At a Glance.
- A summit hosted in South Korea raises concerns about AI.
- Biden announced a semiconductor deal with Intel to invest in four states.
South Korea hosted summit warns of AI risks to democracy.
The News.
At the Summit for Democracy (S4D) in Seoul, South Korea, South Korean President, Yoon Suk Yeol, warned that artificial intelligence (AI) based on fake news and disinformation threatens democracy. Additionally, President Yoon continued to state that countries across the world have a duty to share their experiences so that AI and other emerging technologies can be used to promote democratic efforts rather than hamper them. Throughout the three-day-long conference, digital threats to democracy were one of the main agenda items, and over thirty countries attended ranging from the United States (US) to Costa Rica.
At the summit, US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, went on to echo President Yoon’s statements when he also commented that “as authoritarian and repressive regimes deploy technologies to undermine democracy and human rights, we need to ensure that technology sustains and supports values and norms.”
Another significant commitment during the summit was that over a half-dozen nations, including Japan and South Korea, announced they would be joining a US-led initiative to crack down on the misuse of commercial spyware to surveil journalists and human rights defenders.
The Knowledge.
The conference marks the third time that South Korea has hosted the S4D conference. This conference has been a significant initiative for President Biden that was designed to focus on discussing ways to stop the global trend of democratic backsliding and the erosion of rights and freedoms.
When created, the goals of the summit were to advance global democratic renewal and resilience through three major key focuses. These focus areas center around:
- Inviting the participation of heads of state, formal delegations, civil society, and other democratic stakeholders.
- Asking invited countries to announce their commitments to themes related to strengthening democracy, addressing and fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights.
- Developing “democracy cohorts,” which will be used to ensure space for governments, civil society, free media, the private sector, and other stakeholders to collaborate, share learning and expertise, and support commitments.
Since the first S4D conference in 2021, more than fifty governments have made over 900 commitments. Some of the more notable commitments include:
- The US’s commitment to its anti-corruption strategy, which brought about the implementation of the Corporate Transparency Act.
- The United Kingdom (UK) committed to open public procurement and aimed to update the UK’s legislation on the matter to make procurement more flexible for agencies and simplify the bidding for small companies.
- Chile committed to making public bidding more transparent and these efforts have resulted in more user-friendly and comprehensive competition.
- Liberia is committed to ensuring greater transparency and accountability for election funding.
With the third iteration of the S4D conference, the Biden administration as well as other nations from around the world are making numerous commitments to safeguard and secure democracy globally. While past conferences have focused more on efforts related to transparency and accountability, this year’s conference has been centered around emerging technologies and the potential impacts that they could have on democracy going forward.
The Impact.
Government officials from countries involved in this conference should expect more commitments to be announced over the coming days and weeks that will be aimed at directly addressing the concerns related to these emerging technologies.
While it is unclear what these commitments will look like, legislators should expect renewed energy when attempting to address concerns related to emerging technologies as well as focus on how these technologies can positively impact democracy. Additionally, emerging technology developers should expect government oversight to continue to grow as many nations become increasingly involved in using and securing these technologies. Technology companies should also expect increased intelligence sharing and support from governments as these efforts have been repeatedly emphasized as a key component for securing democracy in the coming years.
Biden announces semiconductor deal with Intel.
The News.
On Thursday, President Biden announced a new agreement with Intel that will provide the company with $8.5 billion to bolster semiconductor manufacturing efforts across four states. With this preliminary agreement, President Biden has also allocated an additional $11 billion in loans through the CHIP and Science Act. The funding is set to support the construction and expansion of Intel facilities in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico, and Oregon while also aiming to create roughly 30,000 jobs.
With this announcement, the Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, stated that “this announcement is the culmination of years of work by President Biden and bipartisan efforts in Congress to ensure that the leading-edge chips we need to secure our economic and national security are made in the US.”
The Knowledge.
This latest announcement now marks the fourth agreement that the administration has reached with a company through the CHIPS and Science Act. This act, originally signed into law in 2022, was created specifically to boost US competitiveness, innovation, and national security. A key focal point of the law was to provide funding for investments in domestic semiconductor manufacturing. Additionally, the act was also aimed to improve research and development efforts for emerging technologies related to AI, clean energy, nanotechnology, and quantum computing.
With each of these agreements, the Biden administration is aiming to reduce the US foreign reliance on semiconductor chip manufacturers and strengthen domestic supply chain capabilities. The previous agreement came in February when the US government provided $1.5 billion in funding to GlobalFoundries to also bolster semiconductor production in the North East region.
The Impact.
These various agreements signal a clear intent by the Biden Administration to bolster domestic semiconductor productivity. While many of these new deals are still preliminary, construction efforts to either expand existing manufacturing facilities or create new ones across the US are expected to significantly improve supply chain resiliency. For major chip manufacturers or organizations that utilize semiconductor chips, stakeholders should expect the dependencies on international semiconductor chips to decrease over the coming months and years as these new domestic facilities finish construction efforts and begin manufacturing. Additionally, for US citizens, as these dependencies on international chip manufacturing decrease, goods with these chips should become easier to obtain and be subjected less to supply chain volatility issues.
Other Noteworthy Stories.
DHS will test AI for immigration office training, disaster, planning.
What: On, Monday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it will begin testing AI in three different pilot projects.
Why: With this new initiative the DHS is aiming to test if AI will be useful in investigations combatting both fentanyl and child sexual exploitation as well as will be applied to tests under both the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). FEMA aims to use AI to assist in helping communities build stronger resilience efforts and minimize risks where as USCIS aims to have AI improve officer training.
The Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, stated, "the unprecedented speed and potential of AI’s development and adoption presents both enormous opportunities…and risks we must mitigate.” With these three projects, the DHS has also announced a new AI roadmap of principles to guide its deployment for future AI initiatives. This roadmap additionally requires the DHS to ensure its use of AI respects privacy and civil rights and is tested to minimize risks.
FCC announces its intention to crack down on cable “junk fees.”
What: Last Friday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted new rules that will require cable and satellite providers to display their “all-in” prices.
Why: With these new rules, the FCC will require providers to include the total cost of video programming in promotional materials and bills. This total cost will have to include any additional programming-related fees. The FFC Chair, Jessica Rosenworcel stated with this announcement that “no one likes surprises on their bill” and that “the advertised price for a service should be the price you pay when the bill arrives.”
These new rules came out as the agency released a statistic that between twenty-four and thirty-three percent of consumers’ bills for cable and satellite television come from additional fees, such as Broadcast TV Fees, Regional Sports Surcharges, and HD Technology Fees.
Supreme Court tosses rulings on public officials’ social media blockings.
What: Last Friday, the Supreme Court clarified when public officials can block constituents from their profiles without violating their constitutional protections.
Why: With this unanimous decision, written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the court stated that officials cannot block constituents on their pages when they have “actual authority to speak on behalf of the State on a particular matter” and “purported to exercise that authority in the relevant posts.” Barrett continued writing that “for social-media activity to constitute state action, an official must not only have state authority, [but] must also purport to use it.”
The case, originally coming from California, came when school board members blocked constituents on their social media pages.
Computer fix-it companies settle with FTC charges that they lied about hacking threats.
What: Last week, two companies agreed to settle with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and pay twenty-six million dollars over charges that the two had duped consumers into buying their repair service.
Why: According to the FTC, companies Restoro and Reimage used fake Microsoft Windows pop-up ads to scare people into scanning their computers “to avoid more damage.” The companies would then request payments ranging from $27 to $58 to “fix” these problems. These pop-up ads would read statements like “System Warning! Your Windows system is damaged” or “System damage: 28.1%--Immediate removal required!”
The FTC’s Director of Consumer Protection Bureau, Samuel Levine, stated that “these companies used scare tactics and lie about threats to consumers’ personal computers to bilk consumers. The twenty-six million dollars will be provided as restitution to impacted consumers.
Bipartisan Policy Center launches Google-backed “AI 101” for Congress.
What: The Bipartisan Policy Center is launching an AI curriculum and resources to educate Congressional staff.
Why: With this new initiative, the Bipartisan Policy Center is launching this AI educational resource, with financial backing from Google, to educate Congressional staff about the technology and its latest development. The Center hopes that the initiative will reach staff members who are not already directly involved with AI legislation to improve their knowledge base. The workshop will have four pillars. The first pillar will begin in the spring and will be centered on focusing on AI fundamentals. Future pillars will be adjusted content-wise based on learner feedback.