30 years to become widely useful, sparking debate in the tech community. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/02/04/bill-gates-sees-quantum-computings-potential-arrival-in-three-to-five-years/
Backwards Thinking on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Human Trafficking
(Brian Drake – Stimson Center – 31 January 2025) The running assumption by human traffickers that the U.S. federal government will consistently underfund and be slow to act on human trafficking activity is unfortunately not far from reality. With North America being one of the largest markets for human trafficking, U.S. federal and state laws focused on policing victims rather than reducing the need for human trafficking have only exacerbated the trade. Human trafficking has become an increasingly digitized crime, operating less on cash and the trade of goods, and more on cryptocurrency and peer-to-peer payment systems. The way law enforcement approaches human trafficking also needs to pivot to less in-person sting operations and more cyberspace and blockchain investigations. By incorporating AI into investigative processes, human dignity and security can be prioritized at beyond-human rates, creating a precedent for future human injustices. – https://www.stimson.org/2025/backwards-thinking-on-artificial-intelligence-ai-and-human-trafficking/
Defense, Intelligence, and Warfare
Lessons Australia Can Learn from Ukraine’s Digital Resilience
(Nikki Trewin – Australian Institute of International Affairs – 4 February 2025) Modern warfare is no longer confined to tanks, missiles, or frontlines. As the war in Ukraine has demonstrated, battles are increasingly fought in the digital domain, where maintaining critical government services is just as vital as defending physical borders. Ukraine’s “Diia” app, which connects over 19 million Ukrainians with more than 120 public services on one platform, has emerged as an unlikely hero of national services in wartime. For Australia, Diia offers a roadmap for building robust digital infrastructure that empowers citizens, enhances accessibility, and ensures national resilience; notwithstanding its ability to streamline government functions for its citizens, including broader day-to-day services, ensuring greater levels of accountability, and reining in corruption and scams. – https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianoutlook/lessons-australia-can-learn-from-ukraines-digital-resilience/
Frontiers
Quantinuum Touts Generative Quantum AI’s Massive Commercial Potential
(Matt Swayne – Quantum Insider – 4 February 2025) Quantinuum has launched its Generative Quantum AI (Gen QAI) framework, leveraging quantum-generated data to enable advances in medicine, financial modeling and global logistics optimization. The Gen QAI framework, powered by Quantinuum’s H2 quantum computer, sets a new standard in AI by using quantum-generated data to enhance AI model fidelity, unlocking solutions for previously unsolvable challenges. Industry collaborations, including projects with HPE Group in automotive and healthcare firms like Merck KGaA, are demonstrating the transformative potential of Gen QAI in areas such as battery development, drug delivery, and climate solutions. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/02/04/quantinuum-touts-generative-quantum-ais-massive-commercial-potential/
Tracking Quantum Adoption in Enterprise: The Quantum Insider and HorizonX Consulting Launch Quantum Index at IYQ
(Cierra Choucair – Quantum Insider – 4 February 2025) The Quantum Insider and HorizonX Consulting have launched the Quantum Innovation Index, the first benchmarking tool tracking enterprise adoption of quantum technology across industries. The inaugural rankings focus on the automotive and finance sectors, highlighting companies such as Volkswagen, BMW, Hyundai, JPMorgan, and Goldman Sachs. The index coincides with the International Year of Quantum, a United Nations-endorsed initiative celebrating quantum science’s impact on global progress. The Quantum Insider will provide market intelligence and expert insights throughout 2025 as a strategic IYQ partner. The Quantum Innovation Index will expand throughout the year, ranking additional industries and tracking enterprise investments in quantum technology. The goal is to provide organizations with data-driven insights to shape their quantum strategies and accelerate adoption. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/02/04/tracking-quantum-adoption-in-enterprise-the-quantum-insider-and-horizonx-consulting-launch-quantum-index-at-iyq/
Reid Hoffman Believes AI is A Future of Agency, Not Fear
(James Dargan – AI Insider – 4 February 2025) Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn and co-founder of Inflection AI, believes that artificial intelligence (AI) is not something to be feared but embraced with curiosity. In his latest book, Superagency, Hoffman makes the case for AI as a tool to expand human agency rather than diminish it. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/02/04/reid-hoffman-believes-ai-is-a-future-of-agency-not-fear/
Security
Threefold Increase in Malware Targeting Credential Stores
(Phil Muncaster – Infosecurity Magazine – 4 February 2025) Infostealers continued to grow in popularity on the cybercrime underground last year, with credentials from password stores appearing in 29% of malware samples analyzed by Picus Security. The security vendor’s Red Report 2025 examined over one million malware samples and mapped more than 14 million malicious actions and 11 million instances of MITRE ATT&CK techniques, in order to better illuminate the threat landscape. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/threefold-increase-malware/
Surge in Infostealer Attacks Threatens EMEA Organizations’ Data Security
(Kevin Poireault – Infosecurity Magazine – 4 February 2025) Organizations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) are facing a dramatic increase in infostealer attacks, according to Check Point. In its latest EMEA Cyber Threat Intelligence report, launched on February 4 during its CPX 2025 Vienna conference, Check Point Research observed a 58% increase in infostealer attacks targeting organizations in the region over the past year. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/surge-in-infostealer-attacks-emea/
Texas to Establish Cyber Command Amid “Dramatic” Rise in Attacks
(James Coker – Infosecurity Magazine – 4 February 2025) Texas Governor Greg Abbott has announced plans to create a Texas Cyber Command, designed to combat a “dramatic” rise in cyber-attacks targeting the US state. Abbott unveiled the Cyber Command as an emergency item during his State of the State address on February 2, 2025. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/texas-cyber-command-rise-attacks/