The EU should focus on delivering concrete results for AI investment and coordinating with member states so regional startups can compete globally, European Court of Auditors member Mihails Kozlovs said Friday. The court held a hearing with EU policymakers, including European Parliament member Dragos Tudorache, a key negotiator for the EU AI Act (see 2405290007). The European Court of Auditors recently said the EU is lagging the U.S. and global leaders on AI development (see 2405290038). It found “weaknesses in implementation and performance monitoring,” said Kozlovs. He noted a 2018 EU strategy called for the EU economy to be the “world-leading region for cutting-edge ethical and secure AI.” The U.S., the UK and China have recognized the “criticalness” of AI and outlined “ambitious” strategies, he said. Meanwhile, the EU hasn’t updated its AI investment targets since 2018, and it’s unclear how each member state will contribute, he said. “This pinpoints the need for increased focus on delivering results and better coordination with member states,” he said. “The ultimate goal should be to build an attractive and effective AI ecosystem in Europe, where AI startups could scale and grow to a competitive level globally.” Tudorache said AI is an “enabling technology” that will affect every sector of the economy. The EU being the first “jurisdiction” in the world with a comprehensive AI regulation is a “good thing,” and it provides a global model, he said. But the “hard work,” including implementation of technical standards, “starts now,” he noted: Funding AI workforce training will be the most important investment.
Exports to China
Microsoft accepts “every finding” in the Department of Homeland Security’s report about a 2023 Chinese cyberattack against the company, President Brad Smith told the House Homeland Security Committee on Thursday.
A new European Parliament and European Commission could spark changes in digital and telecom policies. The make-up of the new EC, and who will lead its digital and competition agendas, will play a larger role than parliament members, stakeholders said. Key concerns include keeping the telecom sector competitive and making correct choices about digital policy.
The carrier-neutral network operator (CNNO) segment had combined revenue of nearly $100 billion in 2023, responsible for $34.8 billion in capex, ResearchAndMarkets.com reported Monday. Revenue was up 5.1% over the previous year. “CNNOs play a crucial, complementary role in the communications sector and own and operate a large portion of the world's cell towers, data centers, and fiber networks,” the report said. It added, the telecom carrier of today “cobbles together its physical network from a mix of owned and leased or rented resources.” The five largest CNNOs by revenue in 2023 were China Tower, American Tower, Equinix, Level 3 and Crown Castle.
California is considering some “awful” regulations for AI, tech entrepreneur Andrew Ng said Thursday. His comments came a day after California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) warned state lawmakers against overregulating AI.
The EU is failing to keep pace with the U.S. and global leaders on AI development, the European Court of Auditors said in a report Tuesday. The EU’s independent auditor concluded the European Commission is failing to properly coordinate with member states on a strategic AI plan. EU plans are suffering because the commission didn’t set up a system for monitoring how AI investments are performing, the ECA said. EU investment targets “remain too vague and outdated: they have not changed since 2018, and the lack of ambition for investment targets contrasts with the objective of building a globally competitive AI ecosystem,” the ECA said. “The US has long been a front runner in AI, while China plans to become the global AI leader by 2030, with both countries relying on substantial private investment through their tech giants.” According to the ECA, the EU expected 20 billion euros ($21 billion) in public and private AI investment between 2018 and 2020. It projected 20 billion euros per year between 2020 and 2030. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in October called for at least $32 billion annually in U.S. nondefense spending to maintain the lead in AI innovation (see 2310250034).
National Cyber Director Harry Coker told the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee the Biden administration is focusing on cybersecurity in space and strengthening internet routing security. Meeting virtually late Thursday, NSTAC also received an update from cloud-service providers on a pending report about baseline security offerings that was initially expected to be finished this month (see 2312070053).
The FCC's rules reclassifying broadband as a Communications Act Title II telecom service and reestablishing net neutrality are effective July 22, according to a notice in Wednesday's Federal Register (see 2405080044). Also, China Mobile International, China Telecom, China Unicom, Pacific Networks and ComNet "shall discontinue any and all provisions of broadband internet access service" as of Sept. 19, the notice said.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr took the unusual step of praising, ahead of Thursday’s vote by commissioners, a draft NPRM proposing to bar test labs from entities on the agency’s “covered list” of unsecure companies from participating in the equipment authorization process. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel noted Carr’s work on the rulemaking when she announced it last month (see 2405010073). Industry officials expect the draft will receive unanimous approval Thursday. They note no one has visited the commission to protest or offer changes, based on filings in docket 24-136. “I am pleased we are taking the step of proposing that the test labs and certification bodies that review devices before they can be used in the U.S. are themselves trustworthy actors that we can rely on, including by barring those with risky ties” to China, Carr said Tuesday: “The proposal is based on time-tested precedent. The FCC has long limited foreign control of U.S. licensees in other contexts." He called it the FCC’s “Bad Labs” proposal.
The Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday voted along party lines to pass two bills aimed at combating AI-driven manipulation of election content such as deep fakes and synthetic audio.