The release of DeepSeek AI from China received wide attention from the media, the public, and many policymakers this week. President Trump weighed in, saying, “The release of DeepSeek AI from a Chinese company should be a wake-up call for our industries that we need to be laser focused on competing.” Many lawmakers also took note of the development, which could further spur Congress to advance legislation that supports U.S. AI innovation.
To support customers and further AI innovation, Microsoft made DeepSeek’s R1 AI model available on two of its key platforms, Azure AI Foundry and GitHub. This allows customers to integrate this AI model into their own applications. Asha Sharma, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of AI platform, noted that, “DeepSeek R1 has undergone rigorous red teaming and safety evaluations, including automated assessments of model behavior and extensive security reviews to mitigate potential risks.”
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This Week in Washington
- FedScoop: The National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee (NAIAC) is delivering a list of 10 actionable AI priorities to pursue in President Trump’s second term. NAIAC said the recommendations should provide the administration with an opportunity to achieve its goals to advance the country’s AI leadership and competitiveness.
- Washington Post: A group of senators are reintroducing the Kids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA) in a renewed effort to ban children under 13 from social media and prohibit platforms from targeting teens with personalized recommendations.
- CyberScoop: In a sweeping operation aimed at disrupting digital marketspaces for stolen credentials and hacking tools, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), along with several other international law enforcement departments, seized control of several high-profile online platforms linked to cybercrime.
Article Summary
- Axios: Microsoft has entered a long-term agreement with a nature-based carbon removal company called Chestnut Carbon that will provide the tech giant with removal credits from its projects in Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana. The deal will deliver over seven million tons of carbon removal credits to Microsoft and is among the largest U.S. afforestation, reforestation and revegetation projects to date.
- UCF Today: As the intersection between healthcare and technology evolves, researchers are collaborating on the best ways to use emerging technologies to care for patients. This includes using AI to assist the collection and deciphering of diagnostic data among medical professionals, particularly in underserved communities.
- New York Times: The AI boom has accelerated the demand for electricity and Chevron is taking the opportunity to build natural gas-fueled power plants that feed energy directly to data centers.
- Cybersecurity Dive: Conduent, a government contractor that provides technology platforms to multiple social service agencies and transit systems across the U.S., confirmed it was impacted by a cyberattack.
Featured Podcast
- TED Tech
In a recent episode of TED Tech, Ramin Hasani, co-founder and CEO of Liquid AI, said that his “wildest dream is to design artificial intelligence that is our friend.” Hasani shares how liquid neural networks, a new and more flexible AI technology inspired by physics and living brains, can transform the way we solve complex problems. So, what if AI could think and adapt like a real brain? Tune in and find out. (“How a worm could save humanity from bad AI | Ramin Hasani” – January 24, 2025)