The CEOs of Google, Microsoft, Apple and OpenAI met with President Joe Biden and India Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House Friday, as the administration continues its push to regulate AI (see 2305250037). Google's Sundar Pichai, Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Apple's Tim Cook and OpenAI's Sam Altman met with senior officials from both countries to discuss innovation, investment and manufacturing. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and NASA Administrator Bill Nelson were among U.S. participants. Biden told attendees the U.S. and India are developing new technology that will change the world, and the government needs the executives' help to "build guardrails around emerging technologies” so they're "trustworthy, secure and uphold our shared values in human rights.” Modi spoke briefly in Hindi after the president’s remarks. Biden and Modi issued a joint statement with a commitment to develop and promote regulations that “facilitate greater technology sharing, co-development, and co-production opportunities between U.S. and Indian industry, government, and academic institutions.” Altman, Microsoft President Brad Smith and IBM Chief Privacy and Trust Officer Christina Montgomery have urged Congress to regulate the emerging technology. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is leading a series of Senate briefings and meetings in hopes of reaching agreement on comprehensive legislation (see 2306210065). Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Gary Peters, D-Mich., in a letter announced Friday, asked the GAO to assess the potential harms of generative AI. The agency told us it’s likely to accept the request, though a formal review is pending.
Without intervention, China will repeat the strategy that let it largely erode the West's once-unassailable advantage in telecommunications technology, but this time China will focus on AI, cloud computing and other vital core technologies, said Nate Fick, State Department's inaugural ambassador-at-large-cyberspace and digital policy, Wednesday at a Hudson Institute event. He was confirmed in September (see 2209150049). Citing China's subsidization of domestic companies and its financing of internet architecture deployments in developing nations, Fick said that "we are not going to match them dollar for dollar." Instead, the U.S. needs to identify specific technologies and geographies that matter most and build coalitions around them, he said.
The rollout of next-generation 911 to public safety answering points remains at the top of the agenda for the National Emergency Number Association and its members, CEO Brian Fontes said in an interview. NENA's annual meeting is this week in Grapevine, Texas. Fontes warned against a "patchwork" of service across the U.S.
House Communications Subcommittee members made the future of the FCC’s affordable connectivity program a major focus of its Wednesday commission oversight hearing, as expected (see 2306200075), but the panel didn’t result in a clear sense of whether Commerce Committee GOP leaders will back additional funding for the initiative. Subpanel Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and others haven’t committed themselves as either for or against further ACP funding (see 2305100073). Democrats strongly defended the program and urged its extension.
An Iranian car manufacturer is asking a federal court to order the Treasury Department to remove it from a U.S. sanctions list, saying Treasury has “no real intention of rescinding” its designation no matter what evidence it is shown. Bahman Group, which was first sanctioned in 2018, said Treasury continues to “manufacture a pretext” to maintain sanctions against the company despite being provided proof that it’s no longer engaging in sanctionable activities.
An Iranian car manufacturer is asking a federal court to order the Treasury Department to remove it from a U.S. sanctions list, saying Treasury has “no real intention of rescinding” its designation no matter what evidence it is shown. Bahman Group, which was first sanctioned in 2018, said Treasury continues to “manufacture a pretext” to maintain sanctions against the company despite being provided proof that it’s no longer engaging in sanctionable activities.
The World Trade Organization is steadily headed towards irrelevancy to global trade and is facing a "long, slow sunset," said Peter Harrell, former senior director for international economics and competitiveness at the White House, during remarks at the Georgetown International Trade Update on June 13.
The FCC's proposal to limit mobile supplemental coverage from space (SCS) operations to co-channel licenses held by one party in geographically independent areas (GIA) is getting pushback from some satellite and terrestrial interests, per NPRM reply comments in docket 23-65 Tuesday. There was wireless and satellite disagreement on whether a waiver system suffices or if the agency needs SCS rules. The SCS NPRM was adopted 4-0 in March (see 2303160009) and the wireless industry argued in initial comments SCS rules are premature (see 2305150007).
A ramping up of U.S. export enforcement efforts is causing companies to revisit their compliance practices, particularly as the Bureau of Industry and Security conducts more outreach to exporters, said Alan Enslen, a trade lawyer with Womble Bond. He said companies are more frequently auditing their export compliance programs amid a number of signs that the Biden administration is increasing scrutiny on potential export violations, including a multi-agency memo issued in March that Enslen said was a “shot across the bow” for U.S. exporters.
The World Trade Organization is steadily headed towards irrelevancy to global trade and is facing a "long, slow sunset," said Peter Harrell, former senior director for international economics and competitiveness at the White House, during remarks at the Georgetown International Trade Update on June 13.