News of the Cyber World

[kyonides]

Chinese AI Must Be Banned or Regulated

The report, "De-Risking Authoritarian AI," from Simeon Gilding of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) warns of possible "remote, large-scale foreign interference, espionage and sabotage through AI-enabled industrial and consumer goods and services."

"If we’re wary about AI, we should be even more circumspect about AI-enabled products and services from authoritarian countries that share neither our values nor our interests," Mr. Gilding wrote.

"AI systems are embedded in our homes, workplaces, and essential services. More and more, we trust them to operate as advertised, always be there for us, and keep our secrets."

However, these products, which include common virtual assistants like Siri or Alexa, or even customer service chatbots, leave countries open to manipulation from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Mr. Gilding argues that governments should look deeply into three types of exported Chinese AI technology, the first being products and services, which include infrastructure that could lead to surveillance or data theft.

Elon Musk Threatens to Sue Group That Pressures Big Tech to Ban Users

The group, the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), has made "troubling and baseless claims that appear calculated to harm Twitter," Alex Spiro, one of Mr. Musk's lawyers, said in a warning letter to the center dated July 20 and made public on July 31.

After Mr. Musk bought Twitter, now known as X, the London-based center has repeatedly criticized moves he's made, including restoring accounts that had been banned and loosening moderation.

"By reinstating misogynists, racists, and violence-inciters ... Twitter is enabling a wave of hatred to spread on the platform - especially towards minoritized communities," it said in one statement.

In a recent article, the center claimed that Twitter had failed to act on 99 percent of verified accounts that were posting "hate." But the claim was based on reporting a single post from 100 verified users and tracking whether those posts had been removed or otherwise subject to moderation four days later.

"CCDH’s claims in this article are false, misleading, or both, and they are not supported by anything that could credibly be called research," Mr. Spiro said. "The article provides no methodology for its selection or testing of tweets, no baseline for Twitter’s enforcement time frame, and no explanation as to why the 100 chosen tweets represent an appropriate sample of the nearly 500 million tweets sent per day from which to generalize about the platform’s content moderation practices."

The article "leaves no doubt that CCDH intends to harm Twitter’s business by driving advertisers away from the platform with incendiary claims," Mr. Spiro added, noting that CCDH said that advertisers were giving their "tacit approval" for Mr. Musk "allowing hate to prosper" on Twitter.

San Francisco Officials Investigate
Elon Musk’s Giant Flashing ‘X’ Sign on Twitter HQ

The New York Times reports that city officials are looking into the giant X sign that was put on the roof of Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters as part of its rebranding efforts because it did not have the appropriate permissions.

The X sign, which was installed on Friday, has sparked controversy due to flashing throughout the night. Whether or not the city has filed complaints about the light pollution, city officials have stated that a building permit is required to ensure the sign’s structural integrity and safe installation.

“A building permit is required to make sure the sign is structurally sound and installed safely,” said Patrick Hannan, a spokesman for the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection. “Planning review and approval is also necessary for the installation of this sign.”

Despite the city’s attempts to inspect the sign, Twitter has denied access to its roof. The social media giant has defended the sign as a “temporary lighted sign for an event,” according to a complaint filed with the city.

City inspectors attempted to gain access to the roof a second time on Saturday, but were again denied entry by the tenant. Twitter has yet to respond to requests for comment on the issue.
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This is not the first time Twitter has faced controversy over its signage. Earlier, the San Francisco police halted the removal of the brand’s iconic bird logo from the side of the building, citing safety concerns for pedestrians. A complaint about that sign’s removal was also filed with the city. The ‘X’ sign was installed shortly after the original sign was removed.

Senator Calls for Artificial Intelligence Regulatory Agency
Citing ‘Scary’ Dangers of AI Tech

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Ct.) called for strong regulatory control over artificial intelligence (AI) during a Senate hearing on July 25, citing the grave potential dangers of the “scary” technology.
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“We need some kind of regulatory agency.”

“But not just a reactive body … But actually investing proactively in research so that we develop countermeasures against the kind of autonomous, out-of-control scenarios that are potential dangers.”

As examples of such “potential dangers,” Blumenthal pointed to an AI device that can be programmed to resist any switching off, or a decision by an AI to begin a nuclear reaction to a nonexistent attack.

During the hearing, multiple witnesses warned about the dangerous consequences that rapid AI development can herald.

Dario Amodei, CEO of AI research company Anthropic, pointed out in his written testimony that “in two to three years, AI systems may facilitate extraordinary insights in broad swaths of many science and engineering disciplines. This will cause a revolution in technology and scientific discovery, but also greatly widen the set of people who can wreak havoc.”

“In particular, I am concerned that AI systems could be misused on a grand scale in the domains of cybersecurity, nuclear technology, chemistry, and especially biology.”

For instance, some biological methods can be used to harm human beings. However, such knowledge requires highly specialized knowledge at present and cannot be simply found on Google or textbooks, Mr. Amodei said.

But AI can now “fill in some of these steps,” albeit incompletely and unreliably. In two to three years, AI may actually be able to fill in “all the missing pieces,” he warned.

Intel Opens ‘Innovation’ Plant in China amid U.S. Chip Wars

U.S. chipmaker Intel on Saturday announced the launch of its Greater Bay Area Innovation Center in the Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen.

The project, a partnership with the government of Shenzhen’s Nanshan district, arrives at a time when tensions between China and the United States are running high over semiconductor technology.
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Intel is one of multiple US tech giants trying to maintain business in the world’s second-largest economy amid the souring of US-China ties that has seen Washington ramp up chip export restrictions. The tech war has also bolstered demand for electronic components in China, and for chips in particular.

Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger concluded a low-key trip to China earlier this month, his second to the country in three months.

For the Shenzhen center, Intel will partner with six local tech firms including gadget maker Ugreen and fabless integrated circuit firms Senary Technology Group and Chipsea Technologies, which all signed an agreement with the chip giant during the launch event. The companies will set up multiple joint labs to research areas including low-carbon and energy-saving IT solutions, PC and server chips, and smart transport.

China has been attempting to develop its domestic chip industry to reduce its reliance on U.S. imports, an endeavor that will undoubtedly be assisted by Intel’s “innovation center” in Shenzhen.
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Intel and several other tech companies recently dispatched representatives to Washington to discuss the effect of export restrictions on their Chinese business operations. More restrictions could be coming, including a proposed tightening of rules for selling high-end chips to China’s tech giant Huawei — a major customer for the next-generation Intel A.I. chips mentioned by the SCMP.

“Many U.S. chip firms get more than one-fifth of their revenue from China, and industry executives have argued that reducing those sales would cut into profits that they reinvest into research and development,” Reuters reported in July.

Chinese officials in April pressured Intel to make bigger investments in China to “preserve the resilience of the global industrial supply chain” — in other words, to protect China from U.S. export restrictions and sanctions. The new Intel innovation center in Shenzhen was precisely the sort of cooperation Beijing had in mind.

Really, this is as traitorous as providing the Chinese or the Russians with missiles.
Actually, some of those chips could be used to make real missiles and drones there!