AI @ Noon | January 24

Today in AI news and how comms pros should think and talk about it....

1. President Trump has announced a major $500 billion AI initiative called the "Stargate Project," which includes developing new data centers with a focus on solar power infrastructure. The first site is reportedly comparable in size to Central Park, though reports suggest the project may not include government subsidies.

2. A significant shift is occurring in AI regulation politics, with Trump signing executive orders that revoke some existing AI policies and mandate the development of AI systems "free from ideological bias."

3. The European Union is taking a distinctly different approach to AI development than the US, particularly regarding copyright and cultural concerns. French Culture Minister Rachida Dati advocates collective management of AI-related rights, highlighting the growing regulatory divergence between regions.

4. OpenAI has launched a significant new product called Operator, which can autonomously navigate websites to complete tasks like booking flights and ordering food. This marks a major advancement in AI agent capabilities.

5. The geopolitical AI landscape is shifting as Chinese AI models become more competitive at lower prices, creating strategic challenges for US technological leadership and influencing export control policies, particularly regarding ASML's chip-making equipment.

6. Corporate dynamics in AI are evolving, with notable tension between tech leaders Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Satya Nadella over the Stargate project. Companies like Oracle are pursuing alternative strategies through partnerships and specialized data-center design to compete despite lower spending power.

7. The renewable energy sector is showing significant progress in the EU, with 47% of electricity coming from clean sources, which could have important implications for AI infrastructure development and energy consumption management.

Pro-tip: Make sure you have a professional with expertise in geopolitical communications on your team. Such a pro will help you navigate the regulatory and competitive challenges of the AI revolution and help you confidently speak about this environment.

Caracal is here to help.

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

AI @ Noon | January 23

Today in AI news and how comms pros should think and talk about it....

1. AI infrastructure race intensifying: Major players are making unprecedented infrastructure investments, highlighted by a $500B commitment from SoftBank, OpenAI, and Oracle, primarily focused on data center development to compete with China.

2. Political shift in AI governance: The Trump administration has rescinded Biden's AI safety executive order, signaling a significant policy pivot toward development over-regulation, though existing safety recommendations remain accessible.

3. Musk-Trump alliance fracturing: Elon Musk has publicly opposed Trump's Stargate AI project, creating tension within the MAGA movement and potentially affecting his political standing, particularly about VP candidate JD Vance.

4. Global competition dynamics: Chinese tech companies, led by ByteDance and DeepSeek, are advancing in AI reasoning capabilities, with ByteDance's Doubao-1.5-pro claiming superior performance to OpenAI's models.

5. Environmental impact management: Microsoft is taking proactive steps to offset AI's environmental footprint, investing $200M in Amazon rainforest carbon credits. At the same time, South Carolina plans to restart nuclear facilities to meet AI power demands.

6. Corporate AI investment surge: Major tech companies are deepening their AI investments, with Google committing an additional $1B to Anthropic and Samsung incorporating AI features to drive new phone sales.

7. AI safety applications emerging: Practical AI safety concerns materialize in real-world applications, exemplified by Truecaller's development of anti-fraud technology to combat AI voice cloning scams.

Pro-tip: Make sure you have a professional with expertise in geopolitical communications on your team. Such a pro will help you navigate the regulatory and competitive challenges of the AI revolution and help you confidently speak about this environment.

Caracal is here to help.

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

AI @ Noon | January 22

Today in AI news and how comms pros should think and talk about it....

1. Strategic AI competition in defense: Google's rapid response to providing AI tools to Israel's military signals intensifying competition between tech giants in the defense sector. Companies aggressively pursue military contracts to avoid ceding ground to competitors like Amazon.

2. Unprecedented private sector AI investment: A landmark $500 billion commitment from major tech players, including OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, represents the largest private-sector AI infrastructure initiative to date, with significant implications for US technological leadership.

3. Shift in US AI policy direction: The administration's approach to AI development prioritizes rapid advancement and investment over regulatory constraints, particularly regarding safety and environmental considerations - a notable departure from previous policy frameworks.

4. AI's medical breakthrough potential: Oracle's Larry Ellison's vision of AI-designed personalized mRNA vaccines manufactured in 48 hours exemplifies how AI could revolutionize customized medicine, potentially transforming healthcare delivery and treatment paradigms.

5. AI adoption in financial services: Goldman Sachs' implementation of AI assistants for employees indicates the acceleration of AI integration in traditional financial institutions, potentially reshaping workforce dynamics in the financial sector.

6. AI drug development milestone: Google's Isomorphic Labs' announcement that AI-developed drugs will enter trials by year-end marks a significant step in pharmaceutical innovation, particularly in critical areas like oncology and cardiovascular disease.

7. AI's impact on the entertainment industry: The controversy surrounding AI use in "The Brutalist" film editing highlights the entertainment industry's complex relationship with AI technology, raising questions about artistic authenticity and industry standards in content creation.

Pro-tip: Make sure you have a professional with expertise in geopolitical communications on your team. Such a pro will help you navigate the regulatory and competitive challenges of the AI revolution and help you confidently speak about this environment.

Caracal is here to help.

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

AI @ Noon | January 21

Today in AI news and how comms pros should think and talk about it....

1. China's strategic shift on TikTok: ByteDance's founder's meeting with Elon Musk and signals of openness to a TikTok deal represent a significant pivot in China's approach to US tech relations, suggesting potential flexibility in resolving the long-standing TikTok controversy.

2. Trump's tech policy reversals: The reversal of Biden's AI executive order and the 75-day hold on TikTok action indicate significant potential shifts in US tech policy, creating regulatory uncertainty in two critical areas: social media and artificial intelligence.

3. AI infrastructure challenge: The AI computing boom is creating significant land-use conflicts, exemplified by Atlanta's pushback. Projections show AI data centers consuming up to 12% of US electricity by 2028, representing a major infrastructure and sustainability challenge.

4. Big Tech's power consolidation: The Microsoft-OpenAI partnership, drawing FTC attention and raising concerns about "oligarch" power, signals growing regulatory scrutiny of AI industry concentration and corporate influence.

5. Content creation paradigm shift: The observation that AI is becoming the primary audience for written content represents a fundamental shift in how information is created and consumed, with significant implications for media, marketing, and communication strategies.

6. AI development timeline: Expert predictions of potential superintelligence within 5 years, combined with OpenAI's computing-intensive models, suggest we're entering a critical phase in AI development with major economic and societal implications.

7. Global AI competition: Huawei's push to compete with Nvidia in AI chips and Perplexity AI's bid for TikTok's US operations indicates intensifying global competition for AI hardware and application dominance.

Pro-tip: Make sure you have a professional with expertise in geopolitical communications on your team. Such a pro will help you navigate the regulatory and competitive challenges of the AI revolution and help you confidently speak about this environment.

Caracal is here to help.

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

AI @ Noon | December 20

Experts praise long-awaited AI report from Congress: 'A thoughtful and forward-thinking framework' Fox News

+ Some experts posited that the report could spur more action on AI from state lawmakers

+ The Center for AI Policy, a nonpartisan research organization based in the nation's capital, issued a press release that commended lawmakers for their work on the report. But the group echoed Behzadan's remarks about the need for more detail.

"The body of the report does not contain enough detail about how or when these frameworks will be created," the group said after the report's release. It also expressed concern over the report's lack of emphasis on "catastrophic risks" posed by AI.

"Congress has deliberated on AI for two years now, and it is time to start moving forward with decisive action," the press release stated. 

+ Center for AI Policy in the News

New research shows AI strategically lying: For years, computer scientists have worried that advanced artificial intelligence might be difficult to control. A smart enough AI might pretend to comply with the constraints placed upon it by its human creators, only to reveal its dangerous capabilities at a later point. Time

Big bets on AI point to venture capital industry’s shift: The strategy of focusing money on larger deals comes at time of extreme indigestion for start-up investors. Richard Waters

AI giants seek new tactics now that ‘low-hanging fruit’ is gone: Progress on the most advanced new AI systems has been slower than expected. Bloomberg

Is the tech industry already on the cusp of an AI slowdown? Companies like OpenAI and Google are running out of the data used to train artificial intelligence systems. Can new methods continue years of rapid progress? NYT

AI in 2030: At the DealBook Summit, ten experts in artificial intelligence discussed the greatest opportunities and risks posed by the technology. DealBook

The edgelord AI that turned a shock meme into millions in crypto: Truth Terminal started as a techno-modernist art project meant to invite discussion about the applications and potential dangers of autonomous AI agents. Then it took on a life of its own. Wired

Beyond fair use: Better paths forward for artists in the AI era: If you asked many artist advocates what we should do to protect musicians from the potential harms of AI music generation, you’re likely to run into a common theme in the responses: artists must consent to and be compensated for the use of their works in training AI models. Tristan Williams

+ Center for AI Policy in the News

It’s the end of the internet as we know it—and I feel fine: Maybe this was the last year of the usable web. If so, blame corporate greed. Scott Nover

Michael Dell spent 40 years preparing for an AI boom no one expected: The man who founded Dell in a Texas dorm room has transformed his company. It’s not just about PCs anymore. Christopher Mims

Why the TikTok era spells trouble for the establishment: Populism is the winner in the shift from traditional to social media and from text to video and audio. John Burn-Murdoch

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

AI @ Noon | December 13

The EU is making it simpler for individuals to sue the manufacturers of artificial intelligence systems that harm them, under expanded product liability protections. The EU’s Product Liability Directive, a roadmap for the Union’s 27 member states to enact their own legislation, was updated this week to include AI. It ensures there is a business to sue in Europe, and clarifies that liability falls on the manufacturer who controls and is responsible for updating tech products. 

How US firms battled a government crackdown to keep tech sales to China: An intense struggle has unfolded in Washington between companies and officials over where to draw the line on selling technology to China. NYT

Andrew Ferguson, whom Trump named Tuesday his FTC chair pick, wants to zero in on alleged censorship by Big Tech and promote innovation in the AI market—offering competing enforcement priorities for the agency’s tech policy.

+ In a statement Tuesday night, Ferguson vowed to “end Big Tech’s vendetta against competition and free speech.”

What Trump’s new antitrust enforcers mean for business: Expect easier dealmaking. Unless you are in Silicon Valley. Economist

The MAGA culture war comes for Silicon Valley: A powerful industry gets a fresh set of Washington antagonists — with a polarizing agenda. Politico

Trump vows to crush Big Tech, even as it warms to him: President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to rein in Big Tech, a longtime enemy, in his second term in office, while simultaneously building relationships with the biggest moguls in the business. Wash Exam

Meta has donated $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund.

Reuters: Trump says he will meet with Amazon's Bezos next week

A wish list from CEOs for the Trump administration: The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council has plenty of advice for the incoming president. Here are their requests for the economy, healthcare, technology, and energy. WSJ

The Financial Technology Association is urging President-elect Trump and the new Congress to “curb regulatory overreach” on the use of artificial intelligence in the financial sector and to “refine regulatory frameworks” for AI governance in a package of “first hundred days” recommendations.

Senate Foreign Relations Chair Cardin unveils massive bill to counter China’s AI influence: Inside AI Policy reports Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), the retiring chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, has unveiled a massive bill for countering China’s economic and military influence, including provisions for combatting AI-generated disinformation. The 328-page bill was released with about two weeks left for the current Congress, amid expectations by industry sources that the exiting Senate Democratic majority might try to push through an anti-China package as part of a federal spending bill or in stand-alone provisions.

Exxon is building a plant that will sell energy to data centers.

Exxon's AI power play aims to beat nuclear: The oil major is betting Big Tech’s need for speed will open up a bigger market for gas-fired plants. Liam Denning

Why was a murder suspect’s Instagram taken down, but not his Goodreads? Luigi Mangione’s social media accounts attracted swift attention after he was arrested in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive. When do companies scrub a digital trail? NYT

Was Henry Kissinger an AI “doomer”? A posthumous postscript on a hair-raising topic. Economist

AI is the frenemy of freedom: An optimistic view of the technology sees the possibility of it offering humans ‘superagency’ rather than as a threat. John Thornhill

+ The philosopher Isaiah Berlin’s views on freedom, in which different types of liberty are often incompatible, could become increasingly relevant to questions about AI and human agency.

What are the risks of artificial intelligence? A comprehensive living database of over 700 AI risks categorized by their cause and risk domain. AI Risk Repository

Chatbot apps pose dangers for teens: Axios reports platforms and apps that allow users to create and chat with AI-powered bots can addict teenagers, encourage self-harm, and expose minors to adult content, according to experts.

+ Parents in Texas filed a federal product liability lawsuit on Monday against companion app Character_AI and its founders, who have left the company.

+ In October, a Florida mom also sued Character_AI, blaming the company for her 14-year-old son's suicide.

+ The platforms, which are extremely popular with teens, often send emails intended to re-engage users, and their bots will not typically break character even when a user is in distress.

Data is still an AI pain point: You need clean, modernized data to use generative AI.

+ "Our big challenge is the unstructured data, and figure out how to categorize, cleanse it, and bring it in, in a form that can be useful... That’s the next frontier for us." --  Soumya Seetharam, SVP + CIO @ Corning

+ "Data cleanliness is a big deal. … Most companies have lots of information, but it’s not connected. Different departments have different kinds of information floating around. I think you’re going to see a lot of really unglamorous work that’s going to have to happen before we really unlock the power of these machine intelligences." -- Rita McGrath, Professor @ Columbia Business School 

Slack CEO: How to roll out artificial intelligence internally: Slack CEO Denise Dresser lists five types of AI users you need to know in your organization and offers guidance on how to engage them. MIT Management

Big Tech's $62 billion AI spending fuels pick-and shovel bets: Investments by Alphabet, Amazon.com and others may take years to pay off. Skeptics worry about a bubble. Bloomberg

Why AI could eat quantum computing’s lunch: Rapid advances in applying artificial intelligence to simulations in physics and chemistry have some people questioning whether we will even need quantum computers at all. Edd Gent

New magnetic flow has potential to revolutionise electronic devices: ‘Altermagnetism’ discovery could deliver ‘thousand-fold increase’ in memory and speed of computing components. FT

Google plans new smart glasses and VR headsets in Samsung partnership: FT reports the collaboration aims to take on Meta and Apple in hopes of gaining an edge in ‘next generation of computing.’

Bitcoin is up by 138% this year. It is a nonsense-free rally: The link between digital assets and mainstream finance is strengthening. Economist

Military history buffs are waging war against AI data centers threatening battlefields and other historical sites.

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

AI @ Noon | December 12

China AI military use spurs latest US chip export controls, analysts say: Nikkei reports lessons from Ukraine and Israel show rapid escalation in speed and scale of combat.

ElevenLabs’ AI voice generation ‘very likely’ used in a Russian influence operation: TC reports one recent campaign was “very likely” helped by commercial AI voice generation products, including tech publicly released by the hot startup ElevenLabs, according to a recent report from Massachusetts-based threat intelligence company Recorded Future.

+ The report describes a Russian-tied campaign designed to undermine Europe’s support for Ukraine, dubbed “Operation Undercut,” that prominently used AI-generated voiceovers on fake or misleading “news” videos.

AI weapons and the dangerous illusion of human control: America must let autonomous systems operate more freely in war. Sebastian Elbaum + Jonathan Panter

FTC: President-elect Donald Trump tapped Federal Trade Commissioner Andrew Ferguson to lead the consumer protection and antitrust agency. Trump also selected Mark Meador, a former aide to Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) to be confirmed as the third Republican on the FTC.

The criminal’s ‘go-to cryptocurrency’ has a new friend in the White House: Howard Lutnick has defended the stablecoin company which has been used by gangs and US adversaries. FT

How tech's right-wing elite made 'debanking' claims into a political rallying point: Highly influential figures in tech, including Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen, allege the cryptocurrency industry is a victim of banking discrimination. NBC News

New: Launch of ETO AGORA ( Emerging Technology Observatory - AI Governance and Regulatory Archive): A living collection of AI-relevant laws, regulations, standards, and other governance documents from the United States and worldwide. Updated regularly, AGORA includes summaries, document text, thematic tags, and filters to help you quickly discover and analyze key developments in AI governance. Access here.

AI thinks differently than people do. Here’s why that matters. Generative AI isn’t the strategic oracle many say it is. Like any other form of AI, it is a mirror that reflects patterns, trends, and decisions of the past. It cannot reliably break new ground or generate truly novel solutions given that it relies on pre-existing data and learned probabilities. Teppo Felin + Matthias Holweg

Microsoft’s Mustafa Suleyman hires ex-DeepMind staff for AI health unit: FT reports the rival companies are racing to create lucrative applications from cutting-edge technology.

What do the gods of generative AI have in store for 2025? OpenAI and Google have unveiled their next generation of products. Economist

Adobe fell in extended trading after giving a disappointing annual sales outlook, underscoring anxieties that the creative software company may lose business to emerging artificial intelligence-based startups.

Google introduced Gemini 2.0, which the company says is twice as fast as its predecessor and more powerful than the larger "pro" version of Gemini 1.5.

Google launched Gemini 2.0, its new AI model for practically everything: The Verge reports Gemini 2.0 can generate images and audio, is faster and cheaper to run, and is meant to make AI agents possible.

Google unveils AI agent that can use websites on its own: The experimental tool can browse spreadsheets, shopping sites and other services, before taking action on behalf of the computer user. NYT

Google rolls out faster Gemini AI model to power agents: Company expects AI assistants will follow its users around the web. Bloomberg

Google races to bring AI-powered ‘agents’ to consumers: FT reports the tech group unveils Gemini upgrades as it battles Apple and OpenAI in making practical AI assistants for the masses.

Google’s new AI projects aren’t ready for the masses yet. Good! Google DeepMind is showing off an AI assistant that sees and a Chrome extension that can browse the web on its own. They’re for testing purposes only—and that makes sense. FC

The GPT era is already ending The Atlantic

Their job is to push computers toward AI doom: It’s largely up to companies to determine whether their AI is capable of superhuman harm. At Anthropic, the Frontier Red Team looks for the danger zone. WSJ

Character dot ai is being sued for encouraging kids to self-harm: FC reports the lawsuit alleges that Character dot AI “poses a clear and present danger to American youth.”

Get ready for ‘long thinking,’ AI’s next leap forward: A new generation of AI models will take its time to reason, providing more reliable answers to increasingly complex questions. Steven Rosenbush

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

AI @ Noon | December 11

From TikTok to Nvidia, the tech war is getting uglier: ByteDance's current dilemma is a taste of what's to come as more firms will get pinched from both the US and Chinese sides. Catherine Thorbecke

China launches antitrust investigation into Nvidia: Nikkei reports Beijing alleges the chipmaker also violated terms of Mellanox acquisition approval.

'The Paris AI summit will act against the risks and for the benefits of AI': Anne Bouverot is tasked by the Elysée Palace with organizing an AI summit in February, bringing together companies, NGOs, and 100 heads of state. Le Monde

US aim to lead on AI threatened by land shortage: Power-hungry high-tech industries are driving demand for sites with ready access to the power grid. FT

+ In a 2024 survey by the Site Selector's Guild, nearly two-thirds of the people involved in securing US industrial sites cited their scarcity as the top factor impeding new projects. 

+ President-elect Donald Trump said his administration would help expedite permits for any person or company that invested at least $1 billion in the US.

Who is David Sacks, Trump’s pick for AI and crypto czar? The tech investor made his money through early bets on Uber and other startups. He built his reputation as a conservative provocateur. WSJ

The PayPal Mafia is taking over America’s government: America’s right-wing tech bros are celebrating Donald Trump’s victory. Economist

‘Friendlier climate toward new technology’ expected under Trump, venture capitalist says. What that means for AI, crypto CNBC

Eric Trump promises the ‘most pro-crypto president’ in history: NYT reports speaking at a Middle East conference, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s son said his family had embraced cryptocurrency because some banks stopped doing business with them after Jan. 6.

AP: Elon Musk signifies he’ll go beyond supporting Trump to serve as his political enforcer

+ Elon Musk said his political action committee would “play a significant role in primaries.”

Don’t assume AI is always the answer, says US Space Force data and AI chief: Generative AI technology is exciting and full of sci-fi potential, but it’s good old GPS and weather data that keeps Chandra Donelson up at night. Fortune

An AI companion suggested he kill his parents. Now his mom is suing. WP reports a new Texas lawsuit against Character dot ai, alleging its chatbots poisoned a son against his family, is part of a push to increase oversight of AI companions.

Years of Reddit posts have made the company an AI darling: WSJ reports the social-media veteran is profiting from feeding artificial-intelligence companies’ insatiable appetite for conversational text.

OpenAI’s video generator, Sora, aims to kickstart the AI video era: WP reports the artificial intelligence video creation tool can be used to make commercials, films — and maybe deepfakes.

In 2025, AI will elevate the CIO role. Here’s why: In 2025, internal pressures within enterprises will accelerate the move to mandatory AI governance. FC

Fortune: Motorola Solutions CTO says AI-powered ‘smart’ surveillance cameras will make the world safer

Gentrace makes it easier for businesses to test AI-powered software: The company’s new framework lets even non-coders tweak parameters and find ways to optimize AI performance. FC

CNBC: Alphabet shares jump 6% after Google touts ‘breakthrough’ quantum chip

Catholic church in Switzerland finds an opportunity for a spirited debate about AI: NPR reports an art installation by a Catholic church in Switzerland allowed visitors to step into a confessional and have a conversation with a digital Jesus that gave AI generated answers.

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc