TOP OF THE DAY
Governance and Legislation
AI will protect global supply chains from the next major shock
(Pervinder Johar World Economic Forum – 5 January 2025) Climate change, geopolitics, and industrial action are still exerting pressure on global supply chains. Advanced technologies such as AI can help refine and optimize supply chains in 2025. Greater supply chain visibility, through initiatives such as GRSI, is an area ripe for technological transformation. – https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/01/ai-supply-chains/
Audits as Instruments of Principled AI Governance
(Anulekha Nandi – Observer Research Foundation – 3 January 2025) Stakeholder groups have produced various guidelines on ethical Artificial Intelligence (AI) in recent years. However, translating principles into practice continues to be a massive challenge, as AI markets expand and AI risks are heightened. AI audits—or the process of investigating an algorithm against existing regulations and known harms—are emerging as a way of bridging the gap between principle and practice. This paper scans the landscape of AI audits and highlights the roles of industry organisations and technical bodies, governments, civil society organisations, academics, and researchers as well as the necessity of developing procedural standardisation, the skillsets required for audit teams, and determining the appropriate nature of regulation and compliance mechanisms. – https://www.orfonline.org/research/audits-as-instruments-of-principled-ai-governance
How AI can unlock new possibilities for global productivity and sustainability
(Roland Busch – World Economic Forum – 3 January 2025) In advanced economies, innovation rates and productivity growth have been declining for decades. We need a digital strategy to refresh the economic landscape and, with technologies like AI, we have one. Technologies, like AI and digital twins, combined with industry-specific know-how can make cutting-edge solutions more accessible and help us tackle our most pressing challenges, from equitable growth to sustainability. – https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/01/tech-ai-digital-twins-productivity-sustainability/
Technology for Better Governance: Insights from Public Health Systems in Kenya
(Samir Bhattacharya, Israel Nyaburi Nyadera, Zedekia Opondo Sidha – Observer Research Foundation – 2 January 2025) The integration of technology in governance has created transformative possibilities across the world, enhancing the provision of public services. Africa has also benefitted from this wave of digital transformation. Introducing big data applications into governance systems in Africa presents enormous potential for overcoming challenges, including corruption, inefficiency, and poor service delivery. However, while the continent has made strides in digital governance, the full potential of big data is yet to be realised. For example, only a handful of African countries, such as Benin, Ghana, and Rwanda, have initiated e-government platforms, and with varying degrees of success. To reap the benefits of big data, there is a need to adopt digital governance in a more holistic manner, which includes leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and smart city technologies. These innovations can improve policymaking, facilitate performance monitoring, and reduce corruption while enhancing the response time and quality to challenges such as urban migration, famine, and health crises. – https://www.orfonline.org/research/technology-for-better-governance-insights-from-public-health-systems-in-kenya
Security
New Research Highlights Vulnerabilities in MLOps Platforms
(Alessandro Mascellino – Infosecurity Magazine – 7 January 2025) Security researchers have identified multiple attack scenarios targeting MLOps platforms like Azure Machine Learning (Azure ML), BigML and Google Cloud Vertex AI, among others. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/vulnerabilities-mlops-platforms/
Phishing Click Rates Triple in 2024
(James Coker – Infosecurity Magazine – 7 January 2025) The rate at which enterprise users clicked on phishing lures nearly trebled in 2024, according to new research by Netskope. More than eight out of every 1000 users clicked on a phishing link each month in 2024, up by 190% compared to 2023. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/phishing-click-rates-triple/
UK Government to Ban Creation of Explicit Deepfakes
(Phil Muncaster – Infosecurity Magazine – 7 January 2025) The British government has announced plans to criminalize the creation of sexually explicit deepfakes, with perpetrators facing up to two years behind bars if found guilty. It is already an offense to share or threaten to share intimate images, including deepfakes, following amendments to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 that were made by the Online Safety Act 2023. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/uk-government-ban-creation/
Consumer products to get ‘Cyber Trust’ marks in 2025, White House says
(Jonathan Greig – The Record – 7 January 2025) New cybersecurity labels will appear on consumer smart devices at some point this year, a White House official told reporters on Tuesday. The White House officially unveiled the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark this week after years of preparation, paving the way for consumers to know more about the cybersecurity protections on the devices they purchase. – https://therecord.media/consumer-products-cyber-trust-white
Massachusetts health firm reaches $80,000 settlement with HHS following ransomware investigation
(Jonathan Greig – The Record – 7 January 2025) A Massachusetts company is the latest healthcare entity to be penalized by federal regulators following an investigation into a 2023 ransomware attack. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said on Tuesday it reached a settlement agreement of $80,000 with Elgon Information Systems after the company violated federal rules around the protection of healthcare data. – https://therecord.media/massachusetts-health-firm-reaches-settlement
DNA sequencer company notifying customers of vulnerabilities in popular device
(Jonathan Greig – The Record – 7 January 2025) Healthcare technology vendor Illumina is notifying customers of a vulnerability affecting a popular DNA sequencer after a cybersecurity firm discovered issues with the product that would allow hackers to disable the devices or gain a foothold into them. The device, the Illumina iSeq 100, is used by labs that perform genetic analysis and would be vulnerable if an intruder was already inside a user’s network. – https://therecord.media/dna-sequencer-vulnerabilities-iseq100-eclypsium
‘We have to prioritize cybersecurity’ within federal budgets, outgoing cyber czar says
(Martin Matishak – The Record – 7 January 2025) The Trump administration shouldn’t abandon an effort to get federal agencies to set cybersecurity priorities as part of their annual budget requests, the nation’s outgoing cyber czar said on Tuesday. Last year, the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Wednesday published a list of digital security benchmarks they wanted agencies to pursue as part of their fiscal 2026 budgets. – https://therecord.media/prioritize-cyber-within-budgets-federal
Washington state sues T-Mobile over allegedly shoddy cyber practices leading to 2021 breach
(Suzanne Smalley – The Record – 7 January 2025) T-Mobile is being sued by Washington for allegedly poor cybersecurity practices that led to a hack compromising the sensitive personal data of more than 2 million state residents, exposing them to identity theft and fraud. The consumer protection lawsuit, announced Monday, alleges that the telecommunications giant knew about its cybersecurity weaknesses for years and failed to fix them. – https://therecord.media/washington-state-lawsuit-tmobile-2021-data-breach
UN aviation agency ‘actively investigating’ cybercriminal’s claimed data breach
(Alexander Martin – The Record – 7 January 2025) The U.N.’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) announced late on Monday that it was “actively investigating reports of a potential information security incident” following a criminal claim to have breached the agency. – https://therecord.media/united-nations-icao-investigating-data-breach
Frontiers
50 Robotics Companies to Watch in 2025[1–5]
(James Dargan – AI Insider – 7 January 2025) The robotics industry is revolutionizing the way we live and work, with innovations in automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) driving advancements across diverse sectors. From industrial automation to space exploration, robotics is shaping the future in ways we once only imagined. At AI Insider, we’ve curated a series highlighting 50 exciting robotics companies making waves in 2025. This 10-part series will showcase these companies in alphabetical order, giving you a closer look at their achievements and innovations. In each installment, we’ll cover five companies, providing details about their missions, technologies, and growth stories. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/01/07/50-robotics-companies-to-watch-in-20251-5/
Alberta’s $70B Bet on AI Data Centers
(James Dargan – AI Insider – 7 January 2025) Alberta is positioning itself as a global hub for AI with a $70 billion project to build the world’s largest and most efficient data center, leveraging its abundant natural gas reserves. Premier Danielle Smith revealed the ambitious plan, citing Alberta’s vast energy resources — 200 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and advanced carbon capture infrastructure — as key advantages. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/01/07/albertas-70b-bet-on-ai-data-centers/