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President Joe Biden delivers a speech at the State Department on Jan. 13, 2025.
Biden wants AI development on federal land
Biden did express concern about the environmental impact of data centers, which consume loads of electricity to power them – and water to cool them down. “We will not let America be out-built when it comes to the technology that will define the future, nor should we sacrifice critical environmental standards and our shared efforts to protect clean air and clean water,” the president wrote in a statement.
The executive order also clears the way for the federal land to be leased to developers of “clean energy” as well, with Biden framing them as key to the expansion of AI capability in the country.
Biden has one week left. His chip war with China isn’t done yet.
On Monday, the US Commerce Department announced new export controls on advanced chips used to train and run artificial intelligence, the latest in a series of increasingly tough restrictions enacted by the Biden administration in the past few years. It’s primarily a mechanism for maintaining American dominance in artificial intelligence while also cutting off adversaries — first and foremost China — from access to the chips they need to level the playing field commercially and militarily.
Under the new export regime, the US will use a three-tier system: Companies from the US and 18 close allies, including the UK, Germany, and Japan, are fully free to buy these chips. Those from countries subject to US arms embargo, such as China and Russia, are completely cut off from acquiring high-powered chips. And countries from every other country will face a set cap restricting the number of AI processors they can buy each year without special permission. This latter group even includes strategic partners such as Mexico, Switzerland, and Israel.
“This policy will help build a trusted technology ecosystem around the world and allow us to protect against the national security risks associated with AI, while ensuring controls do not stifle innovation or US technological leadership,” US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a press release.
But the chip industry isn’t happy — particularly America’s most important chip designer, Nvidia, which said that the rules are “misguided.”
“While cloaked in the guise of an ‘anti-China’ measure, these rules would do nothing to enhance US security,” Ned Finkle, Nvidia’s vice president of government affairs, wrote in a statement. “Rather than mitigate any threat, the new Biden rules would only weaken America’s global competitiveness, undermining the innovation that has kept the US ahead.” The Semiconductor Industry Association criticized the timing — just days before the presidential transition.
Tinglong Dai, a professor at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, said that US companies are increasingly aligned with national security concerns and “face ever greater challenges to making a profit or even operating in China.” In that way, he said he expects that short-term discomfort will give way to companies falling in line with national security priorities.
Xiaomeng Lu, director of geo-technology at Eurasia Group, expressed concern about implementation. “Under this regime, only a small number of trusted allies have unrestricted access to high-end semiconductors,” she said. “Data centers located in over 100 countries will have to apply for licenses through an onerous process, even if they are owned and operated by US cloud service providers.” She added that the rules could discourage many countries from buying US products.
“This rule is not just about China, but it may make China’s chip smuggling efforts more difficult,” said Jacob Feldgoise, a data research analyst at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology. “The regulation could hurt American businesses, including AI chip companies and cloud service providers, but perhaps more importantly, the rule may hurt the United States’ relationship with a set of allies to which the rule didn’t give preferential treatment.”
Jeremy Mark, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center, said that China is deeply embedded in the semiconductor supply chain, such as supplying important rare earth metals to chip makers. In this way, the US is risking a “serious trade conflict” in further cutting off China.
But there may be more to the story. “There has been clear, bipartisan support in Washington for export controls, and that has empowered several government agencies to act,” Mark said. “However, it’s not clear how much the latest initiatives have been driven by a White House decision to hand Trump a fait accompli.”
Trump won’t want to appear weak on China, but he also doesn’t want to alienate important industry players. Dai said he expects Trump to maintain a tough stance on China and to “tweak the current export rules — because he’s Trump after all.” The rule doesn’t go into effect for companies until May 15, Feldgoise noted, giving Trump time to revise the rules if needed.
As for China, the country is forging ahead even without access to the top chips. Recently, the Chinese startup DeepSeek released an open-source large language model that has impressed outsiders. This development proves it’s “possible to build a quality model with less advanced chips,” Lu said. Meanwhile, the new Commerce Department restrictions will “undermine US companies’ competitiveness in the face of robust competition from China,” she adds.Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech during a visit to the Manufacturing Futures Lab at UCL in London, on Jan. 13, 2025, as he prepares to launch a plan to harness AI to spur growth and efficiency in the country.
British PM wants sovereign AI
On Monday, the British government announced the AI Opportunities Action Plan, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s economic and technological development plan for artificial intelligence. Starmer’s goals include building a homegrown challenger to OpenAI, building data centers nationwide, and exploring renewable energy sources — including nuclear energy — to power the data centers.
Last year, Starmer canceled $1.7 billion of spending commitments meant for computing infrastructure as part of a broader set of budget cuts — nixing the promises made under the prior administration of Rishi Sunak. Starmer is now trying to leave his own mark with a play for “sovereign AI” in the country. “Today’s plan mainlines AI into the veins of this enterprising nation – revolutionizing our public services and putting more money in people’s back pockets,” the government wrote in a press release.
As part of the initiative, three companies — Vantage Data Centres, Nscale, and Kyndryl — committed $17 billion to build data centers, a plan the government says will create 13,250 jobs across the UK and increase compute capacity twentyfold by 2030. The ultimate goal: Starmer’s government wants to make the UK “irresistible” to AI firms.
Two hands, one human and one robotic, touching each other in front of a pink background.
Automation is coming. Are you ready?
In the next five years, 170 million new jobs will be created by macro trends including the rise of AI, but another 92 million will be displaced.
The report indicates that AI will fuel demand for a new cadre of workers, such as “big data specialists, fintech engineers and AI and machine learning specialists,” and demand for software developers will continue to rise. Cashiers, administrative assistants, and bank tellers will be among the displaced jobs.
Thankfully, newsletter writers and editors aren’t listed as easily replaceable — at least not yet.
The OpenAi logo is displayed on a mobile screen in this photo illustration.
OpenAI offers its vision to Washington
The 15-page document lays out OpenAI’s vision for how America can maintain its global lead in AI development while staying ahead of China. OpenAI proposes national investment in AI infrastructure, such as new data centers, chip manufacturing facilities, and power plants. It also suggests “AI economic zones” — regions with streamlined permitting processes for AI.
OpenAI is also kicking off its “Innovating for America” campaign, a national tour in which company representatives will push for infrastructure investments — with visits to Washington, DC, as well as Alabama, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and New York.
OpenAI has already started getting closer to the Trump administration with co-founder and CEO Sam Altman donating $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, something many tech companies and CEOs have done. Now it’s making specific demands of Trump’s Washington, which OpenAI hopes could clear red tape and boost AI investment.A low-angle view of a video camera.
Hard Numbers: Cash for footage, Blackstone bets on AI data, Military tech is thriving, Adobe’s AI powers
4: Social media creators are selling their unused video footage to AI companies hungry for content to train their generative AI models. OpenAI, Google, and others are reportedly paying up to $4 a minute to license this footage.
300 million: The private equity giant Blackstone invested $300 million in an AI data company called DDN, valuing the firm at $5 billion. DDN provides specialized data analytics for businesses developing and running AI models, helping them process and store large amounts of data.
32 million: The defense tech startup Overland AI raised $32 million in venture capital as the Pentagon ramps up demand for artificial intelligence. The company’s OverWatch software specializes in “ground autonomy” to help unmanned vehicles navigate off-road terrains.
10,000: Adobe’s new AI suite, called Firefly, can perform edits on 10,000 images at once. For example, it can resize tons of pictures or replace their backgrounds in one fell swoop.The Meta AI logo appears on a smartphone screen in this illustration photo in Reno, United States, on December 30, 2024.
Meta wants AI users — but maybe not like this
Meta faced its first major controversy just days into the new year – all due to AI characters.
On Dec. 27, the social media company behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp told the Financial Times that it sees a future in which artificial intelligence bots populate its platforms alongside humans. “They’ll have bios and profile pictures and be able to generate and share content powered by AI on the platform,” said Connor Hayes, Meta’s vice president of product for generative AI. “That’s where we see all of this going.” This is part of a broader strategy to make the platforms “more entertaining and engaging.”
After this news, some users started complaining about the AI-generated personalities already on Facebook and Instagram. One was called “Liv” and was described as a “proud Black queer momma of 2 & truth-teller,” who disclosed in a chat with a Washington Post columnist on Jan. 3 that none of her creators were, in fact, Black. There was “Grandpa Brian,” who told a CNN reporter last week that he was created based on interviews with retirees at a New York City nonprofit called Seniors Share Wisdom, which isn’t a real organization. There’s also Becca, who posts AI-generated content about dogs, and an alien named Alvin.
But Meta was quick to clarify that these off-putting AI personas are not the ones Hayes was talking about. They’re old and have been on Facebook and Instagram for more than a year. Meta spokesperson Liz Sweeney told CNN that these accounts were “part of an early experiment we did with AI characters” and the company has rapidly deleted the remaining bunch. Additionally, she said Hayes was outlining a general vision, not a specific product announcement.
The incident demonstrates that many humans have a real aversion to sharing spaces — even digital spaces — with bots. If Meta wants to fill its platforms with bots, then they better be useful, fun, engaging, truthful, and not weird.
FILE PHOTO: A man takes a photo of a CES sign as setup continues for CES 2025, an annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. January 5, 2025.
CES will be all about AI
Artificial intelligence will take center stage at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, aka CES, which runs Jan. 7–10 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Major technology companies are showcasing their new products, practical applications of AI, and experimental designs at the show. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huangdelivered a keynote address focused on next-generation AI chips on the evening of Jan. 6 ahead of the event's official opening. Huang announced a new line of gaming chips based on its Blackwell AI technology that promise more accurate rendering of human faces, among other capabilities.
Expect AI-powered laptops, smart TVs, augmented reality glasses, virtual reality headsets, smart home devices, and plenty of futuristic cars. Basically, companies are going to integrate AI into everything, claiming they’ve made major advancements or at least improved their products with the help of this tech. CES lists Accenture, AMD, Google, HP, Hyundai, IBM, IMAX, LG, and Panasonic among their AI-focused exhibitors.