Yesterday, Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith published a milestone blog about the vast potential of artificial intelligence—and the need to establish guardrails for this transformative technology. Smith underscores that AI “brings huge opportunities to better the world.” He writes, “The ability to discover new insights in large data sets will drive new advances in medicine, new frontiers in science, new improvements in business, and new and stronger defenses for cyber and national security.”
Given the potential of AI to impact many areas of our lives, Smith calls for engagement by the broadest range of stakeholders. He writes that AI requires “new rules of the road” and that, “Countries and communities will need to use democratic law-making processes to engage in whole-of-society conversations about where the lines should be drawn to ensure that people have protection under the law.” The blog also notes the importance of ensuring that AI advances international competitiveness and national security, and that it serves society broadly.
We strongly encourage you to read the entire blog on Microsoft on the Issues, “Meeting the AI moment: advancing the future through responsible AI.”
Thank you for staying informed about key tech policy developments. Below is our roundup of tech policy headlines and a podcast worth listening to.
This Week in Washington
- Axios: TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has agreed to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 23, his first-ever appearance before a Congressional committee. Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, Senator Michael Bennett (D-Colorado) wrote to Google and Apple urging both companies to remove TikTok from their app stores immediately, calling the popular video-sharing app “an unacceptable threat to the national security of the United States.” A total ban of the app on federal employees’ work devices is set to start in February, and one of the ban’s champions Senator Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) wants to go further by banning the app entirely in the US.
- Broadband Breakfast: National Telecommunications and Information Administration officials are urging states to take advantage of available resources when developing digital equity plans.
- CNBC: A ban on U.S. investment in Chinese tech could drive up market volatility — but some sectors may escape untouched, Bank of America analysts said.
- The Hill and Washington Post: Surgeon General Vivek Murthy cautioned that 13-year-olds are too young to join social media. A growing number of U.S. policymakers and federal officials are also angling to keep children and young teenagers off social media entirely, citing mounting concerns that the platforms may harm their well-being and mental health.
- GCN: The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) is a $980 million initiative to fund broadband deployment on tribal lands and support “telehealth, distance learning, broadband affordability, and digital inclusion,” according to the grant program’s website.
- CNN: US and European law enforcement’s disruption last week of a $100-million ransomware gang is the clearest public example yet of a new high-stakes strategy from the Biden administration to prioritize protecting victims of cybercrime – even if it means tipping off suspects and potentially making it harder to arrest them.
Article Summary
- Axios: “This transformative moment for AI calls for a wider lens on the impacts of the technology — both positive and negative — and a much broader dialogue among stakeholders,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a recent blog.
- Semafor: ChatGPT’s planned incorporation into Microsoft products will likely set off new competition in internet search: Something that has not happened since Google supplanted Yahoo as the most popular search engine.
- CyberScoop: Just as the cybersecurity market is competing for the best talent, cybercriminals are also offering high salaries and perks to attract the best. Some ads boasted annual salaries as high as $1.2 million for the skilled hackers.
- The Hill: Ukrainian officials are breaking new ground — and possibly reshaping the future of cyberwarfare — as they seek to convince the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague to investigate whether certain Russian cyberattacks could constitute war crimes.
- Reuters: The United States and European Union announced an agreement on AI that will see the nations share AI models with the goal of enhancing agriculture, health care, emergency response, climate forecasting and the electric grid.
Featured Podcast
TED Tech Podcast
- TED Tech
How do we make historically exclusive fields like classical music, fine arts or academic research more accessible to everyone? Education equalizer and violist Matthew Garcia thinks one way to remove barriers is to create free, virtual education programs that connect talented young minds to the resources they need to thrive in their future careers. Learn more about the power of virtual nonprofits to overcome geographic borders and deliver opportunity — and how you can help every kid reach their dreams. (How global virtual communities can help kids achieve their dreams – January 27, 2023)