G7 Calls for Adoption of International Technical Standards For AI

File photo: Digital and technology ministers attend a photo session during the G7 Digital and Tech Ministers' Meeting in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, Japan, on April 29, 2023, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Mandatory credit Kyodo via REUTERS
File photo: Digital and technology ministers attend a photo session during the G7 Digital and Tech Ministers' Meeting in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, Japan, on April 29, 2023, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Mandatory credit Kyodo via REUTERS
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G7 Calls for Adoption of International Technical Standards For AI

File photo: Digital and technology ministers attend a photo session during the G7 Digital and Tech Ministers' Meeting in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, Japan, on April 29, 2023, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Mandatory credit Kyodo via REUTERS
File photo: Digital and technology ministers attend a photo session during the G7 Digital and Tech Ministers' Meeting in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, Japan, on April 29, 2023, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Mandatory credit Kyodo via REUTERS

Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations on Saturday called for the development and adoption of international technical standards for trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI) as lawmakers of the rich countries focus on the new technology.
While the G7 leaders, meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, recognised that the approaches to achieving "the common vision and goal of trustworthy AI may vary", they said in a statement that "the governance of the digital economy should continue to be updated in line with our shared democratic values", Reuters reported.
Generative AI, the subset of AI popularized by the ChatGPT app, found special mention as the G7 leaders said they "need to immediately take stock of the opportunities and challenges of generative AI."



Google Reportedly Weighs Large Data Center in Vietnam

FILE PHOTO: The logo for Google is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City, US, November 17, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo for Google is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City, US, November 17, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo
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Google Reportedly Weighs Large Data Center in Vietnam

FILE PHOTO: The logo for Google is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City, US, November 17, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo for Google is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City, US, November 17, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo

Alphabet's Google is considering building a large data center in Vietnam, a person briefed on the plans said, in what would be the first such investment by a big US technology company in the Southeast Asian nation.
Google is weighing setting up a "hyperscale" data center close to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's southern economic hub, the source said, declining to be named because the information is not public.
The investment, the size of which the source did not specify, would be a shot in the arm for Vietnam which has so far failed to attract major overseas capital in data centers due to its patchy infrastructure, with large tech companies preferring to house their centers in rival nations in the region.
According to Reuters, it was not clear how quickly Google will reach a decision on an investment but the source said internal talks are on and the data center could be ready in 2027.
A spokesperson for Google declined to comment about the data center plan.
Hyperscale centers are the largest in the industry, with power consumption usually similar to that of a big city.
A hyperscale data center with power consumption capacity of 50 megawatts (MW) could cost between $300 million and $650 million, according to estimates based on data published by real estate consultant Jones Lang LaSalle in a report this year on data centers in Vietnam.
Google's move was motivated by the large number of its domestic and foreign cloud services clients in Vietnam and the country's expanding digital economy, the source said, noting the Southeast Asian nation was one of the fastest-growing markets for YouTube, Google's popular online video sharing platform.
Currently the top data center operators in Vietnam, based on computing space, are industrial investment firm IDC Becamex and telecommunications company VNPT, both Vietnamese state-owned enterprises, according to an internal market report by an industrial park in Vietnam seen by Reuters.
The Nikkei reported in May that Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba was considering building a data center in Vietnam. Alibaba did not reply to a request for comment.