Starting February 1, 2025, the first regulations of the European Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) go into effect. In a new blog, Microsoft Chief Responsible AI Officer Natasha Crampton discusses steps Microsoft is taking to help customers innovate with AI while complying with the EU AI Act.
Critically, Crampton notes that AI innovation is happening on a global scale and it’s essential to develop “implementation practices that are efficient, effective, and interoperable internationally.” Microsoft “will continue to lean into regulatory processes in Europe and around the world.” This last point is a reminder that Congress and the incoming Administration are expected to engage in AI policymaking in the months ahead. VFI will keep you informed about AI policy developments in Washington throughout the year.
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This Week in Washington
- Nextgov: According to the State Department’s National Adaptation and Resilience Planning Strategy, the U.S. can leverage AI capabilities to help prepare for the long-term effects of climate change. The strategy outlines that AI can be used for a multitude of purposes, including using AI algorithms to “more generally improve the effectiveness of early-warning systems” regarding vector-borne diseases.
- CyberScoop: Over a two-year period, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has witnessed a surge in its Cyber Hygiene (CyHy) service enrollment from critical infrastructure organizations. As a result of this enrollment boom, CISA has found improvements across six cybersecurity performance goals, including mitigating known vulnerabilities and email security.
- New York Times: In an attempt to set up a global framework that will guide how AI spreads in the future, the Biden Administration issued new rules governing how AI chips and models can be shared with foreign countries. The goal in part is to keep the most advanced AI models within the borders of the U.S. and its allies.
- The Hill: President Biden will sign an executive order to reduce barriers for constructing new data centers and the accompanying energy infrastructure needed to power the development of AI. The Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, and the Department of the Interior will all have a role in selecting sites for the new data centers and identifying land to build the supportive clean energy infrastructure.
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- The Center Square: Louisiana is the first state in the U.S. to receive federal approval for its $1.355 billion Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment plan. The funding will be administered through the state’s Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities 2.0 program and aims to connect over 140,000 locations to high-speed internet.
- The Hill: Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen urged state lawmakers to support a new bill requiring parental consent for minors under 18 who want to create social media accounts. The proposed legislation also specifically criminalizes the use of AI to generate child pornography.
- CNET: Starting this week, New York internet service providers must offer low-income residents access to monthly broadband rates of $15 for 25Mbps or $20 for 200Mbps under the new Affordable Broadband Act. The law requires providers to offer these rates after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked an effort to overturn the new statute.
- Washington Post: Officials in New York, California, Massachusetts, and Connecticut recently warned people about an apparent spate of text message scams that claim you have an unpaid toll. According to Transaction Network Services, whose technology verifies that business calls are legitimate, bogus calls and texts like these that claim you have unpaid bills have recently been on the rise.
Featured Podcast
- Pioneers of AI
When hungry, many people turn to meal kits or pre-made entrees. However, getting that food from the factory to your refrigerator has become increasingly difficult due to labor shortages in the food industry. Rajat Bhageria founded Chef Robotics, which utilizes embodied AI, to help solve this issue. Learn about robotic AI, its impact on labor shortages, and more from Bhageria in this week’s episode of “Pioneers of AI.” (“The robot revolution and our food future, with Rajat Bhageria” – January 15, 2025)