The F-35 has had to develop a thick skin. From my former colleagues in Congress to defense-industry experts, the world's premier fighter jet is accustomed to criticism for issues with cost, production and more. In November, though, one of America's most influential voices decided to jump on the bandwagon: Elon Musk. Musk shared a video of a drone swarm with the caption, "Meanwhile, some idiots are still building manned fighter jets like the F-35," and he included a trash-can emoji for good measure. You can imagine the pleasant surprise of the men and women who build the F-35, as well as the brilliant men and women who pilot it, when a drone-like swarm of voices came to their defense.

This Position Statement presents a broad overview of issues arising at the intersection of AI and IP law based on the work of the Max Planck Institute for Innov

In the field of IP law, however, AI raises new questions and challenges. A research project of the legal departments of the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition led by Professor Reto M. Hilty and Professor Josef Drexl is investigating these issues. The Research Group "Regulation of the Digital Economy" examines whether the existing IP system can fulfil its fundamental functions in the context of AI. Since a sound understanding of technology is indispensable for this task, the members of the group researched technical literature, conducted interviews with practitioners and organized a workshop with international AI researchers. The result is the present paper "Technical Aspects of Artificial Intelligence: An Understanding from an Intellectual Property Law Perspective".

We may remember 2018 as a year in which great power rivalry materialized at the forefront of American strategy -- with emerging technologies as a critical dimension of this competition. At a time when divisive politics and intense partisanship have undermined solutions to even the most urgent policy dilemmas, there are reasons nonetheless for cautious optimism about the potential for progress on issues of technology, innovation and competition. The current advances in emerging technologies possess strategic significance in their own right, yet take on greater urgency because of this rivalry. Such new frontiers as biotechnology, artificial intelligence (AI), fifth-generation mobile communications (5G), and quantum computing are integral to economic competitiveness and are also the "very technologies that ensure we will be able to fight and win the wars of the future," according to the U.S. National Defense Strategy. Today, traditional American leadership is contested, as China emerges as a powerhouse in science and technology, with aspirations to become a global leader in innovation.