INNOVATION UPDATES
INDIA TODAY | MAY 30, 2024
Agnikul Cosmos, a Chennai-based startup, launched its SOrTeD mission featuring a single-stage launch vehicle powered by Agnilet, the world’s first semi-cryogenic 3D-printed engine. The launch took place from ‘Dhanush’ in Sriharikota, India’s first privately developed launchpad, also built by Agnikul Cosmos. This achievement is crucial in India’s journey toward developing indigenous space technology. The success of the mission is expected to aid in the development of the startup’s launch vehicle, Agnibaan, which is anticipated to carry a 300-kilogram payload into a 700-kilometer orbit.
NIKKEI ASIA | MAY 30, 2024
Google has announced plans to invest $2 billion in data center infrastructure in Malaysia, joining other global tech firms expanding into Southeast Asia. Google’s data center will support services like Search, Maps, and Workspace, and deliver AI services, while the cloud center will serve local businesses and public organizations. Similarly, Microsoft announced $2.2 billion in cloud service investments in Malaysia and $1.7 billion in Indonesia. Other investments include a $4.3 billion AI infrastructure project in Malaysia by YTL and Nvidia and an approximately $18 billion investment in Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia by Amazon. Southeast Asia, with its young, tech-savvy population of 670 million, is attracting significant interest and investment from tech giants.
ECONOMIC TIMES | MAY 30, 2024
Google Cloud and Bengaluru-based EkStep Foundation have teamed up to accelerate the adoption of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and Digital Public Goods (DPGs) across various sectors. According to a joint statement, Google Cloud will support different DPGs and collaborate with private companies, non-profits, and government agencies to list their sandboxes on the Google Cloud marketplace. This partnership aims to facilitate the development of DPIs and DPGs and identify Google Cloud products that can aid in DPI adoption.
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST | MAY 23, 2024
South Korea has announced a 26 trillion won ($19 billion) package to support chip businesses in the country. Under this, $12.46 billion has been set aside for a financial program aimed at boosting its global market share in non-memory chips. This initiative aims to enhance the country’s position in the global semiconductor race, particularly in design and contract manufacturing, in which it has lagged despite being home to top memory chip makers like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Officials noted that South Korea’s share of the global fabless sector, dominated by companies like Nvidia, is about 1 percent. There is also a significant gap between local semiconductor manufacturers and leading contract chip foundries like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
BUSINESS STANDARD | MAY 22, 2024
The Indian government plans to develop a bespoke foundational AI model for Indian companies, entrepreneurs, academics, and researchers. According to sources, the initiative will likely commence after the general elections, with an initial investment of Rs 2,000 crore. The IndiaAI Innovation Centre, which will be established under the Rs 10,000 crore IndiaAI Mission may lead the initiative. A government official stated that the project is likely to involve prominent higher education institutes and private-sector AI researchers to develop the foundational model. This model has been envisioned as either a large action model (LAM) or a large multimodal model (LMM) and aims to cater to a diverse range of applications and services. Additionally, it will provide output in multiple native languages, leveraging previous work from projects like Bhashini.
REGULATORY UPDATES
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act: Council Gives Final Green Light to the First Worldwide Rules on AI
THE EUROPEAN UNION | MAY 21, 2024
The European Council has approved the pioneering Artificial Intelligence Act, aimed at harmonizing AI regulations across the European Union. This groundbreaking law adopts a risk-based approach, imposing stricter rules on higher-risk AI applications. The act seeks to promote the development and adoption of safe, trustworthy AI systems while ensuring fundamental rights and stimulating AI investment and innovation in Europe. It applies to areas within EU law, exempting military, defense, and research uses. Following this, the Council also announced plans to establish an AI office to implement the act and foster research and innovation in trustworthy AI.
FINANCIAL TIMES | MAY 19, 2024
Ministers in the United Kingdom plan to develop rules for increased transparency in how tech companies train their AI models following concerns from the creative industries about the unauthorized use of their work. Culture secretary Lucy Frazer stated that initially, the focus will be on revealing what content is being used by AI developers. This will enable the industry to identify potential infringements. Enhanced transparency will help rights holders track intellectual property violations more effectively. The European Union is also preparing similar rules under its AI Act, requiring developers of general-purpose AI models to publish detailed summaries of training content and adhere to copyright laws.
REUTERS | MAY 14, 2024
U.S. President Joe Biden announced significant tariff increases on various Chinese imports, such as Electric Vehicles (EV) batteries, computer chips, and medical products, risking a confrontation with Beijing ahead of the Presidential elections. According to the White House, the new tariffs affect $18 billion worth of Chinese goods, including steel, aluminum, semiconductors, electric vehicles, critical minerals, solar cells, and cranes. These tariffs target strategic sectors and give companies from the United States the time to compete with Chinese rivals in green technology. In response, China vowed to retaliate, with its commerce ministry stating opposition to the U.S. tariff hikes and promising to defend its interests.
BUSINESS STANDARD | MAY 13, 2024
The Indian government aims to boost domestic manufacturing with a proposal to increase the minimum local content requirement for public procurement for Class I and Class II suppliers to 70 percent and 50 percent, respectively. Exemptions include defense production, electronics, and IT. Currently, Class I suppliers must have at least 50 percent local content and are given the highest preference in public procurement. Class II suppliers have 20 percent to 50 percent local content, while non-local suppliers have less than 20 percent local content and are generally the least preferred unless no other local suppliers are available. Presently, exemptions to these norms are granted by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on a case-by-case basis.
FINANCIAL TIMES | MAY 8, 2024
In response to U.S. legislation demanding TikTok’s divestiture by January 2025, parent company ByteDance has asserted that the law is unconstitutional and violates free speech rights. In a petition to the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia, ByteDance argued that Congress passed the “extreme measures without a single legislative finding,” and that the act constituted an “unlawful taking of private property.” The law was passed last month based on suspicions that TikTok was engaging in espionage and spreading misinformation.
TECHNOLOGY AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
EU TODAY | MAY 23, 2023
The United States and United Kingdom met at the White House to review progress since the June 2023 Atlantic Declaration for a U.S.-UK Economic Partnership. Co-chaired by U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and UK National Security Advisor Sir Tim Barrow, the meetings emphasized the robust economic partnership and progress on key objectives. Key achievements include launching a Strategic Dialogue on Biological Security, the U.S.-UK Sanctions Dialogue, a Memorandum of Understanding on AI Safety, and the U.S.-UK Data Bridge. Discussions focused on enhancing economic, technological, and trade relations, with an emphasis on emerging technologies such as quantum, biotechnology, and AI. Efforts to protect sensitive technologies, advance clean energy supply chains, and negotiate a Critical Minerals Agreement were reviewed. The meetings also addressed macroeconomic imbalances caused by PRC practices impacting strategic sectors. Officials discussed promoting high-standard infrastructure investments in developing countries through the G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment. Additionally, the White House hosted the inaugural Strategic Technologies Investor Council, convening investors from both nations to discuss mobilizing private capital and closing funding gaps for critical and emerging technologies.
BUSINESS STANDARD | MAY 21, 2024
Sixteen leading AI companies made a pledge towards the safe development of AI technology at the recently concluded AI Safety Summit in Seoul. Participants included firms from the United States, China, South Korea, and the UAE—Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Alibaba-backed Zhipu.ai, Meituan, Xiaomi, Technology Innovation Institute, Amazon, IBM, and Samsung Electronics. Firms expressed their commitment to publishing safety frameworks, measuring risks, avoiding high-risk models, and ensuring governance and transparency. They were supported by the G7, EU, Singapore, Australia, and South Korea, who emphasized the need for interoperability between governance frameworks, plans for safety institutes, and engagement with international bodies.
NIKKEI ASIA | MAY 11, 2024
Ten countries and regions, including Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States, will establish a new framework to facilitate cross-border personal data transfers as early as next month, enhancing e-commerce and security. Currently, companies transferring personal data to third countries follow a tedious process—they must reconfirm customer consent, notify the destination’s data protection systems, and periodically check partner companies’ data management. The new framework will set common rules for data collection and storage, allowing companies that meet security requirements to bypass these procedures. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Cross-Border Privacy Rules will be updated to include non-APEC countries. While the European Union has its own General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), there are hopes that EU member states will also participate.
NIKKEI ASIA | MAY 2, 2024
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has expressed commitment to spearheading the formulation of global regulations on the responsible applications of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Kishida lauded the establishment of the Hiroshima AI Process Friends Group, which will support the Hiroshima AI Process agreed upon at the G7 summit hosted by him in May last year. Addressing the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) ministerial gathering, which Japan is chairing in 2024, Kishida called for nations to collaborate to address the universal opportunities and risks brought about by AI and to work towards achieving safe, secure, and trustworthy AI.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE | MAY 2, 2024
Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, or AUKUS, have proposed changes to defense trade controls for public and industry input. These changes aim to enable secure, license-free defense trade between the countries, enhancing innovation within their defense sectors. The proposed adjustments to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) would allow billions of dollars in license-free defense trade and promote deeper security cooperation among AUKUS partners. The three nations will collaborate with private sectors and research communities to ensure the exemptions support the AUKUS’ goals in security partnership.
NEXT 30 DAYS
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
Brazilian Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin will visit Beijing from June 4 to June 8 for meetings with his Chinese counterpart Han Zheng. These meetings will focus on joint projects in trade, infrastructure, and climate change. Alckmin’s visit is part of the Sino-Brazilian High-Level Commission for Consultation and Cooperation (Cosban) and aims to revive ministerial dialogue between the two countries. The gathering will mark the first in-person Cosban meeting in five years.
G7 ITALIA
The G7 Summit is scheduled to take place in Borgo Egnazia in Apulia, Italy from June 13 to June 15, 2024. Participants include leaders of the seven member states, along with the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission representing the European Union. As in previous summits, representatives from various states and international organizations will participate at the invitation of the host nation. This year, several African and South American countries have reportedly been invited to the outreach meetings of the summit.