China eclipsing the US as the biggest producer of AI | First global resolution on AI safety adopted by UN | First-ever cybersecurity exercise conducted by Japan in Pacific
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New research shows that China has by some metrics eclipsed the United States as the biggest producer of A.I. talent, with the country generating almost half the world’s top A.I. researchers. The New York Times
The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday unanimously adopted the first global resolution on artificial intelligence that encourages countries to safeguard human rights, protect personal data, and monitor AI for risks. Reuters
Japan conducted its first-ever cybersecurity exercise with five Pacific Island countries in February, apparently aiming alongside the United States to create secure and robust digital connectivity in the strategically important region, where China is expanding its influence. The Japan Times
Australia
Albanese Government refuses to disclose if any MPs are shopping on Temu despite data and slavery concerns
The Nightly
Remy Varga
The Albanese Labor Government is refusing to disclose whether any members of government have used the Chinese e-commerce platform Temu despite concerns over data security and slavery. The Nightly individually asked every Labor and Coalition member of parliament and most of the independents whether they had ever used the app, which is a subsidiary of Chinese PDD Holdings.
National agenda setting, AI and finances front of mind for top mandarins
The Mandarin
Melissa Coade
The latest from the AI in Government Taskforce was addressed by DISR secretary Meghan Quinn and DTA CEO Chris Fechner. “[They] discussed implications of AI, including how to leverage the opportunities, manage the risks and build capability within the APS,” the communique read. On APS workforce issues, the board endorsed a new employment strategy for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse talent to be presented for ministerial consideration.
China
In one key A.I. metric, China pulls ahead of the U.S.: talent
The New York Times
Paul Mozur and Cade Metz
When it comes to the artificial intelligence that powers chatbots like ChatGPT, China lags behind the United States. But when it comes to producing the scientists behind a new generation of humanoid technologies, China is pulling ahead. New research shows that China has by some metrics eclipsed the United States as the biggest producer of A.I. talent, with the country generating almost half the world’s top A.I. researchers.
China targets group of MPs and peers with string of cyber-attacks
The Guardian
Jane Clinton
China has targeted a group of MPs and peers at Westminster in a string of cyber-attacks, it has been reported. On Monday, the deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, is expected to inform parliament of the attacks. The forthcoming China update is believed to be related to the work of the Defending Democracy taskforce, a ministerial committee which monitors and identifies threats and interference in the UK’s elections and democratic system.
China blocks use of Intel and AMD chips in government computers, FT reports
Reuters
China has introduced guidelines to phase out U.S. microprocessors from Intel, and AMD, from government personal computers and servers, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. The procurement guidance also seeks to sideline Microsoft's Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favour of domestic options, the report said. Government agencies above the township level have been told to include criteria requiring "safe and reliable" processors and operating systems when making purchases, the newspaper said.
At major China chip fair, firms ramp up call to buy domestic
Reuters
Chinese semiconductor-related companies pulled out all the stops at one of the country's largest chip-sector fairs this week to pitch domestic buying, echoing Beijing's call to galvanize support for an industry facing growing geopolitical strains. The message was plastered across booths and marketing materials of a variety of companies, from chip equipment makers to materials producers.
China relaxes security review rules for some data exports
Reuters
China's cyberspace regulator on Friday issued rules to facilitate and regulate cross-border data flow, clarifying reporting standards for security assessments of important data exports. Data collected and generated in activities such as international trade and cross-border transportation that do not contain personal information or "important data" will be exempt from declaration, the Cyberspace Administration of China said.
USA
U.S. assessing if China’s SMIC broke U.S. rules to make Huawei chip
CNBC
The Biden administration still needs to determine whether China’s top chipmaker SMIC violated U.S. export rules to produce a chip to power Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro phone, a senior Commerce Department official said during a congressional hearing on Thursday. Questions have surfaced about whether SMIC illegally obtained U.S. tools to make the chip.
Senators get "shocking" look at TikTok's spy potential
Axios
Stephen Neukam and Stef W. Kight
China's government can use TikTok to spy on American users and push propaganda at alarming levels, senators who received a classified briefing on the social media app told Axios. The senators were hesitant to give details about Wednesday's briefing, but said Americans would be frightened by TikTok's ability to access and track their personal data.
North Asia
Japan begins cybersecurity push in the Pacific
The Japan Times
Ko Hirano
Japan conducted its first-ever cybersecurity exercise with five Pacific Island countries in February, apparently aiming alongside the United States to create secure and robust digital connectivity in the strategically important region, where China is expanding its influence. Security experts hailed the recent event in Guam as significant — with some seeing it as Japan's first foray into cyber diplomacy with Pacific Island nations — saying it deserves attention when Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hosts Pacific Island leaders for a summit in July in Tokyo.
Dangerous product': Taiwan declares TikTok national security threat
The Times of India
Taiwan declared TikTok a national security threat, calling it "a dangerous product" days after US passed a bill to ban the Chinese social media platform, Central News agency Taiwan reported. "Taiwan has classified TikTok as a dangerous product," Audrey Tang, Taiwan's minister of digital affairs said. Tang said that the platform's association with foreign adversaries is consistent with the US perspective, which considers TikTok a possible threat to national security.
North Korea is behind cyberattacks worth $US3 billion and is stealing cryptocurrency to fund weapons programs, UN report finds
ABC News
Patrick Martin
North Korea is reportedly stealing cryptocurrency to help fund its nuclear weapons program, a UN report has found, with investigations underway into cyberattacks valued at $US3 billion ($4.6 billion) linked to the country. In its annual report, the UN Panel of Experts on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea said it was investigating 58 cyberattacks allegedly carried out by the country between 2017 and 2023.
South & Central Asia
How AI-generated deepfakes, phishing attacks may be a threat to 2024 elections
The Times of India
As India, and other countries prepare for elections, artificial Intelligence-generated deepfakes and other cybercrimes may disrupt the election process, a report has said, highlighting the need for collaborative efforts on this front. According to a report by Seqrite, the enterprise arm of global cybersecurity solutions provider Quick Heal, the upcoming 2024 elections are poised to attract phishing attacks exploiting political interests.
India in undersea race to mine world’s battery metal
BBC
Navin Singh Khadka
The country, which already has two deep-sea exploration licences in the Indian Ocean, has applied for two more amid increasing competition between major global powers to secure critical minerals. Countries including China, Russia and India are vying to reach the huge deposits of mineral resources - cobalt, nickel, copper, manganese - that lie thousands of metres below the surface of oceans. These are used to produce renewable energy such as solar and wind power, electric vehicles and battery technology needed to battle against climate change.
Europe
Elite Russian hackers targeting German politicians, Google warns
Reuters
Christopher Bing and Raphael Satter
Elite hackers tied to Russian intelligence last month targeted several German political parties with an eye toward burrowing into their networks and stealing data, according to an alert released by Germany's cybersecurity agency and security researchers working for Google owner Alphabet. In a report published on Friday, opens new tab, Alphabet's Mandiant cyber unit said it had caught the hacking group known as APT29, which is alleged by Western intelligence to act on behalf of Russia's SVR foreign spy agency, trying to trick "key German political figures" into opening an email masquerading as an invitation to a March 1 dinner event hosted by the Christian Democratic Union, Germany's center-right political party.
TikTok curtails German far right’s top EU election candidate
POLITICO
Šejla Ahmatovic
Video-sharing platform TikTok has limited the influence of German far-right politician Maximilian Krah over the spread of conspiracy theories. The Chinese-owned platform restricted Krah’s account “due to repeated violations of community guidelines on Tuesday,” a TikTok spokesperson said, adding “he shared conspiracy theories such as [the] theory of Great Replacement in his videos.”
High Court orders temporary suspension of Telegram's services in Spain
Reuters
Spain's High Court has ordered the suspension of messaging app Telegram's services in the country after media companies complained it was allowing users to upload their content without permission, according to a court source. The use of Telegram in Spain will be temporarily suspended from Monday after a request by media firms including Atresmedia, EGEDA, Mediaset, and Telefonica.
UK
Inquiry to examine how Scottish ministers use WhatsApp
BBC
The Scottish government has announced details of a review into the use of WhatsApp and other messaging apps. It will consider whether ministers and officials should use WhatsApp to conduct government business. The UK Covid inquiry revealed officials and ministers had deleted WhatsApp messages exchanged during the pandemic.
Gender & Women in Tech
Women are reshaping the AI talent landscape amid exponential global growth
Zeki
In the last decade, women's first-time AI publications surged by 93%. Since the AI boom in 2005, the number of publications has reached unprecedented levels. Once a male-dominated arena, women's involvement has dramatically escalated by 10,896% since 1990, growing annually by an average of 16%.
British Council launches Women in STEM scholarships for 2024-25
Dhaka Tribune
British Council, UK Universities partner to empower women in STEM through global scholarships and bridge gender gap. This prestigious scholarship is designed for female STEM graduates wanting to pursue their master’s in the UK. The presence of women in STEM fields is essential for promoting diversity, ensuring a range of perspectives and driving innovation, the British Council said.
The big tech CEO who isn't backtracking on DEI at all, even if he says it's maybe time to let the acronym go
CNBC
Eric Rosenbaum
While some C-suite leaders may talk the talk without walking it, Neri says he started with himself. When he became CEO of the 62,000-employee, Fortune 500 company in 2018, there was not a single woman among his direct reports. "The first day, I have no women in my staff, no women," Neri said. "And today, 50% of my direct reports are women. Incredible, smart, brilliant, fun to be around women, and our board is the same. ... For me, it's all about the will to change, the will to do things that are hard to do honestly, and as we think about tech, potentially a little bit harder."
Big Tech
Apple becomes the latest tech giant under siege
BBC
Zoe Kleinman
The tech giant has engineered an illegal monopoly in smartphones, according to the sweeping US Department of Justice lawsuit filed on Thursday. Apple routinely blocks web trackers - an irritation for web users but also an important revenue generator for other digital businesses. It also operates a "walled garden". This means all Apple products work seamlessly together, and every app, payment method and operating system update is vetted and approved by the tech giant. It is, effectively, a closed ecosystem and that keeps it secure.
Google, Apple breakups on the agenda as regulators target tech
Reuters
Foo Yun Chee and Supantha Mukherjee
Big Tech is facing its biggest challenge in decades as antitrust regulators on both sides of the Atlantic crack down on alleged anti-competitive practices that could result in break-up orders to Apple and Alphabet's Google, a first for the industry. That in turn could inspire watchdogs around the world to pile on, as evidenced in the growing number of antitrust probes in various countries following the opening of EU and U.S. cases.
Huawei tests brute-force method for making more advanced chips
Bloomberg
Gao Yuan and Debby Wu
Huawei Technologies Co. and a secretive chipmaking partner in China have filed patents for a low-tech but potentially effective way to make advanced semiconductors, raising the prospect that China could improve chip production techniques despite US efforts to halt its progress. The companies are developing technologies that involve self-aligned quadruple patterning, or SAQP, and should reduce their reliance on high-end lithography, according to patent filings to the Chinese intellectual property authority.
Everyone wants the latest chips. That’s causing a huge headache for the world’s biggest supplier
CNN
Eric Cheung, Will Ripley and John Mees
Sometimes called the most important company in the world, TSMC produces an estimated 90% of the world’s super-advanced semiconductor chips, which are used to power everything from smartphones to artificial intelligence applications. To meet rising demand and facing pressure to be physically closer to its customers, TSMC is building new fabs in the United States, Japan and Germany. Its existing plants are in Taiwan as well as in eastern China and Washington state.
Artificial Intelligence
UN adopts first global artificial intelligence resolution
Reuters
Alexandra Alper
The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday unanimously adopted the first global resolution on artificial intelligence that encourages countries to safeguard human rights, protect personal data, and monitor AI for risks. The nonbinding resolution, proposed by the United States and co-sponsored by China and over 120 other nations, also advocates the strengthening of privacy policies.
Apple held talks with China’s Baidu over AI for its devices
The Wall Street Journal
Raffaele Huang
Apple has held preliminary talks with Baidu about using the Chinese company’s generative artificial-intelligence technology in its devices in China, the latest example of the iPhone maker’s efforts to widen its AI capabilities. In China, Apple has been looking for a local generative AI model provider, mainly because China requires such models to be vetted by its cyberspace regulator before being launched to the public, people familiar with the matter said.
How Big Tech is winning the AI talent war
Financial Times
John Thornhill
Tech companies often try to poach teams of smart employees through so-called acquihires: acquiring a start-up to hire the people. This week, Microsoft announced that it had recruited two of the three founders of Inflection, once one of the hottest AI start-ups in the US, as well as many of its 70 employees.
Big Tech and the intelligence power shift since MH17
InnovationAus
Jason Stevens
Investigating MH17 unlocked the role of big data in assembling a criminal brief, pioneering the use of open-source intelligence. The concentration of data, analytics, and communication capabilities within a few multinational tech giants has altered the balance of power, raising questions about governance and oversight.
AI set to disrupt women more than men in the workplace: LinkedIn
The Australian
Jaren Lynch
The study – completed by Mandala and based on LinkedIn’s Economic Graph, which identifies trends across its 1 billion members – found that 36 per cent of women will have their jobs disrupted by AI, compared with 26 per cent of men. “Women tend to be over-represented in roles more susceptible to disruption by generative AI, such as medical administrative assistant and legal assistant, whereas men are over-represented in roles potentially augmented by generative AI, such as electrical and mechanical engineer,” the report found.
Misc
Cyber-diplomacy: A field in flux
Universiteit Leiden
Andre Barrinha
Three decades ago, cyber-diplomacy did not exist. The interest in Information and Communication Technology as a vector of change in international relations was limited to a few mostly technical organisations, and a restricted number of states. The late 1990s saw a growing interest on the topic, but we would have to wait almost a decade before states started to fully grasp the challenges and opportunities brought by the formation of this new policy domain.
Events & Podcasts
The Sydney Dialogue
ASPI
The Sydney Dialogue was created to help bring together governments, businesses and civil society to discuss and progress policy options. We will forecast the technologies of the next decade that will change our societies, economies and national security, prioritising speakers and delegates who are willing to push the envelope. We will promote diverse views that stimulate real conversations about the best ways to seize opportunities and minimise risks.
Jobs
ASPI Northern Australia Strategic Policy Centre (NASPC) Administration Officer
ASPI
This role also works across the Head of the NASPC's alternate policy centres, the Strategic Policing and Law Enforcement Program, involving work across illicit drugs, illicit finance, transnational serious organised crime, and modern slavery, and ASPI’s Counter-terrorism Policy Centre. The successful applicant will have the chance to assist with coordinating a project in the first half of 2024 focused on northern Australia's connections with Pacific Island Countries, liaising with senior Government and international representatives. The closing date for applications is 29 March 2024– an early application is advised as we reserve the right to close the vacancy early if suitable applications are received.
Director of Cyber, Technology & Security (CTS)
ASPI
ASPI is looking for an exceptional and experienced leader to lead our largest team focused on emerging security challenges, particularly in cyberspace and the information domain. Director CTS leads ASPI’s largest team to develop and deliver a range of applied research projects on existing and emerging security challenges. CTS’ projects range across cyber and critical infrastructure security, critical and emerging technologies, national resilience and social cohesion, and hybrid threats. The closing date for applications is 22 April 2024 – an early application is advised as we reserve the right to close the vacancy early if suitable applications are received.
China Analyst or Senior Analyst
ASPI
ASPI has an exciting opportunity for an analyst or senior analyst to explore China's evolving foreign and security policy, political economy and impact on the Indo-Pacific and the world. ASPI’s China analysts conduct rigorous data-driven research, publish impactful reports that shape the public policy discourse and contribute to the wide catalogue of influential China work published by ASPI. The difference between the analyst and senior analyst levels will depend on experience level and demonstration of past work. The closing date for applications is 10 May 2024– an early application is advised as we reserve the right to close the vacancy early if suitable applications are received.
The Daily Cyber & Tech Digest is brought to you by the Cyber, Technology & Security team at ASPI.