Latest news with #LaHood
Otago Daily Times
21-07-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Call to delay cycleway project
A contentious central city cycleway should be delayed two years to prevent "another round of chaos" being dumped on business owners' doorsteps, a Dunedin property investor says. However, Cr Jim O'Malley has defended the project and says he is so tired of accusations from "these same businessmen" he may quit local politics. His comments come after Jason La Hood called for the Albany St Connection project — which aims to provide a safe walking and cycling connection between the shared Te Aka Ōtākou harbour path, Dunedin's tertiary area and the CBD — to be delayed by 24 months, to give business owners in the city a chance to recover from an already difficult period. An "overwhelming concern" of business owners was why Dunedin city councillors seemed "hell-bent" on proceeding with work on the project this year, Mr La Hood said. Many had already endured "years of punishing disruption" — first the Covid-19 pandemic, then the George St upgrades project that "drove shoppers away with many businesses barely staying afloat". If the work proceeded this year, business owners would be "hit with a devastating trifecta of soaring rates, collapsing consumer spending and the prolonged disruption of street works". "What is worse is the growing perception that some councillors are indifferent to the suffering it's causing. "As one business owner put it, 'it feels like councillors are torturing us'. "The comment may sound emotional, but it is born from real exhaustion, fear and frustration from people who are simply trying to survive and support their families." A simple and "empathic" alternative was to delay the project by 24 months. "Let them trade through this economic storm without another round of chaos being dumped at their door." The council last week announced it had reintroduced nine carparks to the project's design along two areas on the northern side of Albany St. Public consultation would take place until August 7 regarding suggested parking restrictions. Mr La Hood was one of two business owners whom Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich said at an infrastructure services committee meeting last month had contacted him with concerns about the level of consultation on the project. Cr O'Malley said Mr La Hood said the same thing every time the council did street work. "And, frankly, it's difficult to perform your role as a councillor when you're accused of dirty things like that. "To be honest, I still haven't put in my form to go back for another three years because I am tired of this stuff. "Seriously, you work your arse off to run these committees and run them properly, you come up with a conclusion and then these same businessmen, every time, turn around and say 'I wasn't consulted'." There had been a "complete and utter lack of respect" for the consultation process, Cr O'Malley said. "It happened, it was done properly, it was well executed. "They just didn't get what they wanted." The project would not receive co-funding from the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi if it was not completed this year, he said. In late 2023, a hearings committee voted 2-1 to proceed with the then recommended proposal to remove 68 carparks in the street. But Cr O'Malley said this had never been put before the full council and believed building owners had since "got in and interfered with the process". "I am more concerned that it took 18 months and nothing happened at all, and now the mayor is going around and, suddenly, we're having another consultation." He believed Mr Radich was acting in business owners' interest, "and that's not necessarily the interest of the city as a whole". He likened it to talks had with the business community during the George St redevelopment. "I see this as just more of the same, the mayor and his mates." Mr Radich said yesterday he was "mates with many business owners, job holders, residents and shoppers in this city". As with George St, the "vast majority of them" wanted reasonable access to shops and services in Albany St. "There is a balance to be achieved between the majority of people who use cars to get around the city and the 5% or so who use bikes and want more cycle lanes." Council transport group manager Jeanine Benson said they acknowledged any construction project came with a level of disruption. "But our staff and contractors work hard to minimise this and support local businesses through these periods where we can."
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House bipartisan bill directs NSA to create 'AI security playbook' amid Chinese tech race
FIRST ON FOX – Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., is introducing a new bill Thursday imploring the National Security Administration (NSA) to develop an "AI security playbook" to stay ahead of threats from China and other foreign adversaries. The bill, dubbed the "Advanced AI Security Readiness Act," directs the NSA's Artificial Intelligence Security Center to develop an "AI Security Playbook to address vulnerabilities, threat detection, cyber and physical security strategies, and contingency plans for highly sensitive AI systems." It is co-sponsored by House Select Committee on China Chairman Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., Ranking Member Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., and Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J. LaHood, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee and the House Select Committee on China, told Fox News Digital that the legislative proposal, if passed, would be the first time Congress codifies a "multi-prong approach to ensure that the U.S. remains ahead in the advanced technology race against the CCP." The new bill follows another bipartisan legislative proposal, the "Chip Security Act," which he introduced in late May. That proposal aims to improve export control mechanisms – including for chips and high-capacity chip manufacturing – protect covered AI technologies with a focus on cybersecurity, and limit outbound investment to firms directly tied to the Chinese Community Party or China's People's Liberation Army. Chinese Bioweapon Smuggling Case Shows Us 'Trains Our Enemies,' 'Learned Nothing' From Covid: Security Expert "We start with the premise that China has a plan to replace the United States. And I don't say that to scare people or my constituents, but they have a plan to replace the United States, and they're working on it every single day. And that entails stealing data and infiltrating our systems," LaHood told Fox News Digital. "AI is the next frontier on that. We lead the world in technology. We lead the world when it comes to AI. But what this bill will do will again make sure that things are done the right way and the correct way, and that we're protecting our assets and promoting the current technology that we have in our country." Read On The Fox News App LaHood pointed to evidence uncovered by the committee that he said shows the CCP's DeepSeek used illegal distillation techniques to steal insights from U.S. AI models to accelerate their own technology development. He also pointed to how China allegedly smuggled AI chips through Singapore intermediaries to circumvent U.S. export controls on the technology. "As we look at, 'How do we win the strategic competition?' I think most experts would say we're ahead in AI right now against China, but not by much. It is a short lead," LaHood told Fox News Digital. He said he is confident his legislative proposals will put the U.S. "in the best position to protect our assets here and make sure that we're not shipping things that shouldn't go to AI that allow them to win the AI race in China." "Whoever wins this race in the future, it's going to be critical to future warfare capabilities, to, obviously, cybersecurity," LaHood continued. "And then, whoever wins the AI competition is going to yield really unwavering economic influence in the future. And so we're aggressive in this bill in terms of targeting those areas where we need to protect our AI and our companies here in the United States, both on the commercial side and on the government side, to put us in the best position possible." The "Advanced AI Security Readiness Act" calls on the NSA to develop a playbook that identifies vulnerabilities in AI data centers and developers producing sensitive AI technologies with an emphasis on unique "threat vectors" that do not typically arise, or are less severe, in the context of conventional information technology systems." The bill says the NSA must develop "core insights" in how advanced AI systems are being trained to identify potential interferences and must develop strategies to "detect, prevent and respond to cyber threats by threat actors targeting covered AI technologies." Amazon Announces $20B Investment In Rural Pennsylvania For Ai Data Centers The bill calls on the NSA to "identify levels of security, if any, that would require substantial involvement" by the U.S. government "in the development or oversight of highly advanced AI systems." It cites a "hypothetical initiative to build covered AI technology systems in a highly secure government environment" with certain protocols in place, such as personnel vetting and security clearance processes, to mitigate "insider threats." Though not directly related, the new bill is being introduced a week after FBI Director Kash Patel sounded the alarm on how the CCP continues to deploy operatives and researchers to "infiltrate" U.S. institutions. Patel laid out the risk in announcing that two Chinese nationals were charged with smuggling a potential bioweapon into the U.S. LaHood said that case further highlights "the level of penetration and sophistication that the CCP will engage in," but he added that his bill focuses on putting a "protective layer" on U.S. AI tech and "restricting outbound investment to China." He pointed to how the CCP also has bought up farmland around strategic U.S. national security locations, particularly in Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. "If everything was an even playing field, and we were all abiding by the same rules and standards and ethical guidelines, I have no doubt the U.S. would win [the AI race], but China has a tendency and a history of playing by a different set of rules and standards," LaHood said. "They cheat, they steal, they take our intellectual property. Not just my opinion, that's been factually laid out, you know, in many different instances. And that's the reason why we need to have a bill like this." The bill comes as the Trump administration has been pushing to bolster artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States, and major tech companies, including Amazon, Nvidia, Meta, OpenAI, Oracle and others, have made major investments in constructing AI-focused data centers and enhancing U.S. cloud computing. Last week, Amazon announced a $20 billion investment in constructing AI data centers in rural Pennsylvania. It followed a similar $10 billion investment in North Carolina. In late May, the NSA's Artificial Intelligence Security Center released "joint guidance" on the "risks and best practices in AI data security." The recommendations include implementing methods to secure the data used in AI-based systems, "such as employing digital signatures to authenticate trusted revisions, tracking data provenance, and leveraging trusted infrastructure." The center said its guidance is "critically relevant for organizations – especially system owners and administrators within the Department of Defense, National Security Systems, and the Defense Industrial Base – that already use AI systems in their day-to-day operations and those that are seeking to integrate AI into their infrastructure."Original article source: House bipartisan bill directs NSA to create 'AI security playbook' amid Chinese tech race
Time of India
29-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
China's DeepSeek that 'shocked' America and American technology companies has an update that it says .... to OpenAI's o3 and Google's Gemini 2.5 Pro
Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has announced a significant upgrade to its R1 model, named DeepSeek-R1-0528, which claims to boast enhanced capabilities in mathematics, programming, and general logic while reducing AI "hallucinations." The announcement, made via a post on the AI model platform Hugging Face, positions the new model as a formidable competitor to industry leaders like OpenAI's o3 and Google's Gemini 2.5 Pro. When Deepseek stunned America's technology industry DeepSeek stunned the global tech community in January with the original R1, a model that rivaled the performance of systems developed by much larger U.S. companies, reportedly at a fraction of the cost. The debut disrupted the AI industry, raising questions about the massive global spending on computational resources and sparking a wave of AI releases from Chinese tech giants like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Zhipu AI. Built for under $6 million using less-advanced Nvidia H800 chips, R1's efficiency challenged assumptions about the necessity of massive computational investments, triggering a $1 trillion stock market drop, including Nvidia's $589 billion loss. DeepSeek's open-source model, praised for its cost-effectiveness, raised concerns about U.S. AI dominance, prompting calls for stricter export controls and urgent policy reassessments American lawmakers, citing national security, swiftly reacted. Representatives Gottheimer and LaHood introduced the No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act, alleging Chinese Communist Party data theft risks. NASA, the Navy, and Congress banned DeepSeek on government devices, fearing espionage due to its China-based servers and lax data policies. Companies like Oracle blocked employee use, wary of intellectual property leaks. New DeepSeek model works on same foundation The upgraded DeepSeek-R1-0528 builds on this foundation, offering what the company claims is "greater depth of reasoning" and performance approaching that of the world's top AI models. 'Its overall performance is now approaching that of leading models,' DeepSeek stated, signaling its ambition to compete at the forefront of the global AI race. The rise of DeepSeek has also catapulted its founder, Liang Wenfeng , into the spotlight. Once a relatively unknown figure, Liang became a symbol of China's growing prowess in AI innovation following R1's debut. In February, he was invited by President Xi Jinping to a high-profile meeting alongside prominent entrepreneurs like Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma and Tencent's Pony Ma, underscoring DeepSeek's significance in China's tech landscape. What makes timing of DeepSeek announcement important The timing of the DeepSeek-R1-0528 announcement was notable, coming just hours before Nvidia Corp., the Santa Clara-based leader in AI chips, released its latest financial report. Nvidia, whose shares took a hit following R1's initial launch due to concerns about reduced AI infrastructure costs, has since recovered as global investment in AI data centers remains robust. Nvidia's latest forecast reaffirmed strong demand for its chips, suggesting that DeepSeek's cost-efficient approach has not slowed the broader AI investment boom. DeepSeek's rapid progress highlights China's accelerating role in the global AI arms race. Industry analysts note that the startup's ability to deliver high-performing models at lower costs could reshape the economics of AI development, challenging the dominance of U.S. tech giants. AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Newsweek
27-05-2025
- Business
- Newsweek
How Donald Trump Could Boost US High-Speed Rail
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. President Donald Trump has the chance to cement his legacy by laying the groundwork for a "17,000-mile high-speed rail network" across the United States, according to former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Speaking to Newsweek at the U.S. High Speed Rail Association's 2025 annual conference in Washington, D.C., LaHood, who worked in the Obama administration, said he was "heartened by some of the things" Trump has said about high-speed rail, and urged him to "send a signal" by vocally backing one or more proposed high speed rail lines. He said such a move would unlock "private dollars and state dollars" which would help high speed rail "take off much quicker than it is right now." Newsweek has contacted the White House press office for comment. The U.S. High Speed Rail Association (USHSR) is a campaign group, including both industry and labor representatives, that advocates on behalf of the American high speed rail industry. The State of U.S. High Speed Rail Currently, the U.S. doesn't have any functioning high speed rail lines, which the International Union of Railways (UIC) defines as operating at a minimum of 250 kilometers per hour (155 miles per hour) on specially built tracks. This puts the U.S. behind the likes of France, Spain, Japan and China all of which have advanced high speed rail networks, with the latter operating nearly 30,000 miles worth of high-speed rail track, the vast majority of which was built over the past two decades. Two high speed rail lines are currently under construction in the U.S.—California High Speed Rail, which is intended to link Los Angeles to San Francisco, and Brightline West, a project to connect Las Vegas to southern California. However, a plethora of other proposals have been made including plans to link Dallas, Houston, and Fort Worth in Texas, Eugene, Oregon, to Vancouver in Cascadia and Boston, New York and Washington D.C. in the Northeast. President Trump could turbocharge U.S high speed rail by sending "a signal" to attract private funding, according to former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. President Trump could turbocharge U.S high speed rail by sending "a signal" to attract private funding, according to former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Newsweek Illustration/Canva/Associated Press/Getty Former Transportation Secretary LaHood's Hopes There was widespread concern among attendees at the USHSR annual conference that Trump's second term could stymie American high speed rail plans, but LaHood, a Republican who served as Obama's transportation secretary from 2009 to 2013, struck a more optimistic note. LaHood told Newsweek he had been "heartened by some of the things I've heard President Trump say" about high-speed rail, adding he "seems enthused about [the] Las Vegas to Los Angeles" project. This plan, Brightline West, is being built between Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga in southern California, but there is also a plan to link it to the Los Angeles to San Francisco line via a "high desert corridor." The former transportation secretary said that a clear signal from Trump in support of one or more high speed rail projects would help to unlock private and state funding. "I think the success of these projects in Europe and Asia is largely due to the national government making investments but then encouraging the private sector," LaHood said. "Once the national government makes a commitment its easier for the private sector then—they know it's going to be a stable project, they know their investment is going to be good." Former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood speaking at the U.S. High Speed Rail Association's 2025 annual conference in Washington D.C. Former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood speaking at the U.S. High Speed Rail Association's 2025 annual conference in Washington D.C. James Bickerton/Newsweek He added: "I think if President Trump sent a signal to Texas Central or sent a signal to national government has to be positive and has to make a commitment for dollars in order to then attract the kind of private dollars and state dollars that it takes to make these projects happen. If that kind of commitment were made by national government boom, I think high speed rail would take off much quicker than it is right now." LaHood pointed to the success of Brightline, a privately owned and operated rail line connecting Miami and Orlando that opened in 2023. While it runs at below the high-speed standard, Brightline was the first privately built rail line in the U.S. to begin operations in a century and has seen its passenger number surge since its launch. "If you look at the Brightline project in Florida between Miami and Orlando, now it's not high-speed rail but it is wildly popular," the former transportation secretary said. "They're putting more and more trains on that track every day because people like the idea that they don't have to get on the I-95. "If you build it, they will come, if you build it, it will be successful and I think that will be the case with Brightline West, Las Vegas to LA, and I think it will be true San Francisco to LA. I think they will be wildly popular. I really believe at this point if you build it, they will come and the proof of that is Europe and Asia. Their trains are wildly popular." Trump and High-Speed Rail Trump's positions on high-speed rail have been mixed over the years. In August 2024, the then Republican presidential candidate praised "unbelievably fast" bullet trains that had "no problems" in other countries. "We don't have anything like that in this country, not even close, and it doesn't make sense that we don't. Doesn't make sense," Trump said. Then-U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on Capitol Hill February 24, 2010, in Washington, D.C. Then-U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on Capitol Hill February 24, 2010, in Washington, D.C. Mark Wilson/GETTY Last month however, Trump's Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy cut $63.9 million in federal funding that was being provided to support the Texas Central proposed high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston, describing it as "a waste of taxpayer funds." Texas Central insists it was not reliant on the funding and is continuing with its plans. Trump has also been harshly critical of the California High Speed Rail project designed to link Los Angeles to San Francisco claiming it had the "worst overruns that there have ever been in the history of our country." During his first term, Trump slashed $1 billion of funding for the project, which was later restored under President Joe Biden. In February, Duffy said he was launching a review into whether the project "followed through on the commitments it made to receive billions of dollars in federal funding" and if not whether the money should be spent elsewhere. The U.S. High Speed Rail Association paid travel and hotel expenses for Newsweek reporter James Bickerton to attend its 2025 annual conference.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Advocacy groups hold vigil outside U.S. representative Darin LaHood's office
NORMAL, Ill. (WMBD) — Advocacy groups and concerned residents gathered outside U.S. Representative Darin LaHood's district office in Normal to protest proposed federal budget cuts. The vigil aims to highlight the human impact of the GOP's budget plan, which includes $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid. Organizers said the proposed reductions could jeopardize healthcare access and food assistance for thousands in LaHood's district. The executive director of Citizen Action Illinois, the organization behind the vigil, said that having healthcare is a human right. 'Every single corner of his district. People care about their access to Medicaid, and people are watching him to make sure that he does the right thing. And so far, he's been unable to do that. He's been unable to stand up to House leadership, but especially as he talks about wanting to run for Senate. I mean, how can you say that you deserve a higher office when you are ripping away health care from over 139,000 of your constituents in your congressional district?' said Anusha Thotakura. The vigil featured personal testimonies from central Illinois residents, speeches from local leaders, and a moment of collective prayer and reflection. U.S. Representative Darin LaHood released a statement regarding the vigil. 'I am committed to representing the people of Illinois' 16th Congressional District,' said Rep. LaHood. 'I will continue to provide high-quality constituent services, support local businesses, meet with constituents across the 16th district, and represent their interests in Washington, D.C. I am proud of my record working on policy to support access to high-quality health care in rural Illinois.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
