Artificial intelligence Archives | Page 623 of 701

Major data centre investment by Amazon in the UK

Amazon has announced plans to invest £8 billion in the UK to expand its data centre operations. The investment will be made by Amazon Web Services (AWS) over the next five years, aiming to meet growing demand for cloud computing, largely driven by AI advancements.

This new investment will add to AWS’s previous contributions of £3 billion since 2022, with facilities already in London and Manchester. The company expects the project to contribute £14 billion to the UK economy and support more than 14,000 jobs by the end of 2028.

AWS’s investment follows significant European cloud computing expansions, including substantial projects in Spain and Germany. After a pause last year, many corporate clients have resumed cloud spending, driven by a renewed interest in AI.

The announcement has been welcomed by the UK government, with Finance Minister Rachel Reeves highlighting its importance ahead of an upcoming investment summit. The exact locations of the new data centres will not be disclosed due to security reasons, but they will meet growing demand around London.

Global AI military blueprint receives support, but China declines

Around 60 nations, including the United States, endorsed a ‘blueprint for action’ on Tuesday to regulate the responsible use of AI in military settings. The blueprint was unveiled at the second Responsible AI in the Military Domain (REAIM) summit in Seoul. However, China was among the countries that declined to support the legally non-binding document.

The blueprint builds on discussions from last year’s summit in Amsterdam and outlines concrete steps, such as risk assessments and ensuring human involvement in decisions related to AI in military operations, including nuclear weapons. It also emphasises preventing AI from being used in weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by non-state actors, such as terrorist groups.

The summit, co-hosted by the Netherlands, Singapore, Kenya, and the United Kingdom, aims to foster global cooperation without being led by a single entity. Despite this, China and approximately 30 other countries refrained from endorsing the document, highlighting differing views among participants on AI’s military use.

As the international community moves forward, discussions on AI in military contexts are expected to continue at the United Nations General Assembly in October. Experts stress that while the blueprint is a step forward, progress must be made carefully to avoid alienating countries from engaging in future talks.

Brazil boosts digital inclusion and tech standards at G20

Brazil enhanced its commitment to digital inclusion and connectivity at the G20 meeting on the Digital Economy in Maceió. The Brazilian government is driving significant projects such as the National Strategy for Connected Schools, which aims to connect 138,000 public schools by 2026.

The following initiative demonstrates Brazil’s dedication to integrating educational institutions into the digital landscape and providing students access to essential digital resources. Additionally, Brazil is developing new metrics to evaluate the economic accessibility of digital services, ensuring that connectivity is widespread and affordable for all socioeconomic groups.

Brazil also enhances its focus on emerging technologies like AI and blockchain as part of its broader digital strategy. At the meeting, discussions are centred on effectively leveraging these technologies while addressing cybersecurity and data protection challenges. Brazil is advocating for the establishment of international standards to guide the responsible use of these technologies, aiming to build global trust and confidence.

Why does this matter?

The dual approach, improving digital infrastructure and regulating emerging technologies, reflects Brazil’s commitment to advancing global digital equity and fostering sustainable growth.

Elea data centres drives Brazil’s digital transformation with rebrand and sustainability focus

Brazil is experiencing a transformative shift in its digital infrastructure landscape with the rebranding of Elea Data Centers from Elea Digital Data Centers. The strategic change, accompanied by the acquisition of two major data centre campuses in São Paulo, significantly bolsters Elea’s presence and capabilities in the Brazilian market.

Elea now operates nine facilities across five major metropolitan areas, making it the country’s largest decentralised data centre provider. Each facility is powered by 100% renewable energy, underscoring the company’s leadership in sustainable practices and setting a high standard for environmental responsibility within the industry.

The updated identity emphasises Elea’s mission to drive Brazil’s digital transformation by offering state-of-the-art infrastructure solutions catering to various technological needs. From edge computing to hyperscale data centres, Elea is committed to supporting the evolving demands of businesses and positioning Brazil at the forefront of technological innovation.

Why does this matter?

The rebrand reflects Elea’s dedication to preparing the nation for future advancements, particularly in emerging fields such as AI. It underscores the company’s role in shaping Brazil’s digital future, focusing on sustainability and cutting-edge technology.

Huawei to boost Malawi’s digital transformation

Huawei is significantly contributing to Malawi’s digital transformation through its comprehensive Smart Village Program, which aims to bridge the digital divide in rural areas. This program integrates smart agriculture technologies, expands access to financial services, and enhances education and healthcare through digital solutions.

As part of this initiative, Huawei will establish technical training centres in rural regions to equip young people with crucial digital skills in AI, cybersecurity, and smart agriculture. That effort is a key component of Huawei’s larger $430 million investment plan for Africa, which includes funding for cloud development, talent development, and long-term technological progress.

The initiative supports Malawi’s MW2063 agenda, which envisions transforming the country into an industrialised upper-middle-income nation by 2063. It also builds on previous collaborations, such as the launch of Malawi’s National Data Centre in 2022, marking a significant advancement in the nation’s digital infrastructure.

In addition to Malawi, Huawei’s regional impact extends to other African countries, including Zambia and Uganda, where it is involved in smart village projects, and Kenya, where it contributes to smart city initiatives. These efforts aim to enhance connectivity and drive technological innovation across the continent.

NEXTDC to raise A$750 million for Asian expansion

Australian data centre operator NEXTDC plans to raise A$750 million ($500.33 million) to expand its data centre projects across Asia, driven by growing demand for cloud and AI-based digital infrastructure. The company announced it would raise A$550 million through a placement priced at A$17.15 per share, alongside a share purchase plan capped at A$200 million.

NEXTDC said the increased demand for data centres across its core Asian markets was creating strong growth opportunities. The company is positioning itself to benefit from the global AI boom, which is boosting the need for digital infrastructure throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

In a related trend, United States investment firm Blackstone recently acquired the data centre company AirTrunk from Australia in a deal worth A$24 billion, reflecting the ongoing interest in the sector. NEXTDC also raised its capital expenditure forecast for fiscal 2025 to between A$1.3 billion and A$1.5 billion, up from the earlier range of A$900 million to A$1.1 billion.

The capital injection is set to help NEXTDC further expand its footprint across Asia, allowing it to keep pace with the rising demand for digital services and AI-powered applications.

Mobily transforms telecommunications with AI, supporting Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030

Mobily is leveraging AI to revolutionise the telecommunications industry, particularly in the Middle East. By aligning with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, Mobily is using AI to drive growth and innovation. The company’s AI-driven solutions improve network efficiency, enhance customer experience, and boost business agility, positioning Mobily as a leader in the region’s telecom sector.

Through predictive maintenance, Mobily ensures network reliability, while AI-powered customer service chatbots and analytics platforms optimise performance and provide personalised services to meet the growing demands of digital consumers. Mobily also places a strong emphasis on enhancing the customer experience through AI. The company uses AI to offer personalised support, analyse customer data to deliver tailored recommendations, anticipate needs, and provide proactive service. AI-powered tools like chatbots and virtual assistants streamline customer service, resulting in faster response times and improved satisfaction.

Additionally, Mobily ensures its use of AI adheres to strict ethical standards, prioritising data privacy, transparency, and fairness. With robust encryption, user consent practices, and bias mitigation strategies, Mobily safeguards customer information while building trust through ethical AI use.

Mobily also focuses on building and developing AI talent. The company collaborates with universities to create internship programs and invests in continuous learning initiatives for its employees, fostering a culture of innovation and ensuring that the organisation stays ahead in AI advancements. Furthermore, Mobily emphasises cross-departmental collaboration to integrate AI effectively across marketing, operations, and other business units.

iPhone 16 criticised in China for lack of AI

Apple’s new iPhone 16, launched on Monday, faced criticism in China for its lack of AI features, as the company contends with increasing competition from domestic tech giant Huawei. While Apple highlighted AI-enhanced capabilities in its global announcement, the iPhone 16’s Chinese version will not have AI functionality until next year, which sparked significant debate on Chinese social media platforms.

On Weibo, discussions centred on the absence of AI, with users questioning the value of the new model compared to Huawei’s imminent launch of a three-way foldable smartphone. Some users expressed disappointment that Apple hadn’t yet partnered with a local AI provider to enhance the iPhone‘s functionality in China.

Despite the AI criticism, analysts believe that the lack of immediate AI integration is unlikely to impact short-term sales. Experts pointed to Apple’s strong customer loyalty and predicted that users of older iPhone models will still drive demand for upgrades. However, they warned that the company must develop a robust AI ecosystem in China to stay competitive in the long run.

Pre-orders for the iPhone 16 will begin on Friday through platforms such as JD.com, with deliveries expected from 20 September. Meanwhile, Huawei’s latest models continue to gain popularity in China, posing a growing challenge to Apple’s market share.

Responsible AI in the Military Domain: REAIM Blueprint for Action

REAIM Blueprint for Action

Artificial Intelligence (AI), as an enabling technology, holds extraordinary potential to transform every aspect of military affairs, including military operations, command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) activities, training, information management and logistical support.

With the rapid advancement and progress in AI, there is a growing interest by states to leverage Al technology in the military domain. At the same time, AI applications in the military domain could be linked to a range of challenges and risks from humanitarian, legal, security, technological, societal or ethical perspectives that need to be identified, assessed and addressed.

To harness the benefits and opportunities of AI while adequately addressing the risks and challenges involved, AI capabilities in the military domain, including systems enabled by Al, should be applied in a responsible manner throughout their entire life cycle and in compliance with applicable international law, in particular, international humanitarian law.

Building on the Call to Action laid out at the REAIM Summit 2023, we invite all stakeholders including states, industry, academia, civil society, regional and international organizations to:

The impact of AI on international peace and security

1. Affirm that AI applications in the military domain should be developed, deployed and used in a way that maintains and does not undermine international peace, security and stability;

2. Recognize that AI applications in the military domain may bring benefits such as increased situational awareness and understanding, precision, accuracy and efficiency, which can enhance the implementation of international humanitarian law and assist in efforts to protect civilians as well as civilian objects in armed conflicts; and AI applications in the military domain may increase effectiveness of and support for peacebuilding and peacekeeping activities, and enhance verification and monitoring capabilities for arms control and other compliance regimes;

3. Recognize also that Al applications can present both foreseeable and unforeseeable risks across various facets of the military domain, which may, inter alia, originate from design flaws, unintended consequences, including from data, algorithmic and other biases, potential misuse or malicious use of the technology and the interaction of Al applications with the complex dynamics of global and regional conflicts and stability, including risks of an arms race, miscalculation, escalation and lowering threshold of conflict;

4. Further recognize that possible high impact applications in the military domain that deserve particular policy attention could include Al-enabled weapons, Al-enabled decision-support systems for combat operations, AI in cyber operations, AI in electronic warfare and AI in information operations;

5. Stress the need to prevent AI technologies from being used to contribute to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) by state and non-state actors including terrorist groups, and emphasize that AI technologies support and do not hinder disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation efforts; and it is especially crucial to maintain human control and involvement for all actions critical to informing and executing sovereign decisions concerning nuclear weapons employment, without prejudice to the ultimate goal of a world free of nuclear weapons;

6. Underscore the importance of establishing robust control and security measures to prevent irresponsible actors from acquiring and misusing potentially harmful AI capabilities in the military domain, including systems enabled by AI, while bearing in mind that these measures should not undermine equitable access to the benefits of AI capabilities in other non-military domains;

Implementing responsible AI in the military domain

7. Affirm that AI applications must be developed, deployed and used in accordance with international law, including, as applicable, the UN Charter, international humanitarian law, international human rights law; and, as appropriate, other relevant legal frameworks, including regional instruments;

8. Stress the importance of establishing national strategies, principles, standards and norms, policies and frameworks and legislation as appropriate to ensure responsible AI applications in the military domain;

9. Acknowledge the following, which are not exhaustive, to ensure responsible AI in the military domain;

(a) Al applications should be ethical and human-centric.

(b) AI capabilities in the military domain must be applied in accordance with applicable national and international law.

(c) Humans remain responsible and accountable for their use and effects of Al applications in the military domain, and responsibility and accountability can never be transferred to machines.

(d) The reliability and trustworthiness of AI applications need to be ensured by establishing appropriate safeguards to reduce the risks of malfunctions or unintended consequences, including from data, algorithmic and other biases.

(e) Appropriate human involvement needs to be maintained in the development, deployment and use of AI in the military domain, including appropriate measures that relate to human judgement and control over the use of force.

(f) Relevant personnel should be able to adequately understand, explain, trace and trust the outputs produced by Al capabilities in the military domain, including systems enabled by Al. Efforts to improve the explainability and traceability of AI in the military domain need to continue.

10. Commit to engaging in further discussions and to promoting dialogue on developing measures to ensure responsible AI in the military domain at the national, regional and international level, including through international normative frameworks, rigorous testing and evaluation (T&E) protocols, comprehensive verification, validation and accreditation (VV&A) processes, robust national oversight mechanisms, continuous monitoring processes, comprehensive training programs, exercises, enhanced cyber security and clear accountability frameworks;

11. Encourage the development of effective legal review procedures, trust and confidence building measures and appropriate risk reduction measures, as well as the exchange of information and consultations on good practices and lessons learned among states; and invite other stakeholders, including industry, academia, civil society and regional and international organizations to actively engage in these efforts, as appropriate, including through regular multi-stakeholder exchanges, dissemination of case studies and other relevant documentation and active participation in collaborative initiatives;

12. Stress that efforts on responsible AI in the military domain can be taken in parallel and do not hamper the efforts on research, development, experimentation and innovation with AI technology;

Envisaging future governance of AI in the military domain

13. Recognize that the discussion on the governance of Al in the military domain should include fostering a common understanding of Al technology and its capabilities and limitations, and a shared understanding on the possible applications of AI in the military domain and their potential impacts, including both benefits and risks;

14. Emphasize that such a discussion should take place in an open and inclusive manner to fully reflect wide- ranging views, bearing in mind that different states and regions are at varying stages of integrating AI capabilities in the military domain, come from different security environments and have varying security concerns;

15. Stress the importance of capacity-building, especially in developing countries, to promote full participation of those countries in the discussions on the governance of AI in the military domain, and to facilitate the responsible approach in the development, deployment and use of military AI capabilities;

16. Commit to strengthening international cooperation on capacity-building aimed at reducing the knowledge gap on responsible development, deployment and use of AI in the military domain;

17. Note that data plays a crucial part in AI applications in the military domain, and acknowledge that states and other relevant stakeholders need to engage in further discussions on adequate data governance mechanisms, including clear policies and procedures for data collection, storage, processing, exchange and deletion as well as data protection;

18. Recognize the need for a flexible, balanced, and realistic approach to the governance of Al in the military domain to keep pace with the rapid development and advancement of technologies;

19. Acknowledge developments across multiple initiatives related to the AI applications in the military domain, including the REAIM Summit with its relevant regional events and the establishment of the REAIM Global Commission, the Political Declaration on Responsible Military Use of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy, as well as the Group of Governmental Experts on Emerging Technologies in the Area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS GGE) established under the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), and the discussions in the UN Disarmament Commission and the Conference on Disarmament; take note also of the UN General Assembly Resolution 78/241 on Lethal autonomous weapons systems and relevant regional and international conferences; and stress that these initiatives should be synergistic and complementary, without prejudice to ongoing discussions on related subjects in other fora;

20. Commit to continuing global and regional dialogue on responsible AI in the military domain in an open and inclusive manner with active involvement from and exchange among stakeholders, as appropriate, acknowledging that efforts on responsible AI in the military domain is a task of generations requiring meaningful engagement with the youth.

We invite states to join this Blueprint for Action and also welcome other relevant stakeholders including industry, academia, civil society, regional and international organizations to support and associate with the Blueprint for Action as we continue our efforts to establish responsible Al for the future of humanity.

California’s AI bill gains industry support

Around 120 current and former employees from AI giants like OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepMind, and Meta have publicly voiced their support for California’s new AI regulation bill, SB 1047. The bill, which includes whistle-blower protections for employees revealing the risks in AI models, aims to impose stronger regulations on developing powerful AI technologies. Supporters argue that these measures are crucial to prevent potential threats such as cyberattacks and the misuse of biological weapons.

California’s SB 1047 has already passed the State Assembly and Senate and is awaiting Governor Gavin Newsom’s decision, with a deadline set for 30 September. Notably, high-profile signatories of the letter backing the bill include Geoffrey Hinton, a Turing Award winner, and Jan Leike, a former OpenAI alignment lead, signalling wide support from influential figures in the tech world.

Proponents of the bill believe AI companies should be responsible for testing and ensuring their models don’t pose significant harm. They argue that regulations are essential to safeguard critical infrastructure and prevent AI misuse. Despite its limitations, experts like Harvard’s Lawrence Lessig have called the bill a ‘solid step forward’ in managing AI risks.

However, not everyone agrees. OpenAI and other major tech organisations, including the US Chamber of Commerce and the Software and Information Industry Association, oppose the bill, claiming it would stifle innovation in the fast-moving AI sector. Tech industry advocates argue that over-regulation may hinder the development of cutting-edge technologies.