#ai safety summit

[jcmarchi]

UK and France to collaborate on AI following Horizon membership

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/uk-and-france-to-collaborate-on-ai-following-horizon-membership/

UK and France to collaborate on AI following Horizon membership

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The UK and France have announced new funding initiatives and partnerships aimed at advancing global AI safety. The developments come in the wake of the UK’s association with Horizon Europe, a move that was broadly seen as putting the divisions of Brexit in the past and the repairing of relations for the good of the continent.

French Minister for Higher Education and Research, Sylvie Retailleau, is scheduled to meet with UK Secretary of State Michelle Donelan in London today for discussions marking a pivotal moment in bilateral scientific cooperation.

Building upon a rich history of collaboration that has yielded groundbreaking innovations such as the Concorde and the Channel Tunnel, the ministers will endorse a joint declaration aimed at deepening research ties between the two nations. This includes a commitment of £800,000 in new funding towards joint research efforts, particularly within the framework of Horizon Europe.

A landmark partnership between the UK’s AI Safety Institute and France’s Inria will also be unveiled, signifying a shared commitment to the responsible development of AI technology. This collaboration is timely, given France’s upcoming hosting of the AI Safety Summit later this year—which aims to build upon previous agreements and discussions on frontier AI testing achieved during the UK edition last year.

Furthermore, the establishment of the French-British joint committee on Science, Technology, and Innovation represents an opportunity to foster cooperation across a range of fields, including low-carbon hydrogen, space observation, AI, and research security.

UK Secretary of State Michelle Donelan said:

“The links between the UK and France’s brightest minds are deep and longstanding, from breakthroughs in aerospace to tackling climate change. It is only right that we support our innovators, to unleash the power of their ideas to create jobs and grow businesses in concert with our closest neighbour on the continent.

Research is fundamentally collaborative, and alongside our bespoke deal on Horizon Europe, this deepening partnership with France – along with our joint work on AI safety – is another key step in realising the UK’s science superpower ambitions.”

The collaboration between the UK and France underscores their shared commitment to advancing scientific research and innovation, with a focus on emerging technologies such as AI and quantum.

Sylvie Retailleau, French Minister of Higher Education and Research, commented:

“This joint committee is a perfect illustration of the international component of research – from identifying key priorities such as hydrogen, AI, space and research security – to enabling collaborative work and exchange of ideas and good practices through funding.

Doing so with a trusted partner as the UK – who just associated to Horizon Europe – is a great opportunity to strengthen France’s science capabilities abroad, and participate in Europe’s strategic autonomy openness.”

As the UK continues to deepen its engagement with global partners in the field of science and technology, these bilateral agreements serve as a testament to its ambition to lead the way in scientific discovery and innovation on the world stage.

(Photo by Aleks Marinkovic on Unsplash)

See also: UK Home Secretary sounds alarm over deepfakes ahead of elections

Want to learn more about AI and big data from industry leaders? Check out AI & Big Data Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London. The comprehensive event is co-located with other leading events including BlockX, Digital Transformation Week, and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo.

Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars powered by TechForge here.

Tags: ai safety summit, artificial intelligence, europe, france, government, horizon europe, research, safety, uk

[gamesatwork]

e439 — Nuts About Sound

AI topics on safety, transparency & generated content, VR & MR/XR stories on making music with virtual instruments, cracking walnuts & bitcoin wallets & more!

Photo by Raffaele Ravaioli on Unsplash Published 6 November 2023 Michael and Michael get together for a lively discussion on AI, VR, Mixed Reality, a bluetooth in a nutshell, and a locked bitcoin wallet among other topics. The co-hosts start off the episode with the #ProjectPrimrose video of the interactive dress.  This is right in line with the stories from the October podcasts.  Then they…

[era-news]

World Leaders Agree on Artificial Intelligence Risks

World leaders at a safety summit have agreed on the importance of mitigating risks posed by rapid advancements in the emerging technology of artificial intelligence. The inaugural two-day AI Safety Summit, hosted by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Bletchley Park, England, started Wednesday with leaders from 28 nations, including the United States and China. The leaders agreed to work toward…

[michellesanches]

The Bletchley Declaration on AI Safety: A Summary

Hurrah! Finally a concerted effort by both the private and public sectors to tackle the Artificial Intelligence (AI) regulation question. With much excitement and hot on the heels of Biden’s AI Safety Executive Order, the first global AI Safety Summit, currently taking place, looks to create an AI safety framework, recognising the need to move away from the current “self-regulation” system.…

[biglisbonnews]

UK Government Details AI Safety Summit Ambitions Government announces key objectives for the global AI Safety Summit in November, being held at Bletchley Park https://www.silicon.co.uk/e-innovation/artificial-intelligence/uk-government-details-ai-safety-summit-ambitions-527829

[thatsonemorbidcorvid]

Tackling the threat from artificially generated images of child sex abuse must be a priority at the UK-hosted global AI summit this year, an internet safety organisation warned as it published its first data on the subject.

Such “astoundingly realistic images” pose a risk of normalising child sex abuse and tracking them to identify whether they are genuine or artificially created could also distract from helping real victims, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said.

The organisation – which works to identify and remove online images and videos of child abuse – said while the number of AI images being identified is still small “the potential exists for criminals to produce unprecedented quantities of life-like child sexual abuse imagery”.

Of 29 URLs (web addresses) containing suspected AI-generated child sexual abuse imagery reported to the IWF between May 24 and June 30, seven were confirmed to contain AI-generated imagery.

This is the first data on AI-generated child sexual abuse imagery the IWF has published.

It said it could not immediately give locations for which countries the URLs were hosted in, but that the images contained Category A and B material – some of the most severe kinds of sexual abuse – with children as young as three years old depicted.

Its analysts also discovered an online “manual” written by offenders with the aim of helping other criminals train the AI and refine their prompts to return more realistic results.

The organisation said such imagery – despite not featuring real children – is not a victimless crime, warning that it can normalise the sexual abuse of children, and make it harder to spot when real children might be in danger.

Last month, Rishi Sunak announced the first global summit on artificial intelligence (AI) safety to be held in the UK in the autumn, focusing on the need for international co-ordinated action to mitigate the risks of the emerging technology generally.

Susie Hargreaves, chief executive of the IWF, said fit-for-purpose legislation needs to be brought in “to get ahead” of the threat posed by the technology’s specific use to create child sex abuse images.

She said: “AI is getting more sophisticated all the time. We are sounding the alarm and saying the Prime Minister needs to treat the serious threat it poses as the top priority when he hosts the first global AI summit later this year.

“We are not currently seeing these images in huge numbers, but it is clear to us the potential exists for criminals to produce unprecedented quantities of life-like child sexual abuse imagery.

“This would be potentially devastating for internet safety and for the safety of children online.

“Offenders are now using AI image generators to produce sometimes astoundingly realistic images of children suffering sexual abuse.

“For members of the public – some of this material would be utterly indistinguishable from a real image of a child being sexually abused. Having more of this material online makes the internet a more dangerous place.”

She said the continued abuse of this technology “could have profoundly dark consequences – and could see more and more people exposed to this harmful content”.

She added: “Depictions of child sexual abuse, even artificial ones, normalise sexual violence against children. We know there is a link between viewing child sexual abuse imagery and going on to commit contact offences against children.”

Dan Sexton, chief technical officer at the IWF, said: “Our worry is that, if AI imagery of child sexual abuse becomes indistinguishable from real imagery, there is a danger that IWF analysts could waste precious time attempting to identify and help law enforcement protect children that do not exist.

“This would mean real victims could fall between the cracks, and opportunities to prevent real life abuse could be missed.”

He added that the machine learning to create the images, in some cases, has been trained on data sets of real child victims of sexual abuse, therefore “children are still being harmed, and their suffering is being worked into this artificial imagery”.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said while AI-generated content features only “in a handful of cases”, the risk “is increasing and we are taking it extremely seriously”.

Chris Farrimond, NCA director of threat leadership, said: “The creation or possession of pseudo-images – one created using AI or other technology – is an offence in the UK. As with other such child sexual abuse material viewed and shared online, pseudo-images also play a role in the normalisation and escalation of abuse among offenders.

“There is a very real possibility that if the volume of AI-generated material increases, this could greatly impact on law enforcement resources, increasing the time it takes for us to identify real children in need of protection.”

[capitalisticveins]

SURPRISE D.A.M.N CREW GENERAL HCs ‼️

I don’t like making hcs on my phone but Friendsgiving yesterday rlly motivated me to just do it

— Caelum likes to chew on his shirt when he’s bored

— Dear has 5 umbrellas even though they live alone

— FL has no idea AI art exists

— Dear likes to buy Lasko ties

— Caelum thinks cats are adorable but is absolutely terrified of them

— Gavin is shit at golf, bowling, and basically every sport in existence except for gymnastics, cheerleading, and table tennis

— Huxley can flex his tits

— Lasko buys every fan except Lasko brand fans

— Dear hasn’t played Mario Kart before but when they first played with Lasko they decimated him

— Damien’s favorite kind of animals are the hairless ones

— Caelum can’t hopscotch

— FL can’t be trusted to go grocery shopping for people because they have shit willpower and no common sense they will buy the wrong brand of item you want and buy 3 packs of pizza rolls for themselves with the person’s money

— Huxley can’t jump rope properly because the rope can’t go around his body

— Damien has a schedule of what to wear and when. He wears specific shirts on SPECIFIC days of the week.

— FL has a child safety lock on their computer for Caelum and Gavin

— Everyone has to tell Damien where they’re going whenever they leave their houses

— Dear somehow got everyone’s number before Friendsgiving and asked everyone to point out Lasko’s use of Mahogany/Burnt Sienna on the letters

— Gavin isn’t allowed inside Max’s Rustic Pizza anymore

— If Damien would let him, Huxley would touch lava, like seriously slap it

— FL likes to dress up as Aang for Halloween

— Lasko and Damien are the only ones to own a bidet

— Huxley owns a mermaid dress

— Gavin owns a fur coat

— As a kid, Huxley was too shy to ask his moms to peel his oranges for him so he just sorta ate them with the peel on until he was 11

— Gavin is banned on tiktok

- and twitter

— Caelum’s wings flap like a hummingbird’s

— Huxley is the only member to buy proper sweet snacks. Lasko buys offbrand and Damien doesn’t buy sweets

— Gavin’s favorite cartoon character is Bugs Bunny

— Despite popular belief, Damien is willing to wear an itchy ugly christmas sweater

— Dear owns a border collie

— Lasko writes fanfiction

— Huxley’s luck is fucking amazing when he plays DND, so much so that it pisses off Lasko and now whenever they campaign with others he makes Huxley the dungeon master

— Damien doesn’t know how to skip

— Gavin can make his own alcoholic beverage at will

— FL isn’t from Dahlia. They’re from NY, but have never been in NYC

— Dear has a very strong opinion on Dasani. I don’t know if they strongly dislike it or strongly like it, but they feel very strongly about it.

— Huxley heard the news about the Summit online, saw it was hosted by Vincent and Lovely, recognized Lovely’s name, and went “wait a minute—”.

— Damien has thought about burning his baby pictures when Huxley found them.

— He attempted to do it when Gavin found them.

— FL has a sweet tooth and since Huxley is the only member to buy sweets, they sneak into his house and consume most of it.

After Damien moved in with Huxley he once woke up at like 2am to get a glass of water and saw FL hunched over sucking the frosting off of the mini cupcakes Huxley buys and chugging milk out of the container, their eyes were glowing in the dark and there was a ton of containers on the floor.

Damien went back to sleep without saying a word. When he woke up all traces of FL being in the house were gone and they don’t recall the night ever happening. No one believes him.

The only reference to the night happening is that all the snacks he saw FL eating were gone.

Lasko believes him but FL won’t let him tell Damien he believes him (it has happened to Lasko too and that’s why he buys offbrand).

— Gavin has accidentally killed someone with a rift.

— Caelum too but he doesn’t know.

— Dear is gonna buy Lasko rash ointment for Christmas with no malicious intent whatsoever.

— Damien owns the same amount of shoes as Milo.

— Gavin can’t swim. Gavin’s bad at a lot of things.

— Caelum can swim with water wings. Caelum’s good at a lot of things.

[ingek73]

Prince Harry hits out at spread of disinformation via AI and social media

Duke speaks at summit on digital responsibility while on visit with Duchess of Sussex to Colombia

Caroline DaviesFri 16 Aug 2024 12.39 CESTS

The Duke of Sussex has hit out at online disinformation during a four-day visit to Colombia, warning: “What happens online within a matter of minutes transfers to the streets.”

Speaking in Bogotá at a summit on digital responsibility, Harry said of the spread of false information via artificial intelligence and social media: “People are acting on information that isn’t true.”

The warning, on the first day of the tour of Colombia by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, did not name specific social media platforms, but Harry’s comments followed criticism of the tech billionaire and owner of X, Elon Musk, and social media platforms after the far-right riots in the UK.

Addressing experts at the summit, which was staged in part by Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Foundation, Harry said in comments reported by the BBC: “In an ideal world those with positions of influence would take more responsibility. We are no longer debating facts.

Meghan and Harry were welcomed to Colombia by its vice-president, Francia Márquez. Photograph: Darwin Torres/Colombian Vicepresidency/LongVisual/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock

The couple’s visit is at the invitation of Francia Márquez, Colombia’s vice-president, who told journalists she had been “deeply moved” by the Sussexes’ Netflix docuseries about their lives. “It motivated me to say [of Meghan], ‘this is a woman who deserves to visit our country and share her story’, and undoubtedly, her visit will strengthen so many women around the world,” said Márquez as she welcomed them to Bogotá.

Márquez said she had previously invited Meghan to get involved with a “day of Afro-descendant women” which is commemorated annually on 25 July, but Meghan was unable to make it. “At that time, we sent her an invitation letter, and she responded saying that she couldn’t come but was very eager to visit and get to know our country,” Márquez said.

It has not been confirmed who is funding the trip to Colombia, but the couple have reportedly been given a full security detail, which they no longer receive in the UK after stepping down as working royals in 2020. During the visit, which appears to follow the format of official royal visits, they are expected to spend time in Cartagena and Cali and attend the Petronio Álvarez festival, a four-day event in celebration of Afro-Colombian music and culture.

Their first day was spent in the capital, Bogotá, where they visited a school to meet teenagers at a session on online safety, watched a cultural showcase in which they joined in with the dancing, and attended the digital summit looking at the urgent need to tackle the harmful aspects of technology and digital platforms.

It is the Sussexes’ third trip this year after a three-day visit to Nigeria in May and a visit to Jamaica in January.

[mariacallous]

Let’s get one thing clear: the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, was never the border czar, despite her political opponents’ attempts to label her as such. If Harris has ever had a Biden administration czarship—not with an official title but with broad authority to coordinate and direct multiple agencies, organizations, and departments on a multi-faceted policy priority—it was in artificial intelligence (AI). Strangely, this doesn’t seem to have come up a lot in the 2024 presidential contest, despite the presence of AI everywhere else these days. In fact, this role doesn’t even merit a passing mention on the “Meet Vice President Kamala Harris” page of her website even as she prepares to formally become the party’s presidential candidate at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

AI might lack the political resonance of the border today, but it is time we reconsider its significance to the average voter. As Harris graduates from a vibes campaign to one with more substance, the vice president should put a spotlight on the AI in her record. When AI is recast as a sweeping change that could affect jobs, income equality, national security, and the rights of ordinary citizens, it is rather quickly transformed from esoterica to an everyday concern. The Trump-Vance campaign has received support from the likes of Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Marc Andreessen—all major Silicon Valley and AI influencers and investors—but it is Harris, not former President Donald Trump, who has actual fingerprints on AI policy. So, what has been Harris’s track record in this area? And where is the vice president likely to take AI policy if she wins the White House?

Harris’s role as AI czar may be the political season’s best-kept secret. But if one were to trace AI policy development in the world’s leading AI-producing nation, all signs point to Harris. Remarkably, AI policy development has been led by the White House rather than the U.S. Congress. In fact, Congress has done precious little, despite the growing need for AI guardrails, while the White House, with Harris as the seniormost public official involved, has helped frame and follow up on its October 2023 executive order on AI.

That order was designed to ensure the “safe, secure, and trustworthy development and use of AI.” In addition, Harris has made a broader commitment to “establishing a set of rules and norms for AI, with allies and partners, that reflect democratic values and interests, including transparency, privacy, accountability, and consumer protections.” Significantly for a technology disproportionately reliant on a handful of industry players, Harris suggested and has led the important first step of bringing these players together to commit to a set of AI practices and standards that advances three critical objectives: safety, security, and trust.

Given the disproportionate influence of the United States on AI used around the world, it is critical for the country to have its public position clarified in international fora. Harris has represented the United States in key international convenings and led the country’s global advocacy efforts on ensuring safe AI, such as at the AI Safety Summit in Bletchley Park, England. At the other end of the stakeholder spectrum, Harris has also met with the communities most directly affected by the wider adoption of the technology, including consumer protection groups and labor and civil rights leaders, to discuss protections against AI risks.

Harris’ contact with AI has another dimension, too. As the ultimate political unicorn—a woman of color, an underrated and parodied vice president in the Biden administration, and an overnight sensation as presumptive presidential nominee of the Democratic Party after U.S. President Joe Biden stepped aside from the 2024 race—Harris’s narrative has been defined largely by others, whether it is through AI-assisted disinformation campaigns or viral memes. She has been personally targeted by deepfake videos of her supposedly making garbled statements, such as, “Today is today, and yesterday was today yesterday.” An AI-aided voice synthesis that led to a demeaning parody of her presidential campaign advertisement was reposted by Musk himself on X. Trump has also falsely claimed that the large crowds at Harris’s campaign rallies were AI generated. In other words, Harris can legitimately claim to have had AI weaponized against her personally.

Finally, Harris hails from the global capital of AI. As former attorney general and senator of California, she has been financially supported by many in the tech industry; more than 200 Silicon Valley investors have backed her run for the White House. One of her closest confidantes is her brother-in-law, Tony West, Uber’s chief legal officer (now on leave to work for the Harris campaign). It is legitimate to ask if she would be willing to confront the industry on difficult issues; at the same time, her closeness with industry leaders could help with greater government-industry collaboration.

What can we learn from Harris’s record as to what she would do in the presidency on this issue? As AI czar, Harris showed some clear patterns. For one, her primary focus has been promoting safety and addressing the risks of unregulated AI use, which can lead to bias or abuse. Second, the White House under her stewardship has accomplished a wide range of safety-, security-, and trust-enhancing actions since the issuance of the executive order—from AI testbeds and model evaluation tools developed at the Department of Energy to the Office of Management and Budget-issued government-wide policy on AI, the latter with safeguards to assess and monitor AI’s societal impact. There have been pilots at the departments of Defense and Homeland Security using AI to protect vital government software and a call to action from the Gender Policy Council and Office of Science and Technology Policy to combat AI-generated image-based sexual abuse. Harris has also been the seniormost official behind the release of a Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, outlining principles for the ethical design and use of AI.

Another of Harris’s initiatives has been aimed at promoting authenticity as concerns about AI-generated content skyrocket. This includes proposing international standards for tracing authenticity of government-produced digital content and identifying AI-generated or manipulated content, through digital signatures, watermarking, and labeling.

While Harris is not, any means, an expert on AI, and much work remains to get a full-throated AI policy in place, the numbers tell a tale of steady early accomplishment. A list of 100 action items following the executive order has been completed by various federal agencies on issues ranging from developing new technical guidelines for AI safety to evaluating misuse of dual-use foundation models and developing frameworks for managing generative AI risks. Harris has obtained voluntary commitments from 15 companies to ensure safe, secure, and transparent development of AI technology. 31 nations have joined the United States in endorsing a declaration establishing norms for responsible development, deployment, and use of military AI capabilities. And the U.S. government has won commitments of up to $200 million from 10 leading foundations to fund work around five pillars that cover issues from democracy and rights to improving transparency and accountability of AI.

Harris’s campaign rests on the idea of looking to the future and “not going back.” The Democratic National Convention in Chicago presents an opportunity for Harris to communicate more to the public about a key part of that future: AI’s economic and societal implications and her role in influencing them. Time is running out on conveying this issue’s importance, especially to the working class. While the impact of AI on different occupations is a matter of debate, some argue that, in the near-term, higher-income workers are more likely to benefit from productivity improvements due to AI and the share of income going to capital is likely to increase at the expense of the share that goes to labor. Both trends would contribute to an increase in income inequality.

As for the impact on jobs, there are different schools of thought. Some believe AI could help make many services, such as medical care, or currently elite job responsibilities, such as research, writing. graphics design and software coding more accessible to the middle class. Others see a plausible scenario of a hollowing out of specialized job functions. Policy and election promises need to show how a Harris administration would help steer toward the former outcome.

On the global stage, there are numerous existential risks associated with AI. Autonomous lethal weapons are a critical concern as multilateral agreements to ban such weapons have failed. Tensions with major AI-producing nations such as China are escalating, with no roadmap for getting to common ground as both the United States and China have declared their aspirations to become the world’s AI leader. A recent seven-hour meeting between top officials of the two countries in Geneva advertised as a dialogue on managing AI risks reportedly ended with no concrete agreements or follow-up meetings scheduled.

In parallel, the atmosphere has only become more tense with U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports and restrictions on the export of high-end chips to China. The Commerce Department is considering further restrictions on exporting proprietary AI models to China. Meanwhile, Beijing and Moscow are discussing a strategic partnership on various issues, including technology, while the Chinese embassy in Washington has accused the United States of “economic coercion and unilateral bullying.” If mishandled, these tensions can escalate.

Harris’s campaign can distinguish her candidacy with an acknowledgement of her track record and momentum on AI policy development. It must make the case for at least three sets of issues her administration would address. First: understanding AI’s impact on jobs and the resulting impact on economic inequality, and setting forth a plan to mitigate risks and protecting the most vulnerable. Second: developing a strategy for harnessing AI that addresses key kitchen-table concerns, such as accessible healthcare and education and skill-building. And third: crafting a vision for U.S. leadership in AI that advances responsible innovation, reduces geopolitical tensions, and preserves American national security interests.

Going from czar to president is unusual and comes with unusual challenges. Czars are usually not formally appointed as such—Harris was never officially designated AI czar despite the clear czar-like nature of her involvement—but can work to bring multiple parties together, often doing so outside public view. Then-Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, for example, played a key role as de facto climate czarin increasing cooperation on that issue with China without much fanfare.

In other instances, and when they are brought in during an acute crisis, czars come with enormous expectations: The city of Boston awaits a rat czar, and residents want to see quick results. Czars do not have executive powers but have the respect of many, which is the calling card that allows them to convene parties with differing agendas. Presidents enjoy none of these luxuries. They own the problems they take on and they do so in public view.

There’s no escaping the reality that we are—and this election is being held—firmly in the age of AI. It is important that Harris’s team conveys the significance of AI to people’s lives and lets voters know how Harris would build on her unique track record. American voters have a choice to make for the nation’s next president this November, and on this one critical issue at least one of the candidates has a running start.

[guerrerense]

The Duchess at Ais Gill - Explored por Stephen Dance Por Flickr: 46233 Duchess of Sutherland is in full cry with safety valves lifting as she approaches the summit of the Settle and Carlisle line at Ais Gill She is working 1Z23, the 16:40 Carlisle - Crewe Cumbrian Mountain Express railtour

[jcmarchi]

Salesforce: UK set to lead agentic AI revolution

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/salesforce-uk-set-to-lead-agentic-ai-revolution/

Salesforce: UK set to lead agentic AI revolution

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Salesforce has unveiled the findings of its UK AI Readiness Index, signalling the nation is in a position to spearhead the next wave of AI innovation, also known as agentic AI.

The report places the UK ahead of its G7 counterparts in terms of AI adoption but also underscores areas ripe for improvement, such as support for SMEs, fostering cross-sector partnerships, and investing in talent development.

Zahra Bahrololoumi CBE, UKI CEO at Salesforce, commented: “Agentic AI is revolutionising enterprise software by enabling humans and agents to collaborate seamlessly and drive customer success.

“The UK AI Readiness Index positively highlights that the UK has both the vision and infrastructure to be a powerhouse globally in AI, and lead the current third wave of agentic AI.”

UK AI adoption sets the stage for agentic revolution

The Index details how both the public and private sectors in the UK have embraced AI’s transformative potential. With a readiness score of 65.5, surpassing the G7 average of 61.2, the UK is establishing itself as a hub for large-scale AI projects, driven by a robust innovation culture and pragmatic regulatory approaches.

The government has played its part in maintaining a stable and secure environment for tech investment. Initiatives such as the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park and risk-oriented AI legislation showcase Britain’s leadership on critical AI issues like transparency and privacy.

Business readiness is equally impressive, with UK industries scoring 52, well above the G7 average of 47.8. SMEs in the UK are increasingly prioritising AI adoption, further bolstering the nation’s stance in the international AI arena.

Adam Evans, EVP & GM of Salesforce AI Platform, is optimistic about the evolution of agentic AI. Evans foresees that, by 2025, these agents will become business-aware—expertly navigating industry-specific challenges to execute meaningful tasks and decisions.

Investments fuelling AI growth

Salesforce is committing $4 billion to the UK’s AI ecosystem over the next five years. Since establishing its UK AI Centre in London, Salesforce says it has engaged over 3,000 stakeholders in AI training and workshops.

Key investment focuses include creating a regulatory bridge between the EU’s rules-based approach and the more relaxed US approach, and ensuring SMEs have the resources to integrate AI. A strong emphasis also lies on enhancing digital skills and centralising training to support the AI workforce of the future.

Feryal Clark, Minister for AI and Digital Government, said: “These findings are further proof the UK is in prime position to take advantage of AI, and highlight our strength in spurring innovation, investment, and collaboration across the public and private sector.

“There is a global race for AI and we’ll be setting out plans for how the UK can use the technology to ramp-up adoption across the economy, kickstart growth, and build an AI sector which can scale and compete on the global stage.”

Antony Walker, Deputy CEO at techUK, added: “To build this progress, government and industry must collaborate to foster innovation, support SMEs, invest in skills, and ensure flexible regulation, cementing the UK’s leadership in the global AI economy.”

Agentic AI boosting UK business productivity 

Capita, Secret Escapes, Heathrow, and Bionic are among the organisations that have adopted Salesforce’s Agentforce to boost their productivity.

Adolfo Hernandez, CEO of Capita, said: “We want to transform Capita’s recruitment process into a fast, seamless and autonomous experience that benefits candidates, our people, and our clients.

“With autonomous agents providing 24/7 support, our goal is to enable candidates to complete the entire recruitment journey within days as opposed to what has historically taken weeks.

Secret Escapes, a curator of luxury travel deals, finds autonomous agents crucial for personalising services to its 60 million European members.

Kate Donaghy, Head of Business Technology at Secret Escapes, added: “Agentforce uses our unified data to automate routine tasks like processing cancellations, updating booking information, or even answering common travel questions about luggage, flight information, and much more—freeing up our customer service agents to handle more complex and last-minute travel needs to better serve our members.”

The UK’s AI readiness is testament to the synergy between government, business, and academia. To maintain its leadership, the UK must sustain its focus on collaboration, skills development, and innovation. 

(Photo by Matthew Wiebe)

See also: Generative AI use soars among Brits, but is it sustainable?

Want to learn more about AI and big data from industry leaders? Check out AI & Big Data Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London. The comprehensive event is co-located with other leading events including Intelligent Automation Conference, BlockX, Digital Transformation Week, and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo.

Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars powered by TechForge here.

Tags: adoption, agentic ai, agents, artificial intelligence, Business, enterprise, europe, productivity, report, research, salesforce, study, uk

[xtruss]

Foreign Policy Priorities: Kamala Devi Harris’s Positions

— By Council on Foreign Relations

AI and Technology

Harris has played a leading role in developing U.S. policy toward artificial intelligence (AI). The Biden-Harris administration has framed supporting the U.S. technology sector as a matter of national security, even as it has sought to confront large tech companies for alleged unfair market practices.

Harris led the formulation of an executive order requiring companies to share with the government risks they are facing and outlining a framework for the safe use of AI that federal agencies can follow.

She reportedly suggested that leading AI firms agree to voluntary safety commitments, including a pledge to submit their most powerful models for government review; fifteen of them did so in 2023. She also led efforts to develop rules surrounding military use of AI that have been agreed to by more than fifty countries.

The Biden-Harris administration passed the CHIPS and Science Act in August 2022, directing more than $280 billion in funding toward domestic production of advanced technologies and the hardware that underpins their development, such as semiconductors.

The same year, the administration published an “AI Bill of Rights” identifying five principles for the responsible deployment of the technology. Harris says U.S. policy toward AI should both stimulate innovation and protect against “profound harm.”

Harris represented the United States at the first international AI governance summit in London in 2023. The summit produced a joint declaration that seeks to ensure the technology is “human-centric, trustworthy, and responsible.” China has also signed the statement.

The Biden-Harris administration unveiled a new National Cybersecurity Strategy in 2023 that urges U.S. companies to take responsibility for ensuring that their systems cannot be hacked and suggests that they could be held legally liable for not protecting “digital infrastructure.” The strategy also called for expanding U.S. military authorization to preempt foreign cyberattacks.

The administration has asked Congress to create legislation strengthening antitrust enforcement that can be used against large technology firms. The Department of Justice has pursued antitrust cases against Apple, Amazon, Google, and other big tech firms.

The administration has cracked down on cryptocurrencies due to concerns over their utility in evading sanctions, laundering money, and financing terrorism. It has directed the Federal Reserve to explore developing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Harris is reportedly seeking a “reset” with the crypto sector.

China

Harris says China is responsible for stealing intellectual property and distorting the global economy with unfairly subsidized exports. The Biden-Harris administration has argued that China’s growing influence and aggression in some areas are the leading national security threat to the United States.

Harris says she will ensure that “America, not China, wins the competition for the twenty-first century.” The Biden-Harris administration has placed stringent restrictions on exports of high-tech products to China that it deems critical to national security. It has pressed U.S. partners in the European Union and elsewhere to impose similar measures on Chinese tech.

She argues that the United States should “de-risk,” not decouple, from China, arguing that Washington lost the trade war that began under Trump. The administration has retained $360 billion worth of tariffs on China imposed by Trump and introduced a raft of its own.

These restrictions followed major legislation that subsidized domestic manufacturing of computer chips, electric vehicle parts, and other new technologies. Firms that produce such goods in China are not eligible for U.S. subsidies.

Harris says the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok poses national security concerns. In April 2024, Biden signed a bill that will ban TikTok from the United States if it is not sold by 2025; Harris has said a ban is not the administration’s intention.

In 2022, she said the United States would “continue to support Taiwan’s self-defense” in line with long-standing U.S. policy of “strategic ambiguity” toward the island that China claims as its own.

Her campaign says she helped lead administration efforts to ensure freedom of navigation through the South China Sea and sought closer ties with American allies in the Indo-Pacific, including Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea. In April 2024, Harris hosted the first-ever trilateral summit between the United States, Japan, and the Philippines.

Harris met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2022, urging him to “maintain open lines of communication to responsibly manage the competition between our countries.” Under the Biden-Harris administration, the United States and China agreed to pursue policies aimed at tripling global renewable energy capacity.

The Biden-Harris administration unveiled two programs aimed at building infrastructure in lower-income countries to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

As a senator, Harris cosponsored legislation calling on several U.S. agencies to investigate China’s crackdown on the Uyghur ethnic group and the autonomy of Hong Kong.

Climate Change

Harris describes the climate crisis as an “existential threat.” She has supported many of Biden’s climate policies, including his decision to rejoin the Paris Agreement, and cast the tiebreaking vote in the Senate to pass the largest clean energy and climate investment bill in U.S. history.

Harris backed Biden’s decision to return the United States to the 2015 Paris Agreement, under which nearly two hundred countries agreed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to limit global temperature rise.

She cast the tiebreaking vote on the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the largest investment in climate-related policies in U.S. history. The bill budgets roughly $370 billion for emissions-reduction efforts, including tax credits and subsidies for clean energy projects. The IRA builds on the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), a $1.2 trillion law to upgrade U.S. infrastructure and spur the adoption of electric vehicles, among other measures.

As part of the IIJA, the Biden-Harris administration created the Civil Nuclear Credit Program to invest $6 billion in existing nuclear energy facilities. In March 2024, the administration announced it will lend $1.5 billion to Michigan to restart a shuttered nuclear plant, the nation’s first such recommissioning.

Harris launched a new partnership between the United States and Caribbean countries that seeks to strengthen energy security, critical infrastructure, and local economies in the region.

At the 2023 UN climate conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Harris announced a $3 billion pledge from the United States to the UN Green Climate Fund, the world’s largest fund dedicated to helping developing countries address climate change.

The Biden-Harris administration created the American Climate Corps, a jobs program that aims to train tens of thousands of young people in high-demand skills for careers in climate action and clean energy. The program is modeled after President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps.

The Biden-Harris administration has approved a range of new fossil fuel projects, including an $8 billion oil drilling project in northern Alaska. However, it also announced restrictions on new oil and gas leasing on 13 million acres (5.3 million hectares) of an Alaskan federal petroleum reserve. Under the administration, oil and gas production has continued to grow to historic highs, with the United States becoming the world’s largest crude oil producer.

As a 2020 presidential candidate, Harris put forth a $10 trillion plan that called for net-zero emissions by 2045 and a carbon-neutral electricity sector by 2030. She also pledged to end federal support for the fossil fuel industry and called for a carbon tax and a ban on fracking. Her 2024 campaign said she will not ban fracking.

As a senator in 2019, Harris was an early co-sponsor of the Green New Deal, a nonbinding congressional resolution that aimed to help the United States transition to 100 percent clean energy within a decade, and said she would eliminate the Senate filibuster to pass the deal if needed.

Defense and North Atlantic Terrorist Organization (NATO)

Harris has positioned herself as a strong supporter of multilateral cooperation and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). She has emphasized the U.S. commitment to Ukraine and furthered U.S. space policy as chair of the White House National Space Council.

The Biden-Harris administration’s 2022 National Security Strategy [PDF] broadly maintained the Trump administration’s focus on great-power competition with China and Russia. Harris has pledged to ensure the United States “always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world.”

At the Munich Security Conference in 2024, Harris reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to NATO, calling it the “greatest military alliance the world has ever known.” Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Biden-Harris administration supported NATO enlargement by pushing for approval of Finland’s and Sweden’s accession bids. (The countries joined NATO in 2023 and 2024, respectively.)

The Biden-Harris administration also formulated an updated Indo-Pacific Strategy [PDF], which pledges to support “a free and open Indo-Pacific.” To that end, the United States has inked a new defense pact with Papua New Guinea and advanced an existing defense agreement with the Philippines. The Biden-Harris administration has also deepened security cooperation with Japan and South Korea, and it held the inaugural in-person summit of the so-called Quad—an alliance comprising the United States, Australia, India, and Japan—which aims to counter China in the Indo-Pacific.

The administration announced a new trilateral pact with Australia and the United Kingdom, known as AUKUS, that seeks to bolster the countries’ allied deterrence and defense capabilities against China, including by supplying Australia with nuclear-powered submarines.

Harris has called for greater involvement with Africa, and in 2023, led a weeklong trip to the continent. In 2022, the Biden-Harris administration published a new Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa [PDF] that emphasizes democracy protection, economic development, and the clean energy transition; that same year, a U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit produced commitments to increase U.S. military aid and training for African governments.

Harris chairs the White House’s National Space Council, which advises the president on space policy and strategy. In 2022, she announced the U.S. commitment to halt anti-satellite weapons tests, which create dangerous atmospheric debris. She has also overseen a large increase in the number of signatories to the Artemis Accords, a global agreement governing space-related activity.

In 2019, she told CFR that the war in Afghanistan “must come to an end.” The Biden-Harris administration withdrew all remaining U.S. troops from the country in August 2021 as part of an earlier deal struck by Trump.

She also told CFR that she would consider some sanctions relief to improve life for North Koreans in exchange for Pyongyang taking “serious, verifiable steps” to denuclearize.

As a senator, Harris voted against reauthorizing parts of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act because it did not require warrants for the government to access U.S. citizens’ information.

Fiscal Policy and Debt

The Biden-Harris administration has focused on making public investments in infrastructure and green energy, expanding the middle class, and challenging monopolistic consolidation. To pay for a surge in spending, it has sought to raise taxes on corporations and the wealthiest Americans.

Harris supported legislation signed by Biden that authorized trillions of dollars in new public spending. In 2021, the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the largest infrastructure spending bill in decades, authorized $1.2 trillion in spending toward U.S. roads, railways, airports, and other infrastructure. Additional subsidies for semiconductor and climate investments have surpassed $800 billion.

Nonpartisan watchdogs expect that the administration’s spending programs will increase the growing federal deficit by more than $1 trillion over the next decade. The deficit is now $1.7 trillion, and the national debt has climbed past $30 trillion, or more than 100 percent of U.S. economic output.

She has backed Biden’s proposals to institute $5 trillion worth of tax increases. She supports raising the top income tax rate, taxing capital gains like income for Americans making more than $1 million, and implementing a wealth tax that would impose a 25 percent levy on individuals with more than $100 million worth of total assets, including unrealized gains. She also favors raising the corporate tax rate from 21 to 28 percent.

Harris says that building the middle class will be a “defining goal” of her presidency. Her proposed policies include raising the minimum wage, eliminating taxes on tips, and creating a newborn child tax credit of up to $6,000 per year. The economic proposals in a fact sheet released by the Harris campaign would add $1.7 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade, according to some estimates.

In 2018, she proposed legislation that called for reversing the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Many of these cuts are set to expire in 2025; Biden has proposed maintaining cuts for Americans making less than $400,000, a plan Harris now supports.

In 2021, the Biden-Harris administration brokered a global agreement to tax corporations at a minimum of 15 percent, though it is yet to be implemented. A year later, the administration introduced a 15 percent corporate minimum tax on U.S. companies with annual income over $1 billion. Harris supports raising that rate to 21 percent.

The administration has made antitrust policy a priority, challenging alleged monopolies in the aviation, energy, and technology sectors. In 2022, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice recorded the most challenges to proposed mergers since the United States began requiring premerger reviews in 1976.

Global Health and Pandemic Prevention

Harris has prioritized national and international health-care issues. She has long been an outspoken supporter of reproductive rights, advocating for new legislation to restore abortion rights overturned by the Supreme Court. She has also played a role in the administration’s efforts to address the opioid epidemic.

The Biden-Harris administration pursued an aggressive COVID-19 vaccination policy that included free vaccine access and a nationwide vaccine mandate that would have affected most large employers. (The Supreme Court later struck down the mandate.) In 2021, the administration released a national pandemic strategy [PDF] that focused on quickly ramping up vaccine production, protecting essential workers, and expanding access to testing and treatment.

The administration issued an executive order retracting Trump’s decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization, to which the United States is one of the largest donors.

In 2023, Harris convened state attorneys general from across the country to discuss state and federal efforts to address the U.S. opioid epidemic. The Biden-Harris administration has declared synthetic opioid trafficking a national emergency; sanctioned firms and individuals in China, a critical node in the drug’s supply chain; and pushed China and Mexico to do more to stem the flow of fentanyl into the United States.

In 2022, the Biden-Harris administration unveiled a new national biodefense strategy [PDF] that aims to help the United States better prepare for large-scale biological or viral threats that could emerge in the future. The strategy led to the creation of the White House’s Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy, tasked with coordinating, leading, and implementing pandemic preparedness efforts.

Harris has been a leading voice on reproductive rights. She criticized the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, a 1973 decision which recognized a constitutional right to abortion, and supports new legislation to enshrine Roe into federal law. In 2021, the Biden-Harris administration rescinded the so-called Mexico City policy blocking abortion-related programs from receiving U.S. foreign aid, saying that it undermined U.S. efforts to support women’s health.

As a senator, Harris cosponsored legislation that sought to ban states from imposing restrictions on abortion rights, and she voted against a bill that aimed to ban abortions after twenty weeks.

Immigration

Harris advocates for comprehensive immigration reform. She was tasked with leading the federal effort to address the root causes of migration from Central America, though her comments dissuading would-be migrants from traveling to the United States have created controversy.

Harris has promised to reform the “broken” immigration system, including by bringing back and signing into law the bipartisan border security bill that failed twice in Congress.

Biden tapped Harris to lead the administration’s diplomatic efforts to address the root causes of migration from Central America’s so-called Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Since 2021, Harris has helped secure some $5 billion in private sector investment to promote economic opportunities and curb violence in Central America.

During her first international trip to Guatemala and Mexico in 2021, she told would-be migrants thinking about making the dangerous trek to the southern U.S. border “do not come” given the likelihood they would be turned away by border authorities.

The Biden-Harris administration reinstated the Central American Minors program, which has allowed thousands of children from the Northern Triangle to gain refugee status or temporary legal residence before traveling to the southern U.S. border.

The Biden-Harris administration has sought to rebuild the U.S. refugee resettlement program after Trump made large cuts. In fiscal year 2023, the United States welcomed more than sixty thousand refugees, over double the previous year. The administration also created new parole programs that have welcomed tens of thousands of Afghan and Ukrainian refugees to the United States.

The administration has sought to restore asylum access, including by ending daily limits on asylum applications and restoring protections to victims of domestic and gang violence. However, it unveiled a new policy in 2023 that allows the government to deny asylum to migrants who did not previously apply for it in a third country and to those who cross the border illegally. This approach includes new screening centers in several Latin American countries.

In 2024, the administration also issued an order temporarily blocking people who illegally cross the border from seeking asylum once the number of daily crossings exceeds a certain threshold—which it has for much of Biden’s presidency. A separate order also expanded green card access for certain undocumented immigrants who are married to U.S. citizens.

The administration has expanded and renewed temporary protected status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of eligible nationals of several countries, including Afghanistan, Cameroon, and Ukraine.

The Biden-Harris team has expanded the capacity of some guest worker visa programs in response to the increasing demand for temporary workers.

As a presidential candidate in 2019, she put forth an immigration plan that called for the creation of a path to citizenship for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, a program launched by former President Barack Obama that provides deportation relief and work permits to undocumented migrants brought to the United States illegally as children.

In 2020, she reintroduced the Access to Counsel Act, which would ensure that people held or detained while entering the United States have access to legal counsel. She originally introduced the bill—her first as a senator—in 2017. She also supported legislation that would have expedited the reunification of immigrant families.

Middle East

Harris backs Israel’s right to self-defense but has also been outspoken about the toll on Palestinian civilians amid the war between Israel and Hamas. She supports an immediate cease-fire and hostage release as well as a two-state solution to the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Harris reiterated her support for Israel in a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July 2024. She has welcomed U.S. military aid to Israel, which has topped $12 billion since Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023, and her campaign says she does not support an arms embargo on the country.

Harris called for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war in March 2024, one month before Biden did. She said she supports “Israel’s legitimate military objectives to eliminate the threat of Hamas” but decried the “humanitarian catastrophe” in the Gaza Strip. She has pressed Israeli leaders to do more to protect civilians and has pushed the Israeli government to allow more aid into Gaza.

She says a two-state solution is the best way to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She has called for a “revitalized” Palestinian Authority to govern a unified Gaza and West Bank. She also says Israel needs to hold “extremist settlers” in the West Bank accountable for violence against Palestinians. In February 2024, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned four Israeli settlers accused of violence in the West Bank.

In 2021, she affirmed U.S. support for the Abraham Accords, a series of normalization deals between Israel and Arab countries negotiated by the Trump administration.

Before Hamas attacked Israel, the Biden-Harris administration was seeking a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia. In exchange, Riyadh had asked for formalized U.S. security guarantees, cooperation on a civilian nuclear program, and Israeli concessions toward Palestinians.

As a senator, she supported a 2018 resolution calling on the president to end all military actions in Yemen and voted to block weapons sales to Saudi Arabia. The Biden-Harris administration froze certain offensive arms sales to Saudi Arabia in 2021 before resuming them in August 2024 with a $750 million weapons sale.

She says she will take “whatever action is necessary” to defend U.S. troops against Iran and its proxies. After Iran-aligned forces killed three U.S. service members in Jordan in January 2024, U.S. military forces struck more than eighty-five Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria.

In 2019, she told CFR that she would rejoin the 2015 Iran nuclear deal if Iran returned to compliance. The Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to rejoin the deal were hindered by Iran’s support of Hamas, the Houthis, and other groups antagonistic to the United States. After Iran-aligned forces killed three U.S. service members in Jordan in January 2024, U.S. military forces struck more than eighty-five Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria.

Russia–Ukraine

Harris says the United States will back Ukraine’s defensive efforts against Russia for “as long as it takes” to counter the threat that a Russian victory would pose to the rest of Europe. She has represented the United States at peace talks on Ukraine and encouraged Congress to give Kyiv tens of billions of dollars in financial assistance.

Harris has condemned Russia’s invasion, saying the United States is “committed to helping Ukraine rebuild” and achieve “a just and lasting peace.” Since 2022, the United States has provided Ukraine with some $175 billion in assistance, including financial, humanitarian, and military support.

In June 2024, Harris represented the United States at a peace summit organized by Ukraine in Switzerland, where she sought to rally global support to pressure Russia to end its war. At the summit, she pledged close to $2 billion in additional aid for Ukraine.

Harris argues that a failure to respond to Russian aggression in Ukraine would embolden other countries considering invasions. She has helped coordinate with Western allies to impose sweeping sanctions, export controls, and other penalties on Russian entities and individuals, including the Russian private military company Wagner Group. The measures have focused on isolating Russia from the global financial system, limiting its energy exports, and hampering its military capabilities.

She says Russia has committed crimes against humanity in Ukraine. In 2019, she told CFR that Russia’s occupation of Crimea is a “severe violation of international norms.”

In 2018, Harris was among more than two dozen Democratic lawmakers who objected to Trump’s decision to withdraw from a 1987 treaty that required the United States and Russia to eliminate their stockpiles of midrange, ground-launched nuclear missiles.

Trade

Harris says trade is important for economic growth but argues that trade deals should shield American workers from unfair practices abroad. The Biden-Harris administration has applied new guardrails on trade aimed at promoting U.S. manufacturing, countering China’s economic rise, and addressing worsening climate change.

Before becoming vice president, Harris said she is “not a protectionist Democrat” and opposed widespread tariffs, which she has argued contribute to inflation. However, the Biden-Harris administration has maintained some $360 billion in tariffs on China that were implemented by Trump and introduced tens of billions of dollars in additional duties.

The Biden-Harris administration has argued that previous trade deals focused too much on boosting corporate profits while exposing U.S. workers to unfair competition. It has sought to strengthen investment in U.S. manufacturing and infrastructure to increase the country’s economic competitiveness.

As a senator, Harris opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free trade agreement negotiated by President Barack Obama and from which Trump withdrew, arguing the deal would harm American workers and the climate. The Biden-Harris administration has instead sought to negotiate a successor deal that includes cooperation on supply chains but does not eliminate tariffs or increase access to the U.S. market.

She was one of ten senators to oppose the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, an updated version of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that was negotiated by Trump and supported by Biden. In 2019, she said that she would not sign a trade deal “unless it protected American workers and it protected our environment.”

The Biden-Harris Administration has mobilized the federal government to support strategic domestic industries, an effort known as industrial policy. Harris cast the tiebreaking vote in favor of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which contained roughly $370 billion in federal grants, loans, and tax incentives for clean energy. To obtain access to IRA funding, companies must agree to limit operations in China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia.

In 2022, the administration passed the CHIPS and Science Act directing hundreds of billions of dollars toward U.S. semiconductor manufacturing. It has also imposed a slew of new restrictions aimed at curtailing Beijing’s access to advanced technologies and pushed U.S. allies, including major semiconductor suppliers Japan and the Netherlands, to implement similar restrictions.

Harris has said that she wants to reform the World Trade Organization (WTO). The Biden-Harris administration has pushed for changes to the WTO’s dispute-settlement mechanism even as it has continued Trump’s and Obama’s practice of blocking nominees to its appeals court, saying that China is gaming the system.

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1st November 2023 His Majesty The King delivers a virtual address at the AI Safety Summit 2023 at Bletchley Park.

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Latest AI Regulatory Developments:

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to transform industries, governments worldwide are responding with evolving regulatory frameworks. These regulatory advancements are shaping how businesses integrate and leverage AI technologies. Understanding these changes and preparing for them is crucial to remain compliant and competitive. Recent Developments in AI Regulation: United Kingdom: The…

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Marvel's Secret Invasion used AI-generated images to create its opening credits, which is why we're revisiting this blog from June 8th. Because, if a human didn't create the credits, does that mean Marvel can't claim copyright? Read the blog to learn about AI and the interesting legal questions it's raising 🤖

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the hot topic in every industry, as experts and commentators speculate how this rapidly evolving technology will change the future of work; and humanity.

However the water cooler exists at your job – maybe you’re playing it retro and still have an actual water cooler in your physical office – people are gathering around it to ask if you’ve tried ChatGPT yet, if AI will result in a shorter work week, or if the robots are coming for us Skynet-style. While there is nothing to suggest artificial intelligence has become sentient, the line between reality and science fiction is blurring.

Where does this leave people working in industries like video production? Will AI replace us, or will it become another tool in our utility belts?

This Just In

News headlines surrounding artificial intelligence are constantly fluctuating, and the biggest topics of conversation can be forgotten only a week later once something new eclipses it.

AI is progressing so rapidly, it’s hard for experts to say with any degree of certainty where it may take us, but that doesn’t stop everyone having an opinion on what will happen next. At the time of writing in June 2023, here is an overview of the leading artificial intelligence headlines:

Sam Altman, creator of ChatGPT, says AI poses an “existential risk” to humanity.

The United Kingdom will host the first global summit on artificial intelligence safety (date TBA).

The Beatles are back, as AI creates brand new songs from the Fab Four.

The European Union (EU) asks social media companies, including Google and Facebook, to label AI-generated content.

The latest AI trend is to expand famous paintings, creating more content but no art.

Read this article again in July and half of this will be old news. Or a reunited Beatles, half of whom are back from the grave, will become an acceptable reality. Really, it’s anyone’s guess.

Are You Sure That’s Legal?

Artificial intelligence is not entirely new in video production. AI has been used already for image manipulation and content editing. As the power of AI grows, however, it comes with the potential to create imagery from vast datasets. Seemingly making something from scratch, like a human would.

In May 2023, Adobe added an AI-powered image generator called Adobe Firefly to Photoshop. The software is promised to turn your wildest dream into an amazing image in seconds, but how is this image made? Rival software, such as Stability AI, have already faced legal action over the creation of their images. Groups like Getty Images claim Stability’s artificial intelligence generates content using existing images, or combining multiple images from the dataset its creator uploaded, which infringes their copyright.

Individuals using AI for personal use have a lot more legal freedoms than companies using AI to create images and videos for commercial use. Companies have to consider the copyright of the matter, and this is a huge ongoing debate that could take years to resolve.

As noted in the Berne Convention, an international treaty on copyright, copyright protection operates “for the benefit of the author and [their] successors in title” – the assumption being that there is a human creator. This has been affirmed in the US in the now famous “monkey selfie” dispute, during which both the Copyright Office and the courts found that animals could not hold copyright. The absence of a human creator in respect of AI-generated content therefore presents obstacles to the subsistence of copyright in the output that is generated. INFORMATION AGE, JUNE 2023

If a company uses AI to create a video, do they have ownership of it? Could the company face legal penalties if the AI is found to have used existing images and the artists’ sue, or is that a risk for the AI creator? Will users want to watch AI created content when there is such a big debate surrounding art and humanity; remember, the EU is campaigning for social media channels to put a label on AI content.

The simple answer is, we don’t know.

That’s a lot of potential legal issues and, because AI is evolving rapidly, there’s no clear answers. The earliest cases of these disputes are still ongoing, which means there’s little legal precedent to inform companies who are assessing how AI can help them with content creation.

Working with a video production company removes the uncertainty. Video production companies, like Squideo, give clients full ownership of the video once it’s created – meaning the video can be shared as widely as the company wants and, if it is replicated, the company can claim copyright.

Yet this doesn’t mean artificial intelligence has no place in the video production process whatsoever.

Judgement Day?

In 2023, 91% of businesses plan to use video as a marketing tool and 96% rate video as an ‘important part’ of their marketing strategy. There is growing demand for short videos, perfect for sharing to reels and stories on social media. Implementing AI in the video production process can speed things up and lower the cost.

ChatGPT can accelerate the scriptwriting process by providing a foundation to build upon – though it’s best not to rely entirely on AI writing generators just yet, as it’s still making a variety of mistakes. Voiceovers can be supplied by AI instead of recording artists too, as the technology has made artificial voices significantly more life-like. Although they’re less directable than voiceover artist, and not necessarily cheaper.  

Video production companies like Squideo create your animated video from scratch, ensuring complete one-of-a-kindness. That doesn’t mean we can’t benefit from AI tools – but we’re not about to become obsolete either.

Ready to create a unique video of your own? Watch the video below to get a better understanding of how Squideo can help promote your business, then get in touch with us to find out more!

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LIAFF SPECIAL #11 - Interpreti in pillole: Kristen Stewart

Carissimi lettori, ben ritrovati con un nuovo appuntamento con LIAFF SPECIAL, la rubrica dedicata all’approfondimento di personaggi e temi nel mondo dell’intrattenimento. Questo mese parleremo di un'attrice molto apprezzata, e che ha visto un incredibile notorietà negli ultimi anni, fra premiazioni importanti e partecipazioni ai grandi festival del cinema, ovvero Kristen Stewart. In questo articolo ripercorreremo la sua carriera, dagli inizi in giovanissima età, fino all'arrivo della fama grazie alla Twilight Saga e alla sua reinvenzione quale volto del cinema indipendente e controcorrente, caratterizzata da grandi interpretazioni e riconoscimenti di rilievo.

A young star: chi è Kristen Stewart?

Kristen Jaymes Stewart nasce a Los Angeles il 09 Aprile 1990, da padre statunitense e madre australiana, rispettivamente un produttore e una sceneggiatrice. Dopo aver studiato in scuole locali, la Stewart continuò gli studi a distanza fino al liceo, e sognava di diventare sceneggiatrice o regista, non avendo mai preso in considerazione la carriera come attrice. Ad otto anni, durante una recita natalizia scolastica, la Stewart fu notata da un agente, portandola a fare audizioni per l'anno successivo, fino ad ottenere il suo primo ruolo, nel film The Thirteenth Year (1999), seguito da The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000), entrambi dei semplici cameo. Il primo ruolo di un certo peso arriva con The Safety of Objects (2001), dove interpreta la figlia maschiaccio del personaggio di Patricia Clarkson.

Panic Room: i primi ruoli di rilievo

La prima vera svolta nella carriera della Stewart arriva nel 2002 con Panic Room, film thriller diretto da David Fincher, dove interpreta la figlia maschiaccio del personaggio di Jodie Foster, ruolo che le vale una nomination come miglior performance al Young Artist Award. A seguito del successo del film, viene scritturata in Cold Creek Manor (2003), altro thriller con protagonisti Dennis Quaid e Sharon Stone. Fra una lezione a distanza e l’altra, la Stewart trova tempo per partecipare ad altri film, come l’action-comedy Catch that Kid, il thriller Undertow e il drama Speak (tutti usciti nel 2004). In quest’ultimo la Stewart interpreta una ragazza che ha smesso di parlare dopo essere stata vittima di stupro, in una performance notevolmente apprezzata dalla critica. In seguito è apparsa in Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005) di Jon Favreau in un ruolo marginale, in Fierce People (2006), dove recita a fianco del compianto Anton Yelchin, nell’horror The Messengers (2007), a fianco di Dylan McDermott e Penelope Ann Miller e nella commedia romantica In The Land of Women (2007), assieme a Adam Brody e Meg Ryan.

Into the Wild: le prime attenzioni della critica

Nel 2007 Sean Penn la scelse per interpretare un piccolo ruolo in Into the Wild, adattamento dell’omonimo romanzo di Jon Krakauer, a sua volta basato sulla vera storia di Christopher McCandless, interpretato nella pellicola da Emile Hirsch. La pellicola fu ben accolta dalla critica dell’epoca, la quale si soffermò, fra le altre cose, sull’interpretazione della Stewart, definita rilevante anche se per un ruolo non principale. In seguito la Stewart è apparsa con un cameo in Jumper (2008), ha lavorato a fianco di Robert De Niro in What Just Happened (2008) ed è stata la co-protagonista del film indipendente The Cake Eaters, dove interpreta una ragazza disabile, in un altro ruolo enormemente apprezzato dalla critica.

The Runaways: fra vampiri e ruoli più drammatici

A Novembre 2007 la Summit Entertainment annunciò che Kristen Stewart avrebbe interpretato la protagonista femminile di Twilight (2008), film tratto dall’omonimo romanzo di Stephenie Meyer, e primo di una lunga e redditizia saga cinematografica. Il primo lungometraggio, diretto da Catherine Hardwicke (che la scelse dopo un provino improvvisato sul set di Adventureland), portò alla Stewart una fama mondiale, ma anche una serie di critiche negative per via della sua recitazione poco espressiva. Nel 2009 la Stewart appare in Adventureland, recitando a fianco di Jesse Eisenberg, e nel secondo capitolo della Twilight Saga, New Moon, seguito poi dal terzo, Eclipse, uscito nel 2010. Da quel momento la Stewart si alterna fra i restanti film della Twilight Saga, vale a dire le due parti di Breaking Dawn, uscite fra il 2011 e il 2012, e una serie di film più drammatici, come The Yellow Handkerchief, dove recita a fianco del compianto William Hurt, Welcome to the Rileys, assieme al compianto James Gandolfini, nel biopic The Runaways, dove la Stewart interpreta la rockstar Joan Jett, in una delle sue performance più importanti, il fantasy Snow White and the Huntsman, dove interpreta una versione action di Biancaneve e l’adattamento cinematografico di On the Road di Jack Kerouac. A seguito della fine della Twilight Saga, la Stewart diventa il volto per marchi come Chanel e Balenciaga, definendosi anche come icona di stile.

Camp X-Ray: il ritorno dopo le controversie

Per due anni la Stewart non apparve più sulle scene, anche a causa dello scandalo riguardante Rupert Sanders, il regista di Snow White and the Huntsman, ma nel 2014 ritorna in sala con Camp X-Ray, interpretando una giovane guardia che lavora nel penitenziario di Guantanamo, ruolo che la riporta all’attenzione della critica. Nello stesso anno la Stewart è fra i protagonisti di Cloud of Sils Maria, film diretto da Oliver Assayas e presentato al festival di Cannes, che le ha fruttato il César Award come miglior attrice non protagonista, recitando a fianco di Juliette Binoche e Chloë Grace Moretz, e recita accanto a Julianne Moore in Still Alice, film che ha portato la Moore a vincere l'Oscar come miglior attrice protagonista. Negli anni successivi la Stewart appare in Anesthesia, film diretto da Tim Blake Nelson e incentrato sulle vite di alcuni personaggi residenti a New York, in American Ultra, dove ritrova Jesse Eisenberg, il sci-fi distopico Equals, Certain Women di Kelly Reichardt, Cafè Society di Woody Allen, in Personal Shopper, seconda collaborazione con Oliver Assayas, dove interpreta Maureen, una ragazza che lavora nel mondo della moda e che ha recentemente perso il fratello gemello, in un altra performance elogiata dalla critica e in Billy Lynn's Long Halftime di Ang Lee. In questo periodo la Stewart è anche apparsa nella videoclip per il brano "Ride 'Em on Down" de i Rolling Stones e ha debuttato come regista per un cortometraggio, intitolato Come Swim.

Spencer: la nomination agli Oscar

Nel 2018 la Stewart appare in Lizzie, adattamento cinematografico delle vicende di Lizzie Borden, interpretata da Chloë Sevigny, seguito da JT Le Roy, dove interpreta Savannah Knopp, il volto dietro il famoso caso da cui il film prende il nome e nel 2019 torna al Festival del Cinema di Venezia con Seberg, film che narra la storia dell'attrice Jean Seberg, rivelatosi un altro ruolo importante per la sua carriera. In seguito la Stewart torna al cinema mainstream con il chiacchierato Charlie's Angels di Elizabeth Banks, il thriller Underwater, in cui recita a fianco di Vincent Cassel, ha diretto il cortometraggio Crickets per l'antologia Homemade ed ha recitato nel film natalizio a sfondo LGBTQ+ Happiest Season. A Giugno 2020 la Stewart fu scelta per interpretare Lady Diana in Spencer, biopic diretto da Pablo Larraín ed incentrato sul momento in cui Diana decide di divorziare dal principe Carlo. Per prepararsi al ruolo, la Stewart ha studiato ogni aspetto della compianta principessa del Galles e, a quanto pare, lo sforzo è stato ben ripagato, dato che il film ha debuttato al Festival di Venezia del 2021 ed è stato grandemente accolto dalla critica, soprattutto per l'interpretazione della Stewart, che le ha fruttato fra le altre cose, una nomination agli Oscar come miglior attrice protagonista, momento che segnerà in positivo la sua carriera. In seguito la Stewart torna a Cannes con Crimes of the Future, ultima fatica di David Cronenberg, in un ruolo marginale, ma comunque apprezzato da pubblico e critica e ha un cameo nella miniserie Irma Vep, targata Oliver Assayas.

I progetti futuri

A quanto pare, Kristen Stewart sembra non volersi fermare qui, dato che ha all'attivo numerosi progetti. Fra questi menzioniamo il thriller romantico Love Lies Bleeding, diretto da Rose Glass e presentato al Sundance Festival di quest'anno, con cui recita a fianco di Katy O'Brien, che già sta ricevendo un grandissimo apprezzamento da parte della critica, il sci-fi sperimentale Love Me, dove recita a fianco di Steven Yeun e anch'esso presentato al Sundance, il debutto alla regia di un lungometraggio in The Chronology of Water, tratto dall'omonimo memoir di Lidia Yuknavitch, la comedy Sacramento, attualmente in produzione, un film che narra la nascita della Beat Generation, che sarà diretto da Ben Foster, e un biopic sull'attivista Susan Sontag.

Qual'è la vostra interpretazione preferita di Kristen Stewart? Fatecelo sapere nei commenti.

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