While AI has the potential to help advance science and address many societal challenges, it requires access to tremendous computational power and data resources. A federally supported National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) would help increase access for researchers, academia, non-profits, and small businesses to the infrastructure needed for AI work.
Earlier this week, a group of leading universities and technology companies sent a letter to congressional leaders calling for legislation to create the NAIRR. The letter is a follow-up to the NAIRR Task Force report, issued earlier this year. In the months ahead, we expect Congress to continue to examine how government can best regulate and support AI—and the NAIRR will be part of the discussion.
Thank you for reading. Our roundup of tech policy news and a featured podcast follow below.
This Week in Washington
- FedScoop: As lawmakers continue debating how to regulate and study AI, a bipartisan group of senators has introduced legislation requiring the Department of Health and Human Services to take a more proactive role in studying the biosecurity risks created by the growing technology.
- The Hill: House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) told Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, that a previous subpoena asking the company to provide documents and information on their content moderation process now included their new platform, Threads.
- Reuters: Top officials from the Biden administration, including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, National Economic Council director Lael Brainard and National Security Council director Jake Sullivan, met with U.S.-based chip manufacturers like Intel and Nvidia to discuss the administration’s policy on China as the chip industry is looking to protect its profits abroad and the administration considers placing more restrictions on chips exported to China.
- Aljazeera: A U.S. appeals court has paused an order that set limits on the government’s ability to communicate with tech companies about their content to allow the Biden administration time to appeal the initial decision.
- CyberScoop: The White House and Federal Communications Commission have announced the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark program that will make it easier for Americans to evaluate the security of their connected home devices. This program is intended to combat hackers that target these devices through lax industry standards.
- MIT Technology Review: Lawsuits against emerging AI companies, such as OpenAI, Stability AI, and Meta are exposing how courts could lead the way in determining AI rules rather than lawmakers.
- The Hill: Advances in AI are raising concerns over how campaigns may use the technology to spread misinformation as the 2024 campaign cycle nears but a deadlock in the Federal Election Commission (FEC) could prevent any regulations on the emerging technology from progressing.
- Politico: AI has pushed lawmakers to have tough conversations about how they will act to regulate the emerging technology, but Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, has been pushing legislation on AI for years.
- Nextgov: With the recess looming, lawmakers in the House and Senate are advancing bills focused on the government’s workforce, tech and cyber. Two notable bills remaining on the agenda are the Modernizing the Acquisition of Cybersecurity Experts Act, meant to limit the use of educational requirements in government hiring of cybersecurity workers, and AI Leadership to Enable Accountable Deployment Act (AI LEAD Act), which would require agencies to hire or designate a chief AI officer.
Article Summary
- The Verge: Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have agreed to extend their merger agreement to October to provide the companies ample time to work through final negotiations with UK regulators.
- NBC News: The Knight First Amendment Institute of Columbia University is challenging Texas’s TikTok ban on behalf of the Coalition for Independent Technology, which is representing faculty at public universities. They’re claiming that the ban will prevent faculty from teaching and conducting research on the platform.
- Axios: While location sharing can have some privacy ramifications among other risks, many – notably GenZ – are willing to look past them, seeing the tool as a safety measure when shared with friends and family.
- Reuters: TikTok is getting ahead of new EU rules under the Digital Services Act (DSA) that will require big tech companies to do more to police online content by opening its research software to European researchers.
Featured Podcast
The Wall Street Journal
- WSJ Tech News Briefing
Microsoft announced a new artificial intelligence partnership and pricing for its AI-powered workplace software. WSJ Microsoft reporter Tom Dotan joins host Zoe Thomas to discuss the news and what it says about Microsoft’s AI strategy. Plus, a look at digital mood trackers. (Microsoft and Meta Team Up to Offer New AI Software – July 19, 2023)