Cyber Week in Review: May 16, 2024

Senate AI working group releases AI Policy Roadmap

A bipartisan group of senators, which consists of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Sens. Todd Young (R-IN), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), released a “roadmap for artificial intelligence policy in the U.S. Senate” this week, and identifies areas or uses of AI that are well-suited for regulation, including boosting funding for AI innovation, developing standards for AI fairness, addressing AI’s implications for national security, and addressing AI’s effects on the workforce, among other concerns. The roadmap also calls for Congress to appropriate nearly $32 billion to encourage non-military AI innovation over the coming year. Although the report offers a variety of recommendations for how Congress could leverage processes like appropriations, existing acts and funding like the CHIPS and Science Act, and research and development funding mechanisms to meet the goals of the roadmap, the senators have not clarified exactly what action Congress should take or when it would do so. The roadmap reflects the topics of AI Insight Forums that Majority Leader Schumer convened throughout the fall, which brought together business executives, legislators, and a small group of civil society advocates to discuss regulating artificial intelligence in the United States. While tech industry groups generally supported the report as a step in the right direction, academics and civil society advocates derided it for lacking specificity and substance. 

U.S., Japan, and partners unveil agreement for cross-border data flows

The United States, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom have created a new framework to enable the sharing of personal data across their respective borders. The new framework aims to balance the need to encourage online commerce between countries with the data security needs and regulations of each country. The existing mechanism for data sharing, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Cross-Border Privacy Rules, will be phased out in favor of a new system. The new agreement will allow non-APEC countries to participate in data-sharing initiatives, with the United Kingdom being the first such country to join, and will standardize a process for certifying companies from participating countries. Once those companies have been certified by a relevant data protection authority, they will be able to share data more easily among the participating countries. The agreement, which is still being finalized, is likely to be rolled out in the coming months, and the participating countries hope it will expand beyond the additional participating APEC countries, Australia, Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, Singapore, and Taiwan.

Frank McCourt announces a planned bid for TikTok

In the wake of congressional and executive action aimed at forcing the divestiture of social media platform TikTok, American billionaire Frank McCourt announced that he is readying a bid for the U.S. version of the social media app TikTok. McCourt is organizing the bid through Project Liberty, an initiative hehe has founded to reimagine the economic models that currently power Big Tech and to bring forward novel solutions aimed at putting individuals in charge of their own data and digital engagement. experience. that could shape and change the status quo of the web, bring forward novel solutions at every level, and put people back in control of their digital lives. McCourt said that buying TikTok would create value by providing “individuals and creators on [TikTok] the value and control they deserve regarding who has access to their data and how it is used.” ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, will likely be forced to sell the app after Congress included a provision in an annual defense spending bill that requires ByteDance to either sell TikTok in six months or see the app banned. The ban is currently facing challenges in the U.S. court system, as a group of TikTok creators has filed a lawsuit alleging that the ban violates their First Amendment right to fere speech.

Biden administration increases tariffs on Chinese technology imports

The Biden administration announced additional tariffs on nearly $18 billion worth of Chinese goods, i stating the move was necessary to protect certain sectors of the U.S. economy. Chinese-made electric vehicles will see some of the largest increases, with the Biden administration quadrupling tariffs from 25 percent of a car’s value to 100 percent in the coming year. Currently only 2 percent of all U.S. imports of electric vehicles come from China, but Chinese EVs have proliferated rapidly in other markets, with Chinese automakers accounting for 60 percent of all EV sales worldwide in 2023. China’s foreign ministry issued a statement saying Beijing “opposes unilateral tariff increases that violate World Trade Organization rules and will take all necessary measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests”. The Biden administration isn’t alone in investigating the potential growth of Chinese electric vehicles, as the European Commission has also begun investigating EV imports to the EU, and may impose tariffs in the coming months.

FBI seizes major online cybercrime marketplace

The FBI and a number of international law enforcement partners announced that they had seized the servers used to host BreachForums, a prominent cybercrime website. The seizure, which the FBI conducted in partnership with law enforcement in the U.K., New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, Ukraine and Iceland, involved seizing BreachForum’s Telegram channel as well. The agencies appeared to be searching for the administrators of the site, known by the aliases Baphomet and ShinyHunters, with the FBI issuing a request for tips on the administrators’ real identities. The FBI and Department of Justice have seized a number of major cybercrime forums over the past two years, including BreachForums’ predecessor, RaidForums. BreachForums offered a variety of criminal items for sale through its services, such as stolen devices, hacking tools, and illegal contraband.