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☆ The UK is gearing up for a pivotal summit on AI. Here's what you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Where it's being heldThe AI summit will be held in Bletchley Park, the historic landmark around 55 miles north of London. What it seeks to addressThe main objective of the U.K. AI summit is to find some level of international coordination when it comes to agreeing some principles on the ethical and responsible development of AI models. The British government wants the AI Summit to serve as a platform to shape the technology's future. They say that, by keeping the summit restricted to only frontier AI models, it is a missed opportunity to encourage contributions from members of the tech community beyond frontier AI. "By focusing only on companies that are currently building frontier models and are leading that development right now, we're also saying no one else can come and build the next generation of frontier models."

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Peter Nicholls, Rishi Sunak's, ChatGPT, Getty, codebreakers, Alan Turing, It's, Kamala Harris, Saul Loeb, Brad Smith, Sam Altman, Global Affairs Nick Clegg, Ursula von der, Emmanuel Macron, Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau, Olaf Scholz, Sunak, —, Xi Jinping, Biden, James Manyika, Manyika, Mostaque, we're, Sachin Dev Duggal, Carl Court Organizations: Royal Society, Carlton, Getty, U.S, Microsoft, Coppin State University, AFP, Meta, Global Affairs, Global Affairs Nick Clegg U.S, Ministry of Science, Technology European, Joe Biden Canadian, Britain, Afp, Getty Images Washington, U.S ., Google, CNBC, Big Tech Locations: London, China, Bletchley Park, British, America, Baltimore , Maryland, Chesnot, U.S, Nusa Dua, Indonesian, Bali, EU

SAO PAULO (AP) — More than 100 dolphins have died in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest in the past week as the region grapples with a severe drought, and many more could die soon if water temperatures remain high, experts say. Experts believe high water temperatures are the most likely cause of the deaths in the lakes in the region. Temperatures since last week have exceeded 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Tefe Lake region. There had been some 1,400 river dolphins in Tefe Lake, said Miriam Marmontel, a researcher from the Mamiraua Institute. Fleischmann said water temperatures rose from 32 C (89 F) on Friday to almost 38 C (100 F) on Sunday.

Persons: Chico Mendes, Miriam Marmontel, ”, Wilson Lima, Marreira, Ayan Fleischmann, Fleischmann Organizations: SAO PAULO, Mamiraua Institute, Brazil’s Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation, Chico, Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, Workers, Amazonas Gov, Mamirauá Institute Locations: Tefe, Tefe Lake, Amazonas

CNN —More than a hundred dolphins have been found dead in the Brazilian Amazon amid an historic drought and record-high water temperatures that in places have exceeded 102 degrees Fahrenheit. The Amazon River, the world’s largest waterway, is currently in the dry season, and several specimens of river fauna are also suffering from record-high temperatures. A severe drought is threatening the Amazon river. Below average levels of water have been reported in 59 municipalities in Amazonas State, impeding both transport and fishing activities on the river. Authorities expect even more acute droughts over the next couple of weeks, which could result in further deaths of dolphins, CNN Brasil reported.

Persons: It’s, Edmar Barros, ” André Coelho Organizations: CNN, Mamirauá Institute, Brazilian Ministry of Science, CNN Brasil, AP, Mamiraua Institute Locations: Lake Tefé, Amazonas State

China operates talent programs at various levels of government, targeting a mix of overseas Chinese and foreign experts. China has previously said its overseas recruitment through the TTP aimed to build an innovation-driven economy and promote talent mobility, while respecting intellectual property rights, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. It said that anyone who recommends a candidate who is then selected for the talent programs would receive "diamonds, bags, cars, and houses". In some cases, these people said, those experts will be offered roles at Chinese chip companies' overseas operations. ($1 = 7.1475 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Julie Zhu, Fanny Potkin, Eduardo Baptista and Michael Martina; editing by David CrawshawOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Florence Lo, Xi Jinping, Qiming, Dean Boyd, Nick Marro, Chen Biaohua, Chen, Ma Yuanxiao, Dawei Di, Di, Zhuji, Julie Zhu, Fanny Potkin, Eduardo Baptista, Michael Martina, David Crawshaw Organizations: REUTERS, Washington, Reuters, China, Ministry of Industry, Information Technology, U.S . Commerce Department, Xinhua, Ministry of Science, Technology, U.S, government's National Counterintelligence and Security Center, Economist Intelligence, China Center for Information Industry Development, China Semiconductor Industry Association, Qiming, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, Stanford, HK, LinkedIn, Hangzhou Juqi Technology, Fortune, Beijing Institute of Technology, BIT's School of Integrated Circuits, Electronics, Britain's University of Nottingham, University of Hong, BIT, Communist Party's Organization Department, Zhejiang University, Communist Party, Thomson Locations: China, HONG KONG, SINGAPORE, WASHINGTON, U.S, China's, Qiming, Beijing, Hangzhou, ResearchGate, University of Hong Kong, Ma, Zhejiang, Wenzhou, Cambridge

☆ China’s sitting on a goldmine of genetic data – and it doesn’t want to share
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

The national survey and restrictions on foreign access are part of new regulations on China’s genetic resources, which came into effect in July. The national genetic surveyBiobanking in China – meaning the collection of biological samples – is still “very fragmented,” and in an “embryonic stage,” said Zhang. But these concerns aren’t new – and the national genetic survey seems to be geared more toward scientific research than other purposes, several experts agreed. But China has another motive, too: establishing what some experts call “genomic sovereignty,” meaning full control of the genetic material within their country. While many other countries also have laws regulating the use and transfer of their population’s genetic material, few are as strict as China’s.

Persons: Guang Niu, ”, Joy Y, Zhang, you’re, Wei Liang, ICHPL, Anna Puglisi, Puglisi, States –, Katherine Wang, ” –, Wang, “, Sun, Xi Jinping, Jiankui, Anthony Wallace, ” Zhang Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Central South University, Centre for Global Science, biosciences, Shanxi Province Reproductive Science, Communist Party, Georgetown’s Center for Security, Emerging Technology, Gray, Group, CNN, Ministry of Science, Technology, National Health Service, National Institutes of Health, NIH Locations: Hong Kong, China, Changsha, Shanxi Province, Taiyuan, States, “, Wuhan, Xinijang, Xinjiang, Beijing, AFP, Harvard

☆ Controversial Chinese scientist He Jiankui proposes new gene editing research
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Authorities in China took multiple steps to tighten rules and ethical standards affecting human gene editing in the wake of the revelations about his previous research. But the scientist’s release of a new proposal involving gene editing of embryos has scientists and medical ethics experts concerned – and confused. Genetic manipulation of human embryos – both viable and nonviable ones – is typically tightly controlled globally and some countries ban all such research, experts say. But there is robust global debate around allowing genome editing of human embryos to treat serious genetic conditions or expanding research. Chinese law does not allow gene-edited human embryos used in research to be implanted into humans, or developed for more than 14 days.

Persons: ”, It’s, Peter Dröge, “, “ I’m, ” Joy Zhang, bioethicists, There’s, He’s, He’s “, Françoise Baylis, ” Baylis Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Authorities, Nanyang Technological University, Centre for Global Science, University of Kent, CNN, bioethicists, Twitter, China’s Ministry of Science, Technology, National Health Commission, Southern University of Science, China’s biosciences, Dalhousie University Locations: Hong Kong, China, Beijing, Singapore, Britain, USA, Europe, Shenzhen

☆ OpenAI CEO visits South Korea as country seeks to encourage AI development
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SEOUL, June 9 (Reuters) - Open AI Chief Executive Sam Altman is set to meet with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and about 100 local startups on Friday, as the country seeks to encourage domestic competitiveness in artificial intelligence. After crisscrossing Europe last month meeting lawmakers and national leaders to discuss the prospects and threats of AI, Altman has travelled to Israel, Jordan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, India and South Korea - all this week. The European Union is moving ahead with its draft AI Act, which is expected to become law later this year, while the United States is leaning toward adapting existing laws for AI rather than creating whole new legislation. South Korea has new AI regulation awaiting full parliament approval, which is seen as less restrictive than the EU's version. South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT announced in April plans focused on fostering local AI development, such as measures to provide datasets for training hyperscale AI, while continuing discussions in AI ethics and regulations.

Persons: Sam Altman, Yoon Suk, Altman, Naver, OpenAI, ChatGPT, Joyce Lee, Heekyong Yang, Deepa Babington Organizations: South Korean, crisscrossing, LG, Financial Times, Microsoft Corp, European, South Korea's Ministry of Science, ICT, Thomson Locations: SEOUL, crisscrossing Europe, Israel, Jordan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, India, South Korea, Korea, United States, China, Kakao, Spain, Mexico, South

☆ Chinese organisations launched 79 AI large language models since 2020 - report
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, May 30 (Reuters) - Chinese organisations launched 79 large-language models (LLMs) in the country over the past three years as they doubled down on efforts to develop artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, a report by state-run research institutes said. In 2020, Chinese organisations released 2 LLMs, compared with 11 in the United States, but in 2021 there was a total of 30 LLMs released in each country, said the report published on Sunday. U.S. organisations in total released 37 LLMs the following year, to China's 28, according to figures compiled in the report, whose co-authors include the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China. "The United States has always ranked first in the world in terms of the number of large-language models." The report comes when the country's AI industry faces significant challenges as U.S.-led export controls restrict Chinese organisations from accessing semiconductors used to train LLMs, among other advanced computing tasks.

CNN —A Russian politician died of – as of yet – unknown causes after falling ill on a plane on Saturday, the latest in a string of mysterious deaths among Russian elites. Russia’s Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education, Pyotr Kucherenko, 46, died while returning from a trip to Cuba on Saturday, according to the ministry. “Kucherenko was feeling ill while on a plane with a Russian delegation that was returning from a business trip to Cuba. Russia's Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Pyotr Kucherenko died while returning from Cuba. Mysterious deaths pile upKucherenko’s demise is not the first unexplained Russian death to spark interest.

☆ U.S. to Provide $25 Million to Costa Rica for Cybersecurity
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( James Rundle | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

The U.S. will provide cybersecurity support to the government of Costa Rica, officials said, almost a year after a ransomware group laid siege to its critical infrastructure and triggered a state of emergency. The funds will also help Costa Rica with strategic and technical cyber planning, training, hardware and software licenses, the official said. The official said the U.S. government believes Costa Rica’s support for Ukraine may have been a factor in Conti’s attack, as the group previously expressed its support for the Russian government’s invasion. PREVIEWThe grant to Costa Rica follows similar efforts from the U.S. to assist Albania in recovering from a cyberattack, which the federal government has since linked to Iran. Costa Rica has applied to join this initiative, which comprises 36 countries and the European Union, the official said.

☆ China revives ruling party control of financial oversight
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Greg Baker | Afp | Getty ImagesBEIJING — The ruling Communist Party of China is establishing commissions to oversee finance and tech, state media announced Thursday. A new "Central Financial Commission" is set to strengthen the party's "centralized and unified leadership over financial work," state media said Thursday in Chinese, according to a CNBC translation. watch nowWhile state media did not specify, a financial work commission of the same name had been set up in the aftermath of the 1998 Asian financial crisis. Responsibilities of that party commission are borne by the restructured Ministry of Science and Technology. The State Council changes established a National Financial Regulatory Administration to oversee most of the financial industry — except for the securities industry.

☆ China plans to revamp finance, tech oversight
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Lintao Zhang | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesBEIJING — China plans to overhaul its financial regulatory system by consolidating aspects of the central bank and securities regulator under a new entity, while doing away with the existing banking regulator. The moves also come as Beijing has increased regulation on parts of the economy that had developed quickly, with little oversight. The latest plan calls for the establishment of a National Financial Regulatory Administration, which replaces the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and expands its role. watch nowThe China Securities Regulatory Commission's investor protection responsibilities are set to shift to the new financial regulator. "China's consolidated financial regulatory body is [a] paradigm shift to ramp up oversight of its vast financial system," said Winston Ma, adjunct professor of law at New York University.

The usually sleepy Ministry of Science and Technology will be tasked to help lead the country's efforts to reduce dependence on Western suppliers. Meanwhile, creating a National Data Bureau should streamline the myriad of regulations spanning cybersecurity, personal privacy and information transfer. The benefits of upgrading the science, technology and patent ministries are less clear. And despite China being the world's most prolific patent filer, 90% are low-value "trash", estimated one Chinese official in 2019. Other proposals from the State Council include creating a National Data Bureau to coordinate sharing and developing the country's data resources.

☆ China's State Council shakeup aims to counter rising US tech restrictions and financial risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

“These proposed institutional changes reflect key focus areas of Chinese policymakers in the next few years, namely improving financial regulation coordination to enhance financial stability,” Goldman Sachs analysts said on Wednesday. Among the changes announced Tuesday during the annual gathering of the National People’s Congress, Beijing will set up a new powerful financial regulator: the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA). VCG/Getty ImagesA super regulatorChina’s financial system has traditionally been jointly overseen by the People’s Bank of China, the CBIRC and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). The new regulator is meant to “better manage risks” in the financial system and strengthen the supervision of “institutions, behaviors, and functions,” the government proposal said. The move comes as risks to the stability of China’s financial system are rising amid a housing market slump and economic slowdown.

☆ China to restructure sci-tech ministry to achieve self-reliance faster
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Eduardo Baptista | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BEIJING, March 7 (Reuters) - China will restructure its science and technology ministry to channel more resources to achieving important breakthroughs, with the goal of moving faster towards self-reliance, according to a State Council plan submitted to parliament on Tuesday. The restructuring of the central government ministry was included in a reform plan of state institutions that the State Council, China's cabinet, submitted to the National People's Congress (NPC), which is meeting this week. The institutional changes revealed on Tuesday will reduce the scope of the science and technology ministry as previous responsibilities, such as building high-tech industrial development zones and driving technological progress in rural areas, will be re-distributed across several ministries. "Strengthen the Ministry of Science and Technology's strategic planning ... optimise the whole-process management of scientific and technological innovation," the cabinet said in the plan. Reporting by Eduardo Baptista; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Open-source software braces for trade war
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

HONG KONG, Feb 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The open-source software movement has been an unprecedented driver of global innovation and productivity growth. As with most Chinese handset makers, founder Ren Zhengfei relied on Android’s open-source code to run his company’s smartphones. Beijing has reciprocated, per a Nikkei report, by instructing its own tech companies not to incorporate ChatGPT into their platforms - a rare example of a mutual firewall. Dividing the world into competing open-source camps would mark another reverse for free trade. Follow @petesweeneypro on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSRegulators have told major Chinese tech companies not to offer ChatGPT services, the Nikkei news service reported on Feb. 22 citing sources with direct knowledge, causing shares in Chinese companies building chatbots to fall.

☆ China's Tencent establishes team to develop ChatGPT-like product -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings (0700.HK) has set up a development team to work on a ChatGPT-like chatbot, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. ChatGPT's uncanny ability to create cogent blocks of text instantly has sparked worldwide frenzied interest in the technology behind it called generative AI. A number of Tencent rivals including Alibaba Group (9988.HK) and Baidu Inc (9888.HK) have also announced they are working on their own offerings. Asked for comment, Tencent reiterated a Feb.9 statement that it is conducting research on ChatGPT-tool technology. That also marked the first time an AI model has scored better than humans on CLUE since the test was established three years ago.

☆ China says it sees the potential of ChatGPT-like technology
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Feb 24 (Reuters) - China's Ministry of Science and Technology said on Friday said it saw the potential of ChatGPT-like tech and would be pushing for the integration of artificial intelligence into Chinese society and the economy. "(This technology) has the potential to be applied in many industries and fields," Chen Jiachang, who heads the ministry's high-tech department, told a news briefing, praising its natural language processing capabilities. Their comments come at a time when Chinese tech companies and investors are keeping an eye on how Beijing will regulate ChatGPT-like technology. Microsoft-backed OpenAI has kept its hit ChatGPT app off-limits to users in China but the app is attracting huge interest in the country, with firms rushing to integrate the technology into their products and launch rival solutions. read moreSearch engine giant Baidu (9888.HK) plans to launch in March a Chinese rival to ChatGPT called ErnieBot.

[1/2] AI chip startup Rebellions co-founder and chief executive Park Sunghyun works at the company headquarters in Seongnam, South Korea February 2023. SEOUL Feb 13 (Reuters) - South Korean startup Rebellions Inc launches an artificial intelligence (AI) chip on Monday, racing to win government contracts as Seoul seeks a place for local companies in the exploding AI industry. "But it's not set in stone because AI chips can carry out different functions and there aren't set boundaries or metrics." A100 is the most popular chip for AI workloads, powerful enough to create - in industry lingo, "train" - the AI models. Rebellions declined to give a forecast for its AI chip venture.

☆ New China Rule Threatens to Disrupt U.S. Solar Ambitions
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Sha Hua | Phred Dvorak | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

SINGAPORE—A plan by China to restrict exports of key solar manufacturing technology could delay attempts to build up a domestic solar supply chain in the U.S., industry experts say. China’s Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Science and Technology are considering adding advanced technology used in the production of ingots and wafers, some of the building blocks of solar panels, to a list of technologies that are subject to export controls.

☆ 6 climate wins from 2022 that are worth celebrating
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Sweeping climate legislation passed, climate candidates won, and animals got important protections. Here are six of the year's highlights in climate progress, according to experts. But through it all, there was encouraging progress on climate that's worth celebrating. Peter B. de Menocal, president of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, told Insider that the event featured the first-ever Ocean Pavilion. "I want to invite other Indigenous communities in Ecuador and the world to join these collective fights happening in Amazonia," Lucitante previously told Insider.

☆ China pledges high-tech support for climate, environmental problems
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHANGHAI, Nov 2 (Reuters) - China will seek high-tech solutions to resolve its complex environmental challenges and make use of innovations in big data, biotech and artificial intelligence to tackle pollution, habitat loss and climate change, it said on Wednesday. The system will be backed by tax incentives and new "green technology banks", and China will also encourage enterprises and financial institutions to provide more support to innovative green technologies, the plan said. China has cut CO2 emissions per unit of economic growth by a third in the last decade, but overall volumes continue to rise. It promised more research to support large-scale demonstration projects and the use of aquifers and oil-bearing formations to contain sequestered CO2. The government will also support research into "deep decarbonisation technologies" in a variety of industrial sectors, including steel, cement, thermal power and agriculture, it said.

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