Home | Newsletters & Shorts | DW Weekly #160 – 17 May 2024

DW Weekly #160 – 17 May 2024

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Dear readers, 

Welcome to another issue of the Digital Watch weekly! 

AI, content policy, and cybersecurity issues are – yet again – the most prevalent, as they have been for most of May. 

There were new AI-related launches this week, as Anthropic unveiled its new AI chatbot Claude in the EU, OpenAI released GPT-4o with advanced multimodal capabilities, and the UAE made headway in the large language model (LLM) competition with Falcon 2, supposedly rivalling Meta’s Llama 3. Google also announced it will introduce AI-generated answers to online queries in the USA, with plans to expand the feature globally.

AI safety was at the forefront, with the UK AI Safety Institute unveiling an open-source platform for global AI safety evaluations. The USA and China met in Geneva to discuss AI, particularly the security implications of China’s use of AI for the USA and its allies. On that note, the USA is considering new AI software export control to China. Plus, US officials have just designated China, once again, as a significant cybersecurity threat. And as TikTok creators are suing the US government over the possible TikTok ban, tensions are unlikely to simmer down.

We have new content policy developments in the X (formerly Twitter) vs Australia saga as the Australian court reversed the block on X regarding the church stabbing video. The EU is also paying attention to X as it intensifies its scrutiny of disinformation campaigns on X in the aftermath of the recent shooting of Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico.

Ascension and Europol were some of the many victims of cyberattacks confirmed this week. An apparent win for the good guys on Wednesday as the FBI seized the BreachForum website has again turned into a loss – the threat actors behind BreachForums have seemingly regained control of the domain… But the international community made a significant step towards enhancing international cooperation and resilience in addressing cyber threats with the launch of the Global Points of Contact (POC) directory in the framework of the Open-ended Working Group on security of and in the use of ICTs 2021-2025 (OEWG)

And remember that Global roundtable on ICT security capacity-building organised by the OEWG? We included a report from the event in our Reading corner.

ICYMI, we interviewed Malta’s Ambassador for Digital Affairs (video) about the intersection of quantum computing and diplomacy, and contemplated how ‘0’ evolved from representing ‘nothingness’ to being a cornerstone of our digital age in Byte-sized Insight #21. Intrigued? Watch them!
Andrijana and the Digital Watch team

Andrijana and the Digital Watch team


Highlights from the week of 10-17 May 2024
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The US wants China to match its stance on ensuring that only humans, not AI, make decisions on deploying nuclear weapons.

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The US government is considering AI software export restrictions to China in a series of efforts to prevent the use of advanced AI in military and cyberattacks.

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South Korea is preparing an investment package for chip industry and research worth more than $7.30 billion, the finance minister said on Sunday, after declaring the country would prevail in the semiconductor ‘war.’

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In a new legal development, an Australian court has lifted the order blocking X, marking a pivotal moment in the ongoing dispute.

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The lawsuit alleges that the law infringes on free speech rights and threatens to eliminate an important communication medium.

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The officials raised alarm over China’s escalating cyberthreat to international security and stability.

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The establishment of the PoC marks a significant step towards enhancing international cooperation and resilience in addressing cyber threats, with 92 member states already nominating such points of contact.

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Europol clarified that no core systems or operational information were compromised.

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Neuralink’s first human trial of its brain implant faced significant challenges as the device’s wires retracted from the brain, affecting its ability to decode brain signals.

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The investigation comes after Meta submitted a risk assessment report in September that raised concerns about the platforms’ practices and their impact on child safety.



#ICYMI

We caught up with André Xuereb, Malta’s first Ambassador for Digital Affairs, and spoke about quantum computing and its implications for diplomacy.

Explore the philosophical and mathematical ideas surrounding ‘0’ and its evolution from representing ‘nothingness’ to being a cornerstone of our digital age.


Reading corner
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The Chair of the OEWG convened a dedicated Global Roundtable on ICT security capacity-building, as the OEWG agreed in its second Annual Progress Report. Read the event report.