The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said on Thursday it's creating a new Council for National Security within the agency. The FCC's announcement doesn't go into much detail about what the group will do, but a list of its broader goals focuses on US competition with China, including in AI and other tech sectors. The FCC's statement on the Council for National Security says its three-part agenda includes: "Ensure the US wins the strategic competition with China over critical technologies, such as 5G and 6G, AI, satellites and space, quantum computing, robotics and autonomous systems, and the Internet of Things" Although the statement mentions foreign adversaries several times, it only calls out China specifically. The Council will include representatives from eight Bureaus and Offices within the FCC, an arrangement the agency says will foster cross-agency collaboration and information sharing. Adam Chan, who serves as the FCC's security counsel, as the director of the Council on National Security.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has appointed a veteran commander with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as the country's new security chief. Ali Akbar Ahmadian, 62, was named on Monday as the new secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), replacing Ali Shamkhani, who held the post for close to a decade. Ahmadian takes the reins of the SNSC at a time of rapidly accelerating diplomatic regional efforts facilitated by his predecessor, including the re-establishment of ties with rival Saudi Arabia after a China-brokered agreement in March. Iran's relations with the West, however, remain sour. A landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers remains in limbo, while Iran has been accused of supplying Russia with armed drones for the war in Ukraine and tensions have steadily risen following nationwide protests that erupted across the country in September last year.

The European Council has adopted its common position ('general approach') on the Artificial Intelligence Act. Its aim is to ensure that artificial intelligence (AI) systems placed on the EU market and used in the Union are safe and respect existing law on fundamental rights and Union values. The proposal follows a risk-based approach and lays down a uniform, horizontal legal framework for AI that aims to ensure legal certainty. It promotes investment and innovation in AI, enhances governance and effective enforcement of existing law on fundamental rights and safety, and facilitates the development of a single market for AI applications. It goes hand in hand with other initiatives, including the Coordinated Plan on Artificial Intelligence which aims to accelerate investment in AI in Europe. The adoption of the general approach will allow the Council to enter negotiations with the European Parliament ('trilogues') once the latter adopts its own position with a view to reaching an agreement on the proposed regulation.

The regulation's scope encompasses all sectors (except for military) and aims to introduce a common regulatory and legal framework for AI, ensuring that all AI systems are safe and respect existing law on fundamental rights and values. Personally, I think AI regulation and governance is very important. We've all seen the sci-fi movies where artificially intelligent robots (sorry, beings) take over the world and attempt to bring about the end of humanity as we know it, until some bruised and battered hero saves the day. While that's the worst-case scenario meant only for our screens, there are some real use-cases for AI that are actually quite scary. Think about deepfakes, for example, where AI is used to forge an image, video, or audio recording with such precision that the average human is unlikely to detect any manipulation.

Top European Union officials intend to complain loudly to their U.S. counterparts at a trade meeting on Monday about the bloc's electric vehicles being cut off from tax credits in U.S. President Joe Biden's signature climate law. The U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC), a year-old transatlantic forum for dialogue, focused in its first two meetings on regulatory co-operation and presenting a united front against China's non-market economic practices. But the 27-country bloc fears that the $430-billion Inflation Reduction Act with its generous tax credits of $7,500 for Tesla, Ford and other North American-made EVs, will significantly damage European automakers. The topic is on the agenda of the TTC meeting on the University of Maryland campus in College Park, Maryland, U.S. and EU officials said. Participants include U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and European Commission Executive Vice Presidents Valdis Dombrovskis and Margrethe Vestager.

Meesha Dogan, PhD, the CEO of Cardio Diagnostics, a precision cardiovascular disease company, has been accepted into Forbes Technology Council, an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs, and technology executives. "Our mission with Forbes Councils is to bring together proven leaders from every industry, creating a curated, social capital-driven network that helps every member grow professionally and make an even greater impact on the business world." Cardio Diagnostics is a biotechnology company that makes cardiovascular disease prevention and early detection more accessible, personalized, and precise. The company's scientific and clinical studies have shown that an approach, which combines the emerging science of epigenetics and genetics, high-throughput computing, and AI, can close the current gap in our ability to clinically and precisely identify those of us at risk for heart disease. "With Cardio's current and future solutions, we'll continue to fuel a new wave of innovation in preventing and detecting heart disease that can change the projected trajectory. It is a story I'm proud we get to tell via key channels like Forbes," said Dr. Dogan.

Artificial intelligence (Al) is increasingly having an impact on education, bringing opportunities as well as numerous challenges. These observations were noted by the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers in 2019 and led to the commissioning of this report, which sets out to examine the connections between Al and education (AI&ED). In particular, the report presents an overview of AI&ED seen through the lens of the Council of Europe values of human rights, democracy and the rule of law; and it provides a critical analysis of the academic evidence and the myths and hype. The Covid-19 pandemic school shutdowns triggered a rushed adoption of educational technology, which increasingly includes AI-assisted classrooms tools (AIED). This AIED, which by definition is designed to influence child development, also impacts on critical issues such as privacy, agency and human dignity – all of which are yet to be fully explored and addressed.

More than fifty years after a research group at Dartmouth University launched work on a new field called "Artificial Intelligence," the United States still lacks a national strategy on artificial intelligence (AI) policy. The growing urgency of this endeavor is made clear by the rapid progress of both U.S. allies and adversaries. The European Union is moving forward with two initiatives of far-reaching consequence. The EU Artificial Intelligence Act will establish a comprehensive, risk-based approach for the regulation of AI when it is adopted in 2023. Many anticipate that the EU AI Act will extend the "Brussels Effect" across the AI sector as the earlier European data privacy law, the General Data Privacy Regulation, did for much of the tech industry.

The UK is setting the stage for its future Artificial Intelligence (AI) regulatory model. Much like the EU, it suggests adopting a risk-based approach but will differ from the bloc by entrusting enforcement to a panel of regulators. The British government presented its "pro-innovation approach to regulating AI" on Monday (18 July) alongside its new Data Protection and Digital Information Bill. It follows the presentation of the National AI Strategy last September, a ten-year plan to ensure the UK becomes a global AI superpower. The country has invested more than £2.3 billion (€2.7 billion) in AI since 2014.

The Council of Europe conference of ministers responsible for Media and Information Society called Artificial Intelligence - Intelligent Politics will take place online on 10 and 11 June 2021. Ministers will meet to agree on actions required to address the radical changes in the media and information environment brought on by massive digitalisation, with dramatic effects for the exercise of freedom of expression and substantial impact on other human rights and freedoms. Ministers will also discuss the dangerous backsliding in the area of safety of journalists and the respect of the cornerstone role of freedom of expression in democratic societies. The Ministerial Conference will lead to the adoption of a final declaration and four resolutions addressing these issues through instruments that will secure the political engagement of the Council of Europe and its member States. While participation is by invitation only, further information can be found on the official webpage.