AI Geopolitical Economy #2537

EU Tech Policy

Trump threatens retaliation after EU hits Google with antitrust fine

US President Donald Trump has threatened retaliation after the European Commission fined Google €2.95 billion for abusing its dominant position in the advertising technology industry. Trump also wrote that he “will be forced to start a Section 301 proceeding to nullify the unfair penalties being charged to these Taxpaying American Companies.” Under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, the US may impose penalties on foreign countries whose actions are deemed “unjustifiable” or “unreasonable,” or that place a burden on US commerce. The Commission said its investigation found that Google “abused its power” by favouring its own online display advertising technology services to the detriment of competitors, online advertisers and publishers. Full article in Euronews >>

Drones are Brussels’ new defence priority

During her speech before MEPs in Strasbourg, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled plans for a new initiative to provide countries bordering Russia with “real-time space surveillance”. A so-called “drone wall” would stretch from the Baltic Sea down to the Black Sea. Full article in Euractiv >> 

US Tech Policy

Attorneys general warn OpenAI and other tech companies to improve chatbot safety

The attorneys general of California and Delaware on Friday warned OpenAI they have “serious concerns” about the safety of its flagship chatbot, ChatGPT, especially for children and teens. The two state officials, who have unique powers to regulate nonprofits such as OpenAI, sent the letter to the company after a meeting with its legal team earlier this week in Wilmington, Delaware. They said they were concerned by “deeply troubling reports of dangerous interactions between” chatbots and their users, including the “heartbreaking death by suicide of one young Californian after he had prolonged interactions with an OpenAI chatbot, as well as a similarly disturbing murder-suicide in Connecticut. Whatever safeguards were in place did not work.” Full article in The Associated Press >>

Market Trends

ASML becomes Mistral AI’s top shareholder after leading latest funding round

ASML, a crucial supplier of advanced chipmaking equipment, is set to become the top shareholder of French artificial intelligence startup Mistral AI in a move to strengthen European tech sovereignty. The Dutch ASML is committing 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) for Mistral’s 1.7 billion euro (~$2 billion) fundraise and is expected to get a board seat at Mistral. A stake in Mistral would tie together two European technology leaders, and the cash from ASML could help Mistral make Europe less reliant on U.S. and Chinese AI models. Full article in Reuters >>

Anthropic to limit use of services by Chinese-owned entities

Anthropic has announced a significant policy change aimed at restricting the sale of its AI services to entities with majority ownership based in China. This move is part of a broader strategy to limit the potential misuse of AI technology for military and intelligence purposes, particularly by entities aligned with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The decision comes amidst growing concerns about the misuse of AI, as highlighted in Anthropic’s recent threat intelligence report. The report detailed instances of threat actors exploiting AI models for malicious activities such as large-scale data theft, extortion, and generating AI ransomware. This policy extension also applies to countries considered US adversaries, including Russia, Iran, and North Korea.  Full article in AInvest >>

Oracle shares spike 43% as forecast cements it as a major player in the AI race

Oracle’s shares surged as much as 43% on Wednesday after the company issued a blockbuster outlook for its AI-driven cloud-computing business. It marked the company’s biggest single-day percentage gain since 1992. CEO Safra Catz said during an analyst call on Tuesday that the company signed four multi-billion-dollar contracts with three different customers during the fiscal first quarter. That brought a measure of bookings to $455 billion, quadruple where it was a year before. He added that the company expects Oracle Cloud Infrastructure to see revenue increase 77% to $18 billion from the previous year, and issued an aggressive forecast for the figure to hit $144 billion by 2030. The bullish outlook has thrust Oracle firmly into the elite group of cloud-computing titans battling it out in the race for AI supremacy, a list that also includes Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. Full article in Business Insider >> 

Swedish music rights company signs licensing agreement with AI company

The Swedish Performing Rights Society (STIM) said it signed the agreement with Songfox, a Stockholm-based start-up that lets fans and creators legally produce AI-generated compositions, on behalf of the group’s 100,000 artists.  Under the deal, Songfox will use a third-party attribution technology called Sureel to trace any AI outputs back to the original human-created work so the artists can get revenue from it. The news comes a few weeks after groups representing artists told Euronews that EU legislation under the EU AI Act does not go far enough to protect artists from copyright infringement.  Full article in Euronews >>

Geopolitics

US probes malware email targeting trade talks with China

U.S. authorities are investigating a bogus email purportedly from the Republican lawmaker John Moolenaar that contained malware apparently aimed at giving China insights into the Trump administration’s trade talks with Beijing.  The malware in the email that appeared to be sent in July to U.S. trade groups, law firms and government agencies was traced by cyber analysts to a hacker group – APT41 – believed to be working for Chinese intelligence. Moolenaar, a harsh critic of Beijing, is the chairman of a congressional committee focused on strategic competition between China and the United States, including threats to U.S. national security. Full article in The Economic Times >>

What to know about the Russian drones that entered NATO airspace

Poland’s armed forces, with the help of the nation’s allies, shot down multiple Russian drones that crossed its airspace overnight, including some launched from Belarus. Russia’s Defense Ministry said its overnight strikes were directed at Ukraine’s military-industrial sites in the country’s Western regions, with no planned targets on Polish territory. Belarus, a close Russian ally that borders both Poland and Ukraine, said it tracked drones that had “lost their course” because of jamming. The drones forced the temporary closure of parts of Poland’s airspace and suspended flights at Warsaw’s international airport. The incident drew swift condemnation across Europe, and many European leaders said they believed it was a deliberate act by Russia. Full article in The Associated Press >>

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