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Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator, speaks at the Wall Street Journal Digital Conference in Laguna Beach, California, U.S., October 18, 2017.
Oh BTW, OpenAI got hacked and didn’t tell us
A hacker breached an OpenAI employee forum in 2023 and gained access to internal secrets, according to a New York Times report published Thursday. The company, which makes ChatGPT, told employees but never went public with the disclosure. Employees voiced concerns that OpenAI wasn’t taking enough precautions to safeguard sensitive data — and if this hacker, a private individual, could breach their systems, then so could foreign adversaries like China.
Artificial intelligence companies have treasure troves of data — some more sensitive than others. They collect training data (the inputs on which models learn) and user data (how individuals interact with applications), but also have trade secrets that they want to keep away from hackers, rival companies, and foreign governments seeking their own competitive advantage.
The US is trying hard to limit access to this valuable data, as well as the chip technology that powers training, to friendly countries, and has enacted export controls against China. If lax security at private companies means Beijing can just pilfer the data it needs, Washington will need to modify its approach.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden looks on before speaking during a roundtable discussion on public safety at the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 28, 2024.
America’s first data security executive order ... underwhelms
President Joe Biden issued an executive order last week targeting entities that affect every web user, whether they realize it or not. The order empowers the Justice Department to stop companies called data brokers from collecting and selling Americans’ personal data to “countries of concern” like China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and Cuba.
What data brokers do: Compile massive amounts of sensitive user data (browsing history, biometric scans, geolocation) and sell it to advertisers. One study showed that Facebook took in personal data on a single user from 48,000 companies, a reflection of how the social media giant attempts to track down every detail of a potential consumer’s lifestyle and habits.
Why that’s dangerous: As AI improves, bad actors’ ability to sift through vast amounts of this data to track and pry into the personal lives of Americans — including service members and government officials — will also improve. The Biden administration is hoping to prevent “intrusive surveillance, scams, blackmail, and other violations of privacy.”
What’s missing: Concrete regulations, like Europe’s GDPR framework that requires explicit documentation on how all EU citizens' data is used and stored. Instead, the executive order empowers bureaucrats to start a complex and months long rule making process. We'll only know details about how the executive order will be enforced afterward.
When it comes to data, Americans are still living in the Wild Wild West. While this order aims to prevent privacy violations from some of America’s adversaries, there’s nothing stopping other countries, companies, and the federal government itself from doing the exact same thing.
F-16s for Ukraine redefine red line for Putin (again)
Will Biden's reversal to allow F-16s to Ukraine be a game-changer? What is holding up a debt ceiling deal? Will the EU's lawsuit against Meta lead to a data-sharing agreement with the United States? Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.
Will Biden's reversal to allow F-16s to Ukraine be a game-changer?
Well, Putin says it is. Says that that would absolutely be a line that would be crossed and be irreversible. Of course, he said that about a bunch of things, and his credibility in a response to NATO providing defense to Ukraine has been significantly eroding over the last year. Of course, we also see not just F-16s, but we see Ukrainian armored troop carriers suddenly five miles deep in Russian territory, in Belgorod. The Ukrainians say it wasn't them, but they're very happy to embarrass Putin over that. Look, a lot of things that would've been seen as red lines six months ago now are not. Of course, that's good for the Ukrainians, but it also does mean that the tail risk dangers of this conflict are also going up.
What is holding up a debt ceiling deal?
Political dysfunction in the United States. Massive divisions inside the Democratic and Republican parties. I do think you can get to a deal between Biden and McCarthy, the House Speaker. I don't think that means that McCarthy can get the first deal he gets done through his own caucus. And that not only means there's more negotiation than the time that we presently have allotted, so probably, let's say, a one-month delay looks likely to me, but also, the potential that McCarthy himself has his leadership challenged, which is another problem that you don't need in the middle of this, is rising. So, I'm still quite worried about where this all heads.
Will the EU's lawsuit against Meta lead to a data-sharing agreement with the United States?
I'm not sure that we're there yet. I still see that the Europeans and the Americans are thinking about data from different perspectives. The Europeans are much more willing to support privacy and infringe on what the technology companies have to do, the regulations, in a much less company-friendly way than the Americans, who, of course, have these companies domiciled based in the United States. There is more coordination and talk of data security between the Americans and the Europeans, but I still think we're far from an overall regulatory framework.
- G7 alignment & US political challenges ›
- “Break the neck of the Russian army”: An interview with Ukraine’s UN envoy Sergiy Kyslytsya ›
- Biden returns to join US debt ceiling talks ›
- Ian Explains: The debt ceiling ›
- Hard Numbers: Meta gets fined, Nigeria gets refined, Sudan gets a ceasefire, Nagorno-Karabakh gets a hint of recognition ›
How GDPR protects your social media data (even if you accept all cookies)
Why are apps and websites increasingly asking us if we're willing to share our cookies?
The EU's General Data Protection Regulation may be somewhat annoying to the average consumer, but for social media companies it was a wakeup call about the huge amount of private data they'd accumulated, says Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen.
And that's a slippery slope for the likes of Facebook or Google.
"One of the things that you get as part of GDPR is the right to request any data that a company has on you," Haugen tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.
For companies, she says, they were suddenly being asked to disclose just how much stuff they had on you.
Watch the GZERO World episode: Why social media is broken & how to fix it
- Data privacy before and after a pandemic - GZERO Media ›
- Why EU social media regulation matters to you - GZERO Media ›
- The Graphic Truth: Who dominates social media? - GZERO Media ›
- Why social media is broken & how to fix it - GZERO Media ›
- Whistleblowers & how to activate a new era of digital accountability - GZERO Media ›
What happens in Europe, doesn’t stay in Europe — why EU social media regulation matters to you
The EU just approved the Digital Services Act, which for the first time will mandate social media companies come clean about what they do with our data.
Okay, but perhaps you don't live there. Why should you care?
First, transparency matters, says Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen.
Second, she tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World, the EU is not telling social media firms exactly how to change their ways — but rather saying: "We want a different relationship. We want you to disclose risks. We want you to just actually give access to data."
And third, Haugen believes that if it works in Europe, the DSA will help shape law in other parts of the world too.
Watch the GZERO World episode: Why social media is broken & how to fix it
- The next great game: Politicians vs tech companies - GZERO Media ›
- QR codes and the risk to your personal data - GZERO Media ›
- EU & US: democracy frames tech approaches; Australia & Facebook ... ›
- A “techlash” is coming this year - GZERO Media ›
- Was Elon Musk right about Twitter's bots? - GZERO Media ›
- Whistleblowers & how to activate a new era of digital accountability - GZERO Media ›
Health data privacy is the next post-Roe fight
Now that the US Supreme Court has ruled that states can do their own thing on abortion rights, women are worried about who can check their online personal health data.
Apps have been a game-changer for American women tracking their menstrual cycles, ovulation, or pregnancy status. But that information could be used against them where abortion is illegal.
Some companies say they'll do better to protect the data or not sell it to third parties, but many have a track record of doing the opposite. Euki, an app created by two non-profit groups, takes several steps more to help women seeking an abortion in the post-Roe era.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has yet to include health data apps in digital privacy protections, as the legal battle rages. GZERO's Sarah Kneezle explains on GZERO World with Ian Bremmer.
Join us live from the 2022 Munich Security Conference
Friday, February 18 at 11 am ET / 5 pm CET: Watch GZERO Media and Microsoft's live conversation from the 2022 Munich Security Conference.
As crises converge, our speakers will discuss emerging risks at the intersection of technology, policy and security: NATO's role and tools to defend democracy, the US role in global alliances, the rise of cyber threats and the need for cyber norms and stronger defenses.
Participants:
- David E. Sanger, White House and national security correspondent, The New York Times (moderator)
- Ian Bremmer, President and Founder, Eurasia Group and GZERO Media
- Benedikt Franke, Chief Executive Officer, Munich Security Conference
- Mircea Geoană, Deputy Secretary General, NATO
- Kersti Kaljulaid, former President of Estonia
- Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America
- Brad Smith, President and Vice Chair, Microsoft
Event link: gzeromedia.com/globalstage
This event is being held in collaboration with the Munich Security Conference.
Live from MSC 2022: Securing Cyberspace | Friday, February 18, 2022, 11 am ET / 5 pm CET
Sign up to get email alerts about this and other GZERO events.
Europe and the US can’t agree on how to regulate Big Tech
Marietje Schaake, International Policy Director at Stanford's Cyber Policy Center, Eurasia Group senior advisor and former MEP, discusses trends in big tech, privacy protection and cyberspace:
Are we running out of time to regulate big tech?
And to that I would say yes and no. So let me explain. Yes, because especially in the US, the legislative responses to the outsized and growing power of big tech have been incredibly slow. Over the past several years, we have seen initiatives being drafted, but when it came to that point, the polarization between Democrats and Republicans have been running so deep that hardly any of the legislative ideas have actually come to adoption. And there's no real expectation that that will change soon. But we are not running out of time, but actually catching up, in the sense that elsewhere in the world, for example, in the EU, a series of proposals are being made and adopted. To foster more competition, to ensure greater responsibility from tech companies on content moderation, on AI, data, political ads, rights and principles, cybersecurity, and so on. And these proposals do add up to a shift in the status quo and certainly regulate the effects of big tech.
So beyond the question of whether solutions are on time, the key political problem is the challenge because with political will and leadership, much more transparency, accountability, competition, and rights protections, as well as cybersecurity can be ruled democratically for the digital era. So I think with the right will, solutions are within reach.