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Trump's AI plan: Pull back restraints on tech
Trump's AI plan: Pull back restraints on tech

Egypt Independent

timea day ago

  • Business
  • Egypt Independent

Trump's AI plan: Pull back restraints on tech

New York CNN — The Trump administration on Wednesday unveiled its AI action plan, a package of initiatives and policy recommendations meant to cement the United States as a global leader in a technology that's expected to be as influential as the internet itself. The White House largely seeks to achieve that lofty, Silicon Valley-friendly goal through scaling back AI regulation — with a notable, MAGA-friendly exception that will work to eliminate political 'bias' in AI. The plan includes three pillars: accelerating innovation, building out AI infrastructure in the United States and making American hardware and software the 'standard' platform for AI innovations built around the world. The plan also recommends that large language models procured by the federal government are 'objective and free from top-down ideological bias,' according to a 28-page plan published by the White House Wednesday. It's the Trump administration's latest push to expand AI infrastructure and investments in the United States and serves as another indication that staying ahead of China in AI is a top priority for the administration. 'It's a global competition now to lead in artificial intelligence,' said White House AI Czar David Sacks on a conference call with reporters Wednesday morning. 'AI is a revolutionary technology that's going to have profound ramifications for both the economy and for national security, so it is just very important that America continue to be the dominant power in AI.' The announcement came before Trump outlined his AI plans during an event in Washington Wednesday evening called Winning the AI Race. The event was hosted by the 'All-in Podcast,' a show about business and politics co-hosted by Sacks among other industry figures, and the Hill & Valley Forum, a group that hosts a tech and policy conference founded by Jacob Helberg, previously a commissioner for the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, and investors Delian Asparouhov and Christian Garrett. 'Whether we like it or not, we're suddenly engaged in a fast-paced competition to build and define this groundbreaking technology that will determine so much about the future of civilization itself,' Trump said at the event. 'America is the country that started the AI race. And as president of the United States, I'm here today to declare that America is going to win it.' Trump also expanded on his desire to limit restrictions and regulations on AI development, saying the industry is 'a beautiful baby that's born.' 'We have to grow that baby and let that baby thrive. We can't stop it. We can't stop it with politics, we can't stop it with foolish rules,' Trump said, although he added that he doesn't like the name 'artificial intelligence' because 'I don't like anything that's artificial.' The action plan The plan involves removing what administration officials described as 'bureaucratic red tape' to AI development and is based on recommendations from the private sector, as well as academia and civil society groups, White House officials said. It also calls for streamlining permitting for data centers, semiconductor manufacturing facilities and energy infrastructure. And the government will partner with US tech companies to make 'full stack AI export packages' — AI models, hardware and software — available to American ally countries. That's in an effort to make US technology the global standard, something Silicon Valley leaders have called for to ensure the United States remains an AI leader. Michael Krastios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology, said on the conference call that all policies outlined in the action plan can be executed in the next six months to a year. Lawmakers and tech leaders have been divided on how AI should be regulated, highlighting the struggle to balance safety with speed. Soon after taking office, Trump repealed a sweeping executive order passed by former President Joe Biden that sought to implement some safeguards around AI development and use. More recently, the US Senate voted on July 1 to remove a provision from Republicans' sweeping domestic policy legislation, for example, that would have prevented states from enforcing AI-related laws for 10 years. Tech leaders have argued that state-level rules or a patchwork of regulation could slow innovation and deployment. But those who opposed the provision worried that it would hamper efforts to keep AI safe and hold tech companies accountable. However, the AI action plan recommends that the federal government 'consider a state's AI regulatory climate' when considering how to distribute federal funding for AI-related programs. At the Wednesday evening event, Trump went even further, saying, 'we have to have a single federal standard, not 50 different states regulating this industry … you can't have a state with standards that are so high it's going to hold you up.' David Sacks, the White House AI and Crypto Czar, speaks to press outside of the White House on March 07, 2025 in Washington, DC. Sacks spoke about the executive order on Crypto and U.S. Digital Asset have criticized the Trump Administration's agenda for prioritizing the interests of the tech industry over AI safety, in the face of concerns about AI taking jobs or harming children, among others. A coalition of privacy advocates, labor unions and other organizations are calling for a People's Action Plan to counter the Trump administration's proposals. Its signatories include the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the Writers Guild of America East and research institute the AI Now Institute. A senior White House official said that more than 10,000 responses from 'diverse' individuals and sectors were submitted in the White House's request for information to inform the plan. The plan recommends updating federal procurement guidelines so the government contracts only with large language model developers that 'ensure their systems are objective and free from top-down ideological bias.' But experts have said enforcing such a rule could be challenging since it's unclear what the definition of 'bias' is. That could also slow down innovation, because tech companies looking to secure government contracts will likely have new guidelines to adhere to. 'This type of thing, which creates all kinds of concerns and liability and complexity for the people developing these models — all of a sudden they have to slow down,' said Oren Etzioni, former CEO of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, a Seattle-based nonprofit research institute. Investing in AI Wednesday's plan follows a series of AI and tech-related investments and announcements from private businesses made throughout Trump's second term thus far. On July 15, the president announced an investment of more than $90 billion from companies across tech, energy and finance to turn Pennsylvania into a hub for artificial intelligence. He kicked off his second term with a $500 billion AI infrastructure project called Stargate, which involves a collaboration between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison. U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on AI infrastructure, next to Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at the Roosevelt room at White House in Washington, U.S., January 21, 2025. Carlos Barria/Reuters He also said he would roll back Biden-era AI export restrictions on AI chips, and Nvidia was recently allowed to resume selling its H20 AI chips to China. More broadly, Trump has been pressuring tech giants to expand their US operations in a bid to bring back US manufacturing, create jobs and reduce reliance on China for tech production, although experts have been skeptical that such efforts will be successful. He's touted investments from companies like Apple and TSMC as political victories, although it's possible that at least some of those plans were in place regardless of Trump's push. Collaboration between the tech industry and the White House isn't new; it's happened under the Biden administration and long before then. But tech CEOs have been noticeably present through Trump's first six months in office. Tech giants and the White House have come together over a shared goal: Staying ahead of China's AI ambitions. Chinese startup DeepSeek rattled the markets and Silicon Valley earlier this year with its powerful yet supposedly cheap-to-train R1 model, sparking concern that China may be further ahead than expected. The challenge of maintaining an edge in AI while prioritizing safety has come up on Capitol Hill before; tech leaders from Microsoft, OpenAI, CoreWeave and AMD addressed the issue in a Senate committee hearing in May. 'The number one factor that will define whether the United States or China wins this race is whose technology is most broadly adopted in the rest of the world,' Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith said during that hearing.

Trump's AI Orders, Gixel's AR Optics, Big Tech Spends On Nvidia
Trump's AI Orders, Gixel's AR Optics, Big Tech Spends On Nvidia

Forbes

time5 days ago

  • Business
  • Forbes

Trump's AI Orders, Gixel's AR Optics, Big Tech Spends On Nvidia

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 23: U.S. President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order at an AI ... More summit hosted by All‑In Podcast and Hill & Valley Forum at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium on July 23, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump signed executive orders related to his AI "Action Plan" intended to promote U.S. dominance of the technology during the event. (Photo by) Trump signs sweeping 'AI Action Plan' and 'anti‑woke' order. The plan emphasises 'beating China' and loosening regulations so data centres and chip factories can be built more quickly. Trump also signed an 'anti‑woke' executive order that bars AI vendors from receiving federal contracts if their models include diversity or equity‑related content. Yikes. AI is the new history book, the new Wikipedia. Imagine if all our content came from the same oracle. To paraphrase George Orwell: he who controls AI, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future. TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room flanked by Masayoshi Son (2R), ... More Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp, Larry Ellison (2L), Executive Charmain Oracle and Sam Altman (R), CEO of Open AI at the White House on January 21, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images) OpenAI and Oracle scale back the $500 billion Stargate project from 30 GW to 4.5 GW. Then Software bailed and now they're only going to generate 4.4 gigawatts. That's 85% smaller. They're going to open one data center. There's not going to be a big press conference with the president and cover stories about this. Even so, the new facilities will use more than two million chips (wire that money directly to Nvidia). There was a lot of speculation in the ancient days of January, 2025 that this was not a real deal. It only took six months to unravel. WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 23: Jensen Huang, Co-Founder and CEO, NVIDIA speaks onstage at the All-In and ... More Hill & Valley Forum "Winning The AI Race" at Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium on July 23, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo byfor Hill & Valley Forum) xAI seeks up to $12 billion in debt to buy Nvidia chips Elon Musk's AI company xAI is working with Valor Equity Partners to raise as much as $12 billion in debt to acquire Nvidia GB200 and GB300 chips for training Grok. According to the Wall Street Journal, lenders want repayment within three years and may cap borrowing to limit risk. Musk said xAI is building multiple superclusters using more than 230,000 GPUs and will soon launch another with 550,000 chips. Nvidia is going to get a significant chunk of that ten billion. This image makes the basic principles very clear. Gixel Emerges from stealth with €5 million seed round led by Brendan Iribe. Their design for AR glasses uses curved lenses, enabling a slim, lightweight form factor suitable for everyday wear. The optics engine delivers variable focal planes, allowing virtual objects to appear at correct depths and fostering natural eye focus dynamics. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany, Gixel closed an oversubscribed €5 million seed round, led by Oculus VR co‑founder Brendan Iribe and backed by former 20th Century Fox/RED futurist Ted Schilowitz, the FlixBus founders (Jochen Engert, Daniel Kraus, André Schwämmlein), Germany's federal innovation agency SPRIND, and early‑stage VC firm LEA Partners. The funds will support the industrialization of Gixel's curved‑lens optical engine, development of developer kits, and groundwork for a Series A round in the coming year. Deep fake hoax false and ai manipulation social media on display. Searching on tablet, pad, phone or ... More smartphone screen in hand. Abstract concept of news titles 3d illustration. UC Riverside researchers, in collaboration with Google scientists, have developed an AI model capable of detecting deepfakes. Unlike earlier detectors, their new UNITE software identifies inconsistencies in backgrounds, motion patterns, and subtle visual artifacts. Built on a transformer architecture and leveraging a novel 'attention-diversity loss,' it avoids focusing solely on faces by spreading attention across multiple regions. While still in development, it holds promise for integration into social media, fact-checking, and newsroom workflows, helping curb the spread of sophisticated video misinformation and AI slop in general. Adobe Firefly is about to make its biggest leap in AI video yet with a new model and Veo 3 integration Adobe has just released Firefly Video Model 1.9, a major upgrade that significantly boosts realism and storytelling in AI-generated videos, available now via its Web App. This update enables creators to produce more dynamic natural and urban environments, including detailed animal motion, weather effects, and 2D/3D animation. Firefly also now supports Veo 3, Luma, Runway, and Topaz integrations. Notably, the beta 'Generate Sound Effects' feature lets users craft custom audio via text prompts or voice input. The model also introduces new controls: reference-video input for composition transfer, style presets (like claymation and anime), and keyframe cropping tools. LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MAY 01: Co-founder and CEO of Runway Cristobal Valenzuela and ... More artist/musician Claire L. Evans speak on stage during the 2024 AI Film Festival Los Angeles Panel at The Orpheum Theatre on May 01, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by) Disney and Netflix are Quietly Using Runway's AI Video Generators. If you recall, Runway is the AI start up that's raised $450 Million and was valued at $3B. They already have a deal with Lionsgate. Netflix has already used Runway's tools to produce a VFX scene in its sci‑fi series The Eternaut, highlighting savings in both time and cost. While Disney is reportedly testing the same technology, neither company has issued formal announcements. Animal Company becomes one of the highest‑grossing Meta Quest games. The social VR game where players use Gorilla Tag‑like locomotion with their arms in a horror‑mystery setting, is a bona-fide bestseller with more than 500,000 daily active users and about one billion views on TikTok. Its average daily playtime is 100 minutes and 45 percent of users return after 28 days. Since monetization began in April, paying users have increased ninefold. This column is also a podcast hosted by its author, Charlie Fink, Ted Schilowitz, former studio executive, and founding Red Camera executive, and Rony Abovitz, founder of Magic Leap. This week our guest is Bilawal Sidhu, Ex-Google PM (XR, maps) and now leading creative voice at the intersection of Generative of AI and media. We can be found on Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube. What We're Reading RP1 says that metaverse needs its own browser (Dean Takahashi/GamesBeat)

To Win Or Not To Win The AI Race. The Question To End All Questions
To Win Or Not To Win The AI Race. The Question To End All Questions

Forbes

time5 days ago

  • Business
  • Forbes

To Win Or Not To Win The AI Race. The Question To End All Questions

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 23: U.S. President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order during the ... More "Winning the AI Race" summit hosted by All‑In Podcast and Hill & Valley Forum at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium on July 23, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump signed executive orders related to his Artificial Intelligence Action Plan during the event. (Photo by) When President Donald Trump announced Winning the AI Race: America's AI Action Plan yesterday, he said something we should all remember: 'America is the country that started the AI race. And as president of the United States, I'm here today to declare that America is going to win it.' These are important words to remember because it may be the last time, Trump and his Big Tech partners in Silicon Valley acknowledge that AI wasn't always a question of winning or losing a race. To Win Or Not To Win Is Not The Only Question Once AI was a philosophical question – one that religious and spiritual thinkers from ancient cultures asked to better understand the laws of nature. Later it became a scientific question – one that English mathematicians and computer scientitsts asked to transcend the laws of nature. And lately, it has become everyone's question – one that ethicists, policy makers, journalists, educators, you, and I ask to protect the nature in and around us that AI threatens to replace. But – Trump claims – AI is no longer a question. It's a race. A race started by America that America is going to win. Why? Because, as Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, puts it, 'winning the AI race is non-negotiable.' And once something is non-negotiable, all questions about it ends. So what are the questions America's AI Action Plan is designed to end? And why is it important that we keep asking them? The AI Race Ends Questions About Regulations The plan identifies over 90 Federal policy actions across three pillars – Accelerating Innovation, Building American AI Infrastructure, and Leading in International Diplomacy and Security. One key policy is enabling innovation and adoption by 'removing onerous Federal regulations that hinder AI development and deployment, and seek private sector input on rules to remove.' In yesterday's summit Trump commented on this initiative, saying the AI industry is 'a beautiful baby that's born.' 'We have to grow that baby and let that baby thrive. We can't stop it. We can't stop it with politics, we can't stop it with foolish rules,' Trump said. Talking about AI development as something that cannot be stopped is one thing. Comparing the tech industry with a baby whose growth and well-being we are responsible for is another. And maybe that's where our questions should start: Where our understanding of nature meets our understanding of technology. Is it the same to be 'born to think' and to be 'built to think'? Do babies and AI technologies follow the same laws of nature? Do they have the same constraints? And can the questions asked by philosophers, religious thinkers, and scientists in the past guide us in navigating the need for restrictions and regulations in the future? At the AI Action Plan summit, President Trump said the tech industry is 'a beautiful baby" that we ... More have to grow and let thrive. (Photo by Joe Mahoney) The AI Race Ends Questions About Existential Risks According to the White House's website, 'winning the AI race will usher in a new golden age of human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security for the American people.' But it doesn't say what this golden age of human flourishing should look like. In fact, the Trump administration's understanding of AI seems to built on the idea that technology can and should be neutral. No human ideas and ideals. Just pure innovation. Or, as it says in the plan's 'upholding free speech in frontier models' section: Federal procurement guidelines must be updated to 'ensure that the government only contracts with frontier language model developers who ensure that their systems are objective and free from top-down idealogical bias.' But this idea that technology can and should be neutral can and should be questioned. For decades the developers of first the internet and then social media have promised us free speech and systems that are objective and free from top-down idealogical bias. And for decades, we have seen an increase in mental health problems caused by misinformation and polarization. So, maybe that's the questions we must ask: How does it impact humans to think and talk about technology as something that doesn't impact humans? Is it possible to let the tech industry grow and thrive and at the same time take responsibility for human growth and well-being? Or will a country that prioritizes to be front runners in building technological systems eventually lose sight of what it takes to build human systems, e.g. in terms of education, health, and ultimately democracy? The AI Race Ends Questions About Global Collaboration 'Whether we like it or not, we're suddenly engaged in a fast-paced competition to build and define this groundbreaking technology that will determine so much about the future of civilization itself,' Trump said at the AI Action Plan event. To prepare for this future, the government will partner with US tech companies to make 'full stack AI export packages' — AI models, hardware and software — available to American ally countries. As reported by CNN, this partnership aims at making US technology the global standard, something Silicon Valley leaders have called for to ensure the United States remains an AI leader. But if AI really is this 'groundbreaking technology that will determine so much about the future of civilization itself', other countries are not looking to the US for a 'full stack AI export package'. And they are certainly not looking to Silicon Valley for global leadership and standards. Dealing with a groundbreaking technology that will determine the future of civilization itself calls for everyone to work together. And that calls for all of us to ask: Should staying ahead of China be the top priority for the American administration right now? Or does AI call for an intergovernmental organization like the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that promotes the safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technology? Established in 1957, IAEA was not influenced by Big Tech. The Agency's genesis was President Eisenhower's 'Atoms for Peace' address to the General Assembly of the United Nations on 8 December 1953. Is that what the world needs from the president of the United States? Not a declaration that America is going to win a race it started itself. And not a full stack AI export package. But an 'AI for Peace' address that crystallizes the hope that the groundbreaking development of AI 'may lead to the unifying of the entire divided world' (Eisenhower's words about the splitting of the atom)? To win or not to win the AI race is not the only question. There are many questions and none of them should be answered by one president of one country. Least of all in a plan designed to be non-negotiable.

How CISOs Can Break Through Communication Barriers
How CISOs Can Break Through Communication Barriers

Forbes

time5 days ago

  • Business
  • Forbes

How CISOs Can Break Through Communication Barriers

Tech leadership is becoming more important—and understood—by companies and their boards. According to a survey from Deloitte this summer, half of tech professionals have four or more C-suite tech positions in their organizations—including CIO, CTO, CISO and CDAO (data and analytics). There tend to be more tech-specific C-suite roles than in any other single area of the company, but more executives don't automatically make the massive job of governing, regulating, upgrading, protecting and innovating with tech and data any easier. A quarter of respondents said they have a tough time keeping clearly defined responsibilities straight. Top priorities for the coming year also don't necessarily fit in any one executive's purview. About 36% ranked security as a top priority, which is often seen as the CISO's responsibility. But the other top priorities—reducing operational or product costs and increasing value, expanding into new markets or segments, and attracting and engaging customers—straddle many positions. And of course, many companies are working toward an AI transition. Not only do AI functions cross into many different tech areas (especially because many companies might not have a chief AI officer), but the skills for AI are lacking. About 45% say the inability to get people with the right skills is the biggest obstacle to bringing in AI—something that seven in 10 say is likely to add to the company's tech headcount. This is an unconventional barricade for tech leaders. The leadership positions are there, but duties are unclear, priorities are all over the map, and talent for improvement is lacking. It's time for companies and tech leaders to work more on their roles internally. Delineate exact policies and responsibilities for different executives, and decide what structure workis best for company needs. Work on upskilling existing employees. And keep an eye to what skills and capabilities are needed for the long term. While cybersecurity is traditionally the domain of the CISO, the nature of attacks and vulnerabilities today means that everyone needs to have some understanding and responsibility for it. But it can be tough to bridge the communication gap between technical CISOs and other employees. Sameer Ansari, global security and privacy lead at consulting firm Protiviti, gave me some strategies to do that well. An excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter. This is the published version of Forbes' CIO newsletter, which offers the latest news for chief innovation officers and other technology-focused leaders. Click here to get it delivered to your inbox every Thursday. POLICY + REGULATIONS President Donald Trump delivers remarks on AI at the All-In and Hill & Valley Forum "Winning The AI Race" on Hill & Valley Forum President Donald Trump unveiled his AI policy plan on Wednesday. The overarching goal is to solidify the U.S. position as the world leader in AI—through policies that encourage technology and infrastructure development in the U.S., as well as promoting other nations to buy American AI technology. 'America is the country that started the AI race. And as president of the United States, I'm here today to declare that America is going to win it,' Trump said at a Wednesday evening event in Washington, D.C. 'We're going to work hard, we're going to win it because we will not allow any foreign nation to beat us.' The particulars of the new policy and its parameters—or lack thereof—are not surprising, given Trump's well-known disdain for regulation. At the beginning of his plan: 'Remove red tape and onerous regulation.' The technology, the plan says, is 'far too important to smother in bureaucracy at this early stage, whether at the state or federal level.' The plan doesn't say what kind of AI use might be considered out of line—there are no mentions of protecting secure infrastructure systems, privacy or copyrights. But it directs the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, which helps organizations to minimize risks when implementing AI, to eliminate references to misinformation, DEI and climate change. In his remarks, Trump did speak out against copyright protections for content used to train AI models. 'You can't be expected to have a successful AI program when every single article, book, or anything else that you've read or studied, you're supposed to pay for,' he said. This issue is one of the biggest pending legal matters today around AI. Many publishers, including Forbes , have sued AI companies, accusing them of copyright infringement for unauthorized use of content. Two AI industry leaders—Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and AMD CEO Lisa Su—attended Wednesday's event and praised Trump's plan, the Wall Street Journal reported. 'For the U.S. to lead in AI, we have to run fast, and the AI action plan is a great way of just laying out all the various pieces that will be helpful for us to run fast,' Su told the Journal . NOTABLE EARNINGS Google headquarters in Mountain View, parent Alphabet reported yet another successful quarter, with $96.4 billion in revenue—a 14% year-over-year increase—surpassing analysts' forecasts of $94 billion. The largest percentage of growth came from the Google Cloud division, with revenues reaching $13.6 billion. But the services sector—which includes Google Search, ads on YouTube and other platforms, and subscriptions—saw $82.5 billion in revenue. 'This is all possible because of the long-term investments we have made in our differentiated full-stack approach to AI,' CEO Sundar Pichai said on the earnings call. 'This spans AI infrastructure, world-class research, models and tooling, and our products and platforms that bring AI to people all over the world.' Pichai said the company is increasing its investment in AI infrastructure this year by $10 billion, bringing the total to $85 billion. The dollars going toward infrastructure is planning ahead, he said, working to meet future demand trends. But analysts are tempering Alphabet's success both in the present and future with the outcome of a pending court ruling. The company was found to have held an illegal monopoly in search, and a federal judge is expected to issue a ruling on how to remedy the situation next month. The government has asked the court to force Google to sell its Chrome browser and share its search results data—two actions that could have deep consequences for the company's revenues going forward. CYBERSECURITY getty Hackers breached Microsoft SharePoint on-premise server systems last weekend, accessing data and internal code for an estimated 400 organizations, Reuters reported. The vulnerability was discovered in the attack, and Microsoft quickly issued a security patch, writes Forbes senior contributor Davey Winder. However, the patch doesn't cover all versions of the software that was breached, and the damage may have already been done; cryptographic keys stolen in the breach could allow hackers to retain access without a reset. Major victims of this breach include government, hospital and educational institutions that have security reasons for keeping more data on-premises. According to reports, victims include agencies of the Department of Homeland Security, National Institutes of Health and National Nuclear Security Administration. Microsoft said that Chinese nation-state actors Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon, as well as Chinese threat actor Storm-2603 have historically exploited these SharePoint vulnerabilities. BITS + BYTES How To Break Down Barriers Between The CISO And The Rest Of The Company Protiviti global security and privacy lead Sameer Ansari. Protiviti Cybersecurity is, to some extent, everyone's responsibility. It means the CISO needs to be able to communicate with other executives and employees who may not have the same technical expertise. I talked with Sameer Ansari, global security and privacy lead at consulting firm Protiviti, about how CISOs can make themselves a part of the company's strategic discussion, and be seen as more than a blocker who says new plans are too dangerous. This conversation has been edited for length, clarity and continuity. How does a CISO enter into a partnership with the rest of the company and come to a common understanding of both what they need and what the rest of the company's trying to do? Ansari: It's changing the typical approach that some CISOs have. We're getting out of the technical conversation and putting that to the side, and really focusing on what the business-oriented goals are. A lot of times, the business will come to the CISO with an idea that they want to do from a new product or new region perspective. It's up to the CISO to understand what they're trying to accomplish. If there are some risks associated with that, use that as an opportunity to educate the business on what those risks are, and not just say no: 'Hey, I hear what you're trying to do, but these are some of the risks I'm seeing. Let me explain to you why these are risks.' Use it like an education opportunity, and then start to work with them on joint solutioning. Sometimes, the business will be like, 'That's a security issue. You go deal with it.' And [you need to] show them that, 'Hey, me making a decision on my own in a silo is not good for you, just like you making a security decision on your own without having that conversation with me is not good for either of us.' You should make sure that you can actually have that joint conversation. You should also be solution oriented. If there is a risk there that you think the business is taking that's too large, thinking about saying, 'Here's some alternatives,' and seeing if they're open to those alternatives. How can a CISO get from talking in an overly technical way to explaining threats in a way that everybody can understand? It's through storytelling, using examples and actually giving things that are a little bit more concrete in terms of why things matter, focusing on what I like to call the 'so what.' You have a technical vulnerability. What's the impact of that? How does that translate to what the business is trying to do? Both parties need to put themselves in each other's shoes as much as they can. CISOs will never understand the business as well as the business understands the business, and the business will never understand cybersecurity as well as the CISO does. But spending time and collaborating and having those honest conversations about what each of you're trying to accomplish and how can they actually make those intersect. A good example would be expanding into China or selling a part of the business. Having the CISO early in that conversation and saying, 'Hey, if we want to divest from this business or go into a new market, what should we be thinking about? How do we actually approach this?' [They should collaborate] with legal, thinking about the cybersecurity compliance issues, what new threat factors do we need to think about, and what's the cost associated with that? A lot of times when the business has an idea, they're thinking about the ROI, but the cost of cybersecurity a lot of times does not get factored into that. What advice would you give to a CISO who is hoping to be more collaborative and proactive with other executives and the board of their company? We still see business as very relationship-oriented, so I think you should be having to invest in the relationships outside of your IT or CISO teams and spending time with the business—getting to know them, getting to know what their priorities and key strategies are. That'll make the CISO much more informed in terms of what their strategy should be. Also, when they go to the board to talk about what's happening within their organization from a cybersecurity perspective, [you'll know] how to present it in a way that the board will actually understand and care about certain things. COMINGS + GOINGS Cybersecurity solutions provider Check Point Software Technologies appointed Jonathan Zanger as chief technology officer. Zanger most recently worked in the same role at Trigo. appointed as chief technology officer. Zanger most recently worked in the same role at Trigo. Healthcare staffing company CHG Healthcare welcomed Theresa O'Leary as chief information officer. O'Leary joins the company from UPS, where she was vice president of technology, and she succeeds Scott Boecker, who is moving to another role. welcomed as chief information officer. O'Leary joins the company from UPS, where she was vice president of technology, and she succeeds Scott Boecker, who is moving to another role. Online learning platform Coursera tapped Grant Parsamyan to be its new chief data officer, effective July 21. Parsamyan previously worked as chief data & information officer at Alludo, and has also held leadership roles at OpenTable, eHarmony and Yahoo. STRATEGIES + ADVICE It doesn't matter how much time and money your company invests in cybersecurity threat management. The biggest threat is different departments working in silos. Here's why that's a problem, and how to break down those barriers. Many tech companies are adding AI agents to their software, but customers are slow to start using them. The reasons are many. They're new ideas, but they can also do unintended actions. Here's how to manage new AI agents so that they earn your company's trust and do what they're meant to. QUIZ An upcoming film titled Artificial is reportedly in development at Amazon MGM Studios. What real-life situation is it said to be about? A. The race for tech companies to develop applications and tools for home VR use B. The firing and rehiring of OpenAI cofounder and CEO Sam Altman C. Nvidia's rise from a gaming component manufacturer to the world's most valuable company D. The race to develop AI chatbots, focused on the rivalry between OpenAI cofounders Altman and Elon Musk See if you got the answer right here.

Trump signs executive orders to fast-track data center construction, target ‘woke' AI
Trump signs executive orders to fast-track data center construction, target ‘woke' AI

The Hill

time6 days ago

  • Business
  • The Hill

Trump signs executive orders to fast-track data center construction, target ‘woke' AI

President Trump signed a trio of executive orders related to artificial intelligence (AI) on Wednesday, focusing on boosting data center construction and the adoption of American technology while targeting 'woke' AI. The three executive orders seek to fast-track permitting for data centers, promote the export of the American technology stack abroad and bar 'woke' AI systems from federal contracting. 'Under this administration, our innovation will be unmatched, and our capabilities will be unrivaled,' Trump said at an AI summit hosted by the Hill & Valley Forum and the 'All-In' podcast, where he signed the orders Wednesday evening. 'With the help of many of the people in this room, America's ultimate triumph will be absolutely unstoppable,' he continued. 'We will be unstoppable as a nation. Again, we're way ahead, and we want to stay that way.' The orders accompany the Trump administration's AI Action Plan released earlier Wednesday, which lays out a three-pronged approach to 'winning the race' on AI. In the framework, the administration called to cut federal and state AI regulations in an effort to boost innovation, pushed to expedite the buildout of AI infrastructure and sought to encourage the adoption of American technology abroad. Each of Trump's executive orders seeks to target at least some of the policy goals detailed in his AI action plan. The data center order calls on the Council for Environmental Quality to establish new categorical exclusions for certain data center projects that 'normally do not have a significant effect on the human environment.' It also seeks to identify projects that qualify for expedited permitting review. 'My administration will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that the United States can build and retain the largest, most powerful and most advanced AI infrastructure anywhere on the planet,' Trump said Wednesday evening. Meanwhile, his AI export order calls for the creation of an American AI Exports Program that will develop full-stack AI export packages, featuring U.S. chips, AI models and applications. Trump contrasted his approach with that of former President Biden, who released the AI diffusion rule at the tail-end of his presidency, placing caps on chip sales to most countries around the world. The rule faced pushback from the semiconductor industry and was repealed by the Trump administration in May. The third order targeting 'woke' AI seeks to limit agencies from signing contracts for AI models unless they are considered 'truth seeking' and maintain 'ideological neutrality,' which it defines as those that 'do not manipulate responses in favor of ideological dogmas such as DEI.'

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