Digital standards

Global connectivity takes centre stage at the IGF 2024 in Riyadh

The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2024 day first in Riyadh opened with one of the key sessions titled ‘Global Access, Global Progress: Managing the Challenges of Global Digital Adoption’, bringing together prominent panellists from government, private sectors, and civil society to address one of the world’s most pressing issues—bridging the digital divide. Moderated by Timea Suto, Global Digital Policy Lead at the International Chamber of Commerce, the session explored the need for universal internet connectivity, its life-changing impact, and the challenges of ensuring meaningful participation in the digital age.

Gbenga Sesan, Executive Director at Paradigm Initiative, highlighted the transformative power of connectivity with inspiring stories. ‘Connectivity is not just a privilege; it can mean life or death,’ he emphasised, sharing the success of individuals in underserved communities who leveraged digital access to escape poverty and access vital healthcare. Thelma Quaye of Smart Africa echoed his sentiment, stressing that affordability remains a significant barrier, particularly in Africa, where only 40% are connected despite wide mobile coverage. ‘Governments must invest in infrastructure to reach the last mile,’ she urged, citing the need for public-private partnerships and relevant content that empowers users economically.

The discussion expanded to community-driven solutions, with Sally Wentworth, President of the Internet Society, showcasing the successes of locally managed networks. She highlighted a project in Tanzania that trained thousands in digital skills, demonstrating the potential of bottom-up connectivity.

Japan’s Vice Minister, Dr Takuo Imagawa, shared Japan’s achievements in near-universal broadband coverage, pointing to combining government subsidies and competitive policies as a scalable model. Emerging technologies like AI were discussed as necessary tools to reduce the digital divide, but speakers cautioned that they must remain inclusive and address societal needs.

On the economic front, Shivnath Thukral, VP for Public Policy at Meta India, highlighted open-source AI technologies as solutions for education, agriculture, and linguistic inclusion. ‘AI can bridge both the connectivity and knowledge gaps, delivering localised, affordable solutions at scale,’ he said. Meanwhile, Tami Bhaumik of Roblox underscored the importance of digital literacy and safety, particularly for young users. ‘Technology is powerful, but education is key to ensuring people use it responsibly,’ she noted, advocating for collaboration between governments, tech companies, and educators.

Why does it matter?

The panellists expressed clearly that global digital adoption requires cooperation across sectors, inclusive policymaking, and a focus on empowering local communities. As stakeholders debated solutions, one message emerged clearly: connectivity alone is not enough. For the digital world to deliver real progress, investments in skills, affordability, and digital literacy must go hand-in-hand with technological innovation. That’s why IGF remains a vital platform to unite diverse perspectives and drive actionable solutions to bridge the digital divide.

All transcripts from the Internet Governance Forum sessions can be found on dig.watch.

BRICS alliance targets AI innovation and collaboration

Russia has unveiled plans to create an AI alliance with BRICS countries Brazil, China, India, and South Africa along with other interested nations. President Vladimir Putin made the announcement at a major AI conference in Moscow, highlighting the initiative as a key step to challenge the dominance of the United States in the rapidly advancing field of AI.

The AI Alliance Network will promote joint research, technology development, and regulation among member nations. Despite Western sanctions that have hampered Russia’s access to essential AI hardware like microchips, domestic leaders like Sberbank and Yandex are driving innovation with generative AI models such as GigaChat and YandexGPT.

Russia also has ambitious plans to integrate AI across its economy, targeting a contribution of 11.2 trillion roubles to GDP by 2030 and training 80% of its workforce in AI skills. While the country currently lags behind global leaders like the US and China in AI development, this alliance could mark a turning point in its technological aspirations.

General Motors ends Robotaxi venture amid market challenges

General Motors has announced it will cease funding its Cruise self-driving taxi project, redirecting its autonomous vehicle efforts toward personal cars. The decision reflects the intense competition and financial demands of scaling in the robotaxi sector. GM stated that the resources required to make Cruise profitable were a major factor in its pivot.

Cruise has faced mounting challenges in recent months. Following a fatal accident in October 2023 that led California to revoke its driverless testing permit, the company suspended operations across the US and cut a quarter of its workforce. Leadership changes and federal scrutiny further complicated Cruise’s trajectory, with co-founder Kyle Vogt departing amid the fallout.

This move signals broader difficulties within the autonomous taxi industry, where other giants like Ford and Volkswagen have also scaled back ambitions. GM, which owns 97% of Cruise, had once predicted billions in revenue from the venture by 2030. While companies like Tesla, Waymo, and Amazon continue to chase the robotaxi dream, GM is betting its future on personal autonomous vehicles instead.

Trump picks new FTC chair to target big tech policies

President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Andrew Ferguson as the next chair of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), signaling a dramatic policy shift for the agency. Ferguson, who joined the FTC as a commissioner earlier this year, is set to take over on ‘day one’ of Trump’s administration, replacing Lina Khan. Khan’s tenure focused on regulating Big Tech, earning praise for her aggressive antitrust stance.

Ferguson promises to reverse what he calls Khan’s ‘anti-business agenda’ and tackle what he terms ‘Big Tech censorship’ and ‘wokeness.’ He emphasises a commitment to protecting free speech and ensuring America’s leadership in technology and innovation. Ferguson’s policy blueprint, revealed in a document obtained by Punchbowl News, also includes plans to counter the ‘trans agenda’ as part of broader cultural battles tied to his vision for the FTC.

Trump also announced Mark Meador, an antitrust lawyer, as a nominee for FTC commissioner. Together, Ferguson and Meador aim to reshape the FTC into a body that prioritises competition, innovation, and what they describe as the restoration of free-market principles. These appointments mark a significant pivot from the current US administration’s regulatory approach to Big Tech.

Senators accuse FanDuel and DraftKings of anti-competitive behavior

Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) are calling for an investigation into potential antitrust violations by FanDuel and DraftKings. In a joint letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the US Department of Justice, the lawmakers accused the two sports betting giants of collaborating to suppress competition in the online sports betting market. The issue centres around their 2016 merger attempt, which was blocked by the FTC due to concerns about market dominance.

Since the merger was scrapped, Lee and Welch argue that FanDuel and DraftKings have used their dominance in fantasy sports to stifle smaller competitors in the online betting space. They claim that the companies, through the Sports Betting Alliance trade group, have intimidated rivals, blocked access to technology, and undermined marketing opportunities, which could harm innovation and prevent new players from entering the market.

FanDuel and DraftKings have not publicly commented on the allegations, and the Justice Department has acknowledged receipt of the letter but has not provided further details. The news has caused a drop in DraftKings’ stock, with Sen. Lee highlighting the potential societal impacts of the companies’ actions.

UCLA to offer AI-developed humanities course

UCLA is breaking new ground with an AI-developed comparative literature course set to launch in winter 2025. The class, covering literature from the Middle Ages to the 17th century, will feature a textbook, assignments, and teaching assistant (TA) resources generated by Kudu, an AI-powered platform founded by UCLA physics professor Alexander Kusenko. This initiative marks the first use of AI-generated materials in UCLA’s humanities division.

Professor Zrinka Stahuljak, who designed the course, collaborated with Kudu by providing lecture notes, PowerPoint slides, and videos from previous classes. The AI system produced the materials within three to four months, requiring just 20 hours of professor involvement. Kudu’s platform allows students to interact with course content through questions answered strictly within the provided material, ensuring focused and accurate responses.

By streamlining material creation, the approach frees up professors and TAs to engage more closely with students while maintaining consistency in course delivery. UCLA hopes this innovative method will enhance the learning experience and redefine education in the humanities.

Open source (still) means innovations

There is no need to explain the importance of the global network innovation we enjoy today. Many lines have been written on the possibilities and the marvels the network delivers daily. After an initial couple of decades of admiration, the same thing happened with many other wonders of the world we witnessed throughout civilization. We took it for granted. We do not discuss its structure, backbone, and the incentive structure behind it. Unless it interferes with our daily life and freedom.

This is true for any network user, being a state actor, cloud computing company, or everyday end user. When we look at the backbone of the internet, almost everything is open source. What does this mean? Basic protocols and ways we connect over the internet are documented and open for everyone to observe, copy, and build upon. They are agreed upon as a set of transparent public instructions that are free of proprietary obligations. 

Industry and innovation 

To distinguish innovation from the industry (which might be important to go forward), we can introduce a simple correlation: The industry is an ecosystem that emerged on the need to make the invention more available. The vision of utility is in the industry, and the value of innovation is proven with every iteration of utility. Following this correlation, we can indeed say that the more transparent innovation, the greater its value (or we tend to give it such a position).

When we look at the internet industry, we observe that companies and strategies that followed openness have benefited massively from the invention. This system of benefits from the open source approach can work in depth for both the invention and the consequential industry. To name a couple of the greatest examples: Alphabet (Google, YouTube, or Maps), Linux (used to run almost the entire internet backbone infrastructure), Android (revolutionising the app market, levelling the entry field, and reducing the digital divide). All of them are open source, built on the open-source innovation of the internet.

Architecture, Building, Diagram, CAD Diagram

A closer look at resiliency

Let’s look at one example that may illustrate this precisely: bitcoin. It started as an open-source project and is still one of the most maintained public databases on the internet. Bitcoin brings back the idea of private money after 100 years of the nation’s monopoly on money. Although it is pointed out as a danger to the international financial system, there is no possible coordinated action by such entities to take down this system and/or ban it permanently. Why? The simple answer is in the trade-off. 

Stopping bitcoin (or any digital information online) is not impossible per se but would require massive resources. This would require full control of all communication channels towards the internet, including banning satellites from orbiting above your geolocation and persistent efforts to ensure no one is breaching the ban. But in 2024, such a ban would create a tear in the fabric of society. Societal consequences would widely overcome the possible benefits.

Instead, as long as it is neutral, bitcoin does not present a threat but rather an opportunity for all. All other competitors built on bitcoin principles are not the same for that particular reason: they are not open source and transparent. No Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), privately issued stablecoin, or any of the thousand cryptocurrency impersonators have proven to hold any of the bitcoin’s value. Following the earlier distinction, innovation is open source, but the industry around it is not so much.

Open source is the right way, not the easy one

Does the above mean that when an industry is not based on open source, it cannot make great discoveries and innovate further? No, not at all. Intellectual property is a large part of the portfolio of the biggest tech companies. For example, Apple’s IP revenues culminated in around USD 22.6 billion in research and development expenditures (in 2022) The proprietary industry moves the needle in the economy and creates wealth, while open source creates opportunities. We need both for a healthy future. All of our opportunities may not result in imminent wealth, but rather in inspiration to move forward rather than oppose the change. 

In simple terms, open source empowers the bottom-up approach to building for the future. It helps expand the base of possible contributors, and maybe most importantly, reduces the possibility of ending up in ‘knowledge slavery’. It can create a healthy, neutral, starting point. The one most will perceive as a chance rather than a threat. 

If all of you had one particular innovation in mind while reading all this, you are right!

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a new frontier. AI is actually a bit more than just a technology, it is an agent. Anyhow, it is an invention, so chances are high it will follow the path we described above, enabling an entirely new industry of utility providers.

No need to be afraid

We hear all the (reasonable) concerns about AI development. Uncertainties on whether AI should be developed beyond human reach and concerns regarding AI in executive positions, all are based on fear of systems with no overview.  

In the past, the carriers of the open source (openness and transparency) approach were mostly in academia. Universities and other research institutions contributed the most to the open source approach. It is a bit different in the AI field. For that, companies are leading the way.  

The power to preserve common knowledge is still in the hands of states, and under the set of business and political circumstances, the private sector is also the biggest proponent of the open source approach. With the emergence of large language models and generative AI, the biggest open source initiatives came from Meta (LLaMa) and Alphabet (T5). They align with the incentive to statute open source as a standard for the future. We might be in an equilibrium moment in which both sides agree on the architecture for the future. Nations, international organisations, and the private sector should seize this opportunity. This new race toward more efficient technology of the future should evoke optimism, but there cannot be one without the bottom- up and open source approach to innovation. 

The open source approach is still the way forward for innovation. and can build neutral ground, or at least will not be perceived as a threat.

Read more of our ideas about the way forward in AI governance on the humAInism page. 

FTC investigates Microsoft over antitrust concerns

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has initiated an antitrust investigation into Microsoft, examining its software licensing, cloud computing operations, and AI-related practices. Sources indicate the probe, approved by FTC Chair Lina Khan before her anticipated departure, also investigates claims of restrictive licensing aimed at limiting competition in cloud services.

Microsoft is the latest Big Tech firm under regulatory pressure. Alphabet, Apple, Meta, and Amazon face similar lawsuits over alleged monopolistic practices in markets ranging from app stores to advertising. Penalties and court rulings loom as regulators focus on digital fairness.

The FTC’s probe highlights growing concerns about the influence of Big Tech on consumer choice and competition. As scrutiny intensifies, the outcomes could reshape the technology sector’s landscape, impacting businesses and consumers alike.

OLMo 2 models rival Meta’s best in performance

Ai2, a nonprofit AI research group, has introduced OLMo 2, a groundbreaking series of open-source language models designed for transparency and reproducibility. The models, developed using open-access data and tools, align with the Open Source Initiative’s standards for AI, setting them apart from many competitors.

The OLMo 2 series includes two versions: one with 7 billion parameters and another with 13 billion, making them powerful tools for tasks like summarising documents, answering questions, and generating code. Trained on a dataset of 5 trillion tokens sourced from websites, academic papers, and other vetted materials, the models perform competitively against Meta’s Llama 3.1.

While some critics voice concerns about potential misuse of open models, Ai2 argues their benefits outweigh the risks. By making the models freely available under an Apache 2.0 license, the organisation hopes to democratise AI development and promote ethical innovation.

Orange partners with OpenAI in Europe

Orange has entered a groundbreaking multi-year partnership with OpenAI, becoming the first European telecom company with direct access to pre-release versions of the company’s AI models. This collaboration will allow Orange to influence OpenAI’s development roadmap while ensuring secure hosting of AI infrastructure in Europe, according to the group’s AI chief, Steve Jarrett.

The partnership highlights the strategic importance of OpenAI’s widely used models, with over 50,000 Orange employees already integrating them into their work. Jarrett emphasised the financial and technological advantages of a direct relationship with OpenAI, boosting Orange’s position in the AI race.

In addition to the partnership, Orange is working with Meta and OpenAI to translate African languages like Wolof and Pular for customer support and broader non-commercial uses. The initiative aims to support governments, universities, and startups, expanding accessibility to underserved linguistic communities.