Tech Diplomacy Now – Common AI Regulations for Democracies
The intersection of technology, foreign policy, and the news you need to know
Welcome to Tech Diplomacy Now, a publication of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue, providing you with critical information and global news on the intersection of emerging technologies, foreign policy, and national security.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Top News of the Week
Announcements
Latest News
Technology Strategy and Policy
Artificial Intelligence
Telecommunications Networks and Infrastructure
Critical Minerals
Synthetic Biology
Advanced Aerospace Technology
Semiconductors and Microelectronics
Energy and Climate
Opinion and Commentary
The Last Word
Top News of the Week – Will Democracies work together on Artificial Intelligence regulation?
Members of the European Parliament appear close to agreeing on the outlines of the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act. Those familiar with the debates suggest that the legislation could grant EU regulators sweeping authorities to restrict some of the most advanced work on artificial intelligence.
ChatGPT and other generative AI platforms has accelerated the effort to craft an EU AI Act, as legislators become increasingly anxious about the speed of innovation. At the end of March, Italy imposed a temporary ban on ChatGPT over worries that the platform violated digital privacy regulations. Neither the United States nor Japan appear to be considering national AI legislation.
Coordinating a regulatory framework across democracies for artificial intelligence is critical, particularly since Beijing seems intent on shaping AI platforms to reinforce the Communist Party’s values and centralized social control. For practitioners of technology diplomacy, this is perhaps the most pressing task.
Background reading:
Japan’s Approach to AI Regulation and Its Impact on the 2023 G7 Presidency – CSIS, February 14, 2023
The European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act, explained – WEF, March 28, 2023
Picking the Rose, Leaving the Thorn: Why China’s AI Regulations Are Worth Careful Examination – Asia Society Policy Institute, April 11, 2023
ChatGPT and Advanced AI Face New Regulatory Push in Europe – WSJ, April 17, 2023
Announcements
On Tuesday, Purdue University and the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy co-hosted a daylong summit focused on the future of U.S. competitiveness in microelectronics and the semiconductor workforce.
The summit strategy was hosted by President Mung Chiang, on behalf of Purdue University, and featured U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Senator Todd Young (R-IN). The theme of the policy and strategy summit was “Executing for Success” focusing specifically on the CHIPS Act workforce development and R&D programs.
Latest News
Biden and Congress want to ban TikTok. At this point it may be impossible - POLITICO, April 16, 2023
Montana Legislature Approves Outright Ban of TikTok – NYTs, April 14, 2023
How U.S.-made chips are flowing into Russia – Nikkei Asia, April 12, 2023
More than a year since the start of the Ukraine war, hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of U.S.-made semiconductors are flowing into Russia despite Washington's sanctions on the country, a Nikkei investigation has found.
Technology Strategy and Policy
Japan and the Netherlands Announce Plans for New Export Controls on Semiconductor Equipment – CSIS, April 10, 2023
Apple said to explore MacBook production in Thailand to cut supply chain reliance on China amid decoupling with US – SCMP, April 13, 2023
China leads rise in export restrictions on critical minerals, OECD says – FT, April 11, 2023
Artificial Intelligence
Human–machine collaboration for improving semiconductor process development – Nature, March 8, 2023
Our New Platform: Bending Artificial Intelligence to Our Collective Will – Palantir, April 7, 2023
China slaps security reviews on AI products as Alibaba unveils ChatGPT challenger – FT, April 11, 2023
ChatGPT and Advanced AI Face New Regulatory Push in Europe – WSJ, April 17, 2023
Telecommunications Networks and Infrastructure
Germany to examine China-made kit in its 5G networks over security concerns – The Register, April 17, 2023
China has equipment that can spy on us in our telecommunications networks. We must remove it now – The Hill, April 6, 2023
Critical Minerals
Australia aims to boost critical minerals processing to hedge against China’s dominance – The Guardian, April 13, 2023
What China’s rare earth metal ban means for the West – UnHerd, April 11, 2023
A rare earth war simmers as China reportedly to impose export ban – DigiTimes Asia, April 6, 2023
Apart from the chip war between the US and China, a rare earth war seems to be brewing. China may impose an export ban when importers are looking to reduce their reliance on China, the largest rare earth exporter in the world.
Synthetic Biology
Hotly anticipated ALS drug could pave way for more brain treatments – Nature, April 17, 2023
The European Competence Framework For Quantum Technologies – Quantum Flagship, April 14, 2023
Merck to Acquire Prometheus Biosciences – WSJ, April 16, 2023
Advanced Aerospace Technology
Sateliot launches its first 5G-enabled LEO satellite – SDX Central, April 17, 2023
Sateliot’s first low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite was recently shot into space, the first step toward the Spain-based nascent satellite communications provider’s plans to eventually have 250 satellites in orbit to support 5G-based narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) connections.
Semiconductors and Microelectronics
China’s chip imports slump 23 per cent in the first 3 months as US trade sanctions, supply glut weigh on activity – SCMP, April 13, 2023
Energy and Climate
The Green Energy Factory Facing a Storm of China Backlash – WSJ, April 16, 2023
China doubles down on coal ahead of potential summer blackouts – Reuters, April 12, 2023
Opinion and Commentary
Too strict AI regulation nips innovations in the bud – Isabelle Wermke, Handelsblatt, April 17, 2023
The EU wants to regulate artificial intelligence more closely. However, there are various risks involved in classifying certain AI-based applications as risk technologies.
'Russia and China are united in an ideological battle against the West, and therefore against Europe' – Alain Franchon, Le Monde, April 13, 2023
In the strategic undertaking to put an end to 'Western hegemony,' Xi reminds Putin that China has no better partner than Russia, explains columnist Alain Frachon.
TikTok might be part of a plot to make us dumber – Kathleen Parker, WaPo, April 14, 2023
Karp says China is deliberately and strategically using TikTok to make us, meaning the West, “dumber and slower.” It’s the ultimate sleeper agent and a weapon to weaken us from within. He isn’t alone in his thinking. National Security Agency Director Gen. Paul Nakasone has warned that Chinese control of TikTok’s algorithm could allow China to deploy influence operations among Western populations.
The Last Word
“A great day for freedom, American sovereignty and the basic principle of trade reciprocity. The sky won’t fall. The world will keep turning. And America will be safer.” - Jacob Helberg, Congressional Commissioner and author of Wires of War, following the passage of a Montana law that would ban TikTok on personal devices.
About: Tech Diplomacy Now
Technology is the crossroads and main battlefield of the four-dimensional diplomatic, economic, cultural and military contest between freedom and authoritarianism. Technology is either grounded in trusted democratic principles—respect for the rule of law, human rights, property, transparency, sovereignty and the environment—in order to advance freedom, or it is weaponized by authoritarian regimes and malign actors in order to control and oppress.
We believe technology must advance freedom.
The nonpartisan Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue aims to secure freedom from techno-authoritarian threats by accelerating the widespread adoption of trusted tech. The Institute is the preeminent global authority on Tech Diplomacy, integrating tech expertise, Silicon Valley strategies, and foreign policy tools to build the Global Tech Trust Network of governments, companies and individuals united around a set of shared trust principles and a common mission to ensure that technology advances freedom
We hope you find Tech Diplomacy Now a valuable resource on the emerging critical issue of technological diplomacy and its impact on our way of life.