The EU has taken a major step towards passing one of the world's first laws governing artificial intelligence after its main legislative branch approved the text of draft legislation that includes a blanket ban on police use of live facial recognition technology in public places. The European parliament approved rules aimed at setting a global standard for the technology, which encompasses everything from automated medical diagnoses to some types of drone, AI-generated videos known as deepfakes, and bots such as ChatGPT. MEPs will now thrash out details with EU countries before the draft rules become legislation. "AI raises a lot of questions socially, ethically, economically. But now is not the time to hit any'pause button'. On the contrary, it is about acting fast and taking responsibility," said Thierry Breton, the European commissioner for the internal market.

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Discrimination is a bigger threat posed by artificial intelligence than possible extinction of the human race, according to the EU's competition commissioner. Margrethe Vestager said although the existential risk from advances in AI may be a concern, it was unlikely, whereas discrimination from the technology was a real problem. She told the BBC "guardrails" were needed for AI, including for situations where it was being used for decisions that could affect livelihoods, such as mortgage applications or access to social services. "Probably [the risk of extinction] may exist, but I think the likelihood is quite small. I think the AI risks are more that people will be discriminated [against], they will not be seen as who they are," she said.

Lawmakers in Europe signed off Wednesday on the world's first set of comprehensive rules for artificial intelligence, clearing a key hurdle as authorities across the globe race to rein in AI. The European Parliament vote is one of the last steps before the rules become law, which could act as a model for other places working on similar regulations. A yearslong effort by Brussels to draw up guardrails for AI has taken on more urgency as rapid advances in chatbots like ChatGPT show the benefits the emerging technology can bring -- and the new perils it poses. The measure, first proposed in 2021, will govern any product or service that uses an artificial intelligence system. The act will classify AI systems according to four levels of risk, from minimal to unacceptable. Riskier applications, such as for hiring or tech targeted to children, will face tougher requirements, including being more transparent and using accurate data.

Ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to Washington, the Biden administration is pushing New Delhi to cut through its own red tape and advance a deal for dozens of Unite States-made armed drones, two people familiar with the matter have told Reuters news agency. India has long expressed interest in buying large armed drones from the US. But bureaucratic stumbling blocks have hampered a deal for SeaGuardian drones, which could be worth $2bn to $3bn, for years. US negotiators are counting on Modi's White House visit on June 22 to seal the deal. Since the date for Modi's visit was fixed, the US State Department, Pentagon and White House have asked India to be able to "show" progress on the deal for as many as 30 armable MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones made by General Atomics, two sources told Reuters.

AGI, while powerful, could have negative consequences, warned Diveplane CEO Mike Capps and Liberty Blockchain CCO Christopher Alexander. U.S. companies that give China artificial intelligence-driven technology to violate the human rights of its citizens need to be punished by Congress with prison terms for U.S. executives, a witness told senators in a hearing Tuesday. Geoffrey Cain, senior fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation, warned at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing that AI is helping to power China's growing "surveillance state" and said U.S. companies have contributed to this human rights problem. "China built its AI surveillance apparatus with the connivance and complacency of major American technology firms," Cain said in his prepared remarks. "The science corporation ThermoFisher, for example, was caught selling DNA collection equipment directly to Xinjiang police authorities, who used them for mass gathering of genetic data on the minority Uyghur population. "Since the late 1990s, Microsoft has established itself as the training ground for China's AI elites through its Beijing-based laboratory, Microsoft Research Asia," he added. "The laboratory has trained many of the AI leaders and developers who went on to found or join the executive leadership of rights-abusing firms, such as Sensetime, Megvii and iFlyTek." Chinese President Xi Jinping is overseeing an AI-driven surveillance state, according to a witness at a Senate hearing Tuesday who said U.S. companies that help China should be punished. Cain's group, the Foundation for American Innovation, said it was founded to ensure technology is "aligned to serve human ends: promoting individual freedom, supporting strong institutions, advancing national security, and unleashing economic prosperity.

A US district judge has granted the Federal Trade Commission's request to temporarily block Microsoft's $69bn buyout of video game maker Activision Blizzard and set a hearing next week. Microsoft's bid to acquire the Call of Duty video game maker has been approved by the EU but blocked by British competition authorities, while the FTC, a US authority, has argued the transaction would give Microsoft's video game console Xbox exclusive access to Activision games, leaving Nintendo consoles and Sony's PlayStation out in the cold. Microsoft has said the deal would benefit gamers and gaming companies alike, and has offered to sign a legally binding consent decree with the FTC to provide Call of Duty games to rivals including Sony for a decade. On Tuesday, Judge Edward Davila scheduled a two-day evidentiary hearing on the FTC's request for a preliminary injunction for 22 and 23 June in San Francisco. Without a court order, Microsoft could have closed on the deal as early as Friday.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will begin using the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT for writing texts and carrying out other clerical work in all of its offices from August, Gov. Yuriko Koike said Tuesday. ChatGPT "has the potential to greatly transform the way public administration is conducted," Koike said during a metropolitan assembly session. She added that "better city governance" can be achieved by assessing the positive and negative aspects of the AI service. Koike also said the metropolitan government will use ChatGPT for tasks including preparing documents in question-and-answer format, and seek input from its employees about other practical uses for the generative AI tool. This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software.

While several recent works have identified societal-scale and extinction-level risks to humanity arising from artificial intelligence, few have attempted an {\em exhaustive taxonomy} of such risks. Many exhaustive taxonomies are possible, and some are useful -- particularly if they reveal new risks or practical approaches to safety. This paper explores a taxonomy based on accountability: whose actions lead to the risk, are the actors unified, and are they deliberate? We also provide stories to illustrate how the various risk types could each play out, including risks arising from unanticipated interactions of many AI systems, as well as risks from deliberate misuse, for which combined technical and policy solutions are indicated.