Summit Host South Korea Says World Must Cooperate on AI Technology

 South Korea's Minister of Science and ICT, Lee Jong-ho, speaks during a press briefing following the ministers' session of AI Seoul Summit in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. (AP)
South Korea's Minister of Science and ICT, Lee Jong-ho, speaks during a press briefing following the ministers' session of AI Seoul Summit in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. (AP)
TT
20

Summit Host South Korea Says World Must Cooperate on AI Technology

 South Korea's Minister of Science and ICT, Lee Jong-ho, speaks during a press briefing following the ministers' session of AI Seoul Summit in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. (AP)
South Korea's Minister of Science and ICT, Lee Jong-ho, speaks during a press briefing following the ministers' session of AI Seoul Summit in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. (AP)

South Korea's science and information technology minister said on Wednesday the world must cooperate to ensure the successful development of AI, as a global summit on the rapidly evolving technology hosted by his country wrapped up.

The AI summit in Seoul, which is being co-hosted with Britain, discussed concerns such as job security, copyright and inequality on Wednesday, after 16 tech companies signed a voluntary agreement to develop AI safely a day earlier.

A separate pledge was signed on Wednesday by 14 companies including Alphabet's Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and six Korean companies to use methods such as watermarking to help identify AI-generated content, as well as ensure job creation and help for socially vulnerable groups.

"Cooperation is not an option, it is a necessity," Lee Jong-Ho, South Korea's Minister of Science and ICT (information and communication technologies), said in an interview with Reuters.

"The Seoul summit has further shaped AI safety talks and added discussions about innovation and inclusivity," Lee said, adding he expects discussions at the next summit to include more collaboration on AI safety institutes.

The first global AI summit was held in Britain in November, and the next in-person gathering is due to take place in France, likely in 2025.

Ministers and officials from multiple countries discussed on Wednesday cooperation between state-backed AI safety institutes to help regulate the technology.

AI experts welcomed the steps made so far to start regulating the technology, though some said rules needed to be enforced.

"We need to move past voluntary... the people affected should be setting the rules via governments," said Francine Bennett, Director at the AI-focused Ada Lovelace Institute.

AI services should be proven to meet obligatory safety standards before hitting the market, so companies equate safety with profit and stave off any potential public backlash from unexpected harm, said Max Tegmark, President of Future of Life Institute, an organization vocal about AI systems' risks.

South Korean science minister Lee said that laws tended to lag behind the speed of advancement in technologies like AI.

"But for safe use by the public, there needs to be flexible laws and regulations in place."



Google to Discount Cloud Computing Services for US Government, FT Reports

FILED - 09 January 2024, US, Las Vegas: The Google logo is pictured on the Internet company's pavilion at the CES technology trade fair in Las Vegas. Photo: Andrej Sokolow/dpa
FILED - 09 January 2024, US, Las Vegas: The Google logo is pictured on the Internet company's pavilion at the CES technology trade fair in Las Vegas. Photo: Andrej Sokolow/dpa
TT
20

Google to Discount Cloud Computing Services for US Government, FT Reports

FILED - 09 January 2024, US, Las Vegas: The Google logo is pictured on the Internet company's pavilion at the CES technology trade fair in Las Vegas. Photo: Andrej Sokolow/dpa
FILED - 09 January 2024, US, Las Vegas: The Google logo is pictured on the Internet company's pavilion at the CES technology trade fair in Las Vegas. Photo: Andrej Sokolow/dpa

Google will heavily discount cloud computing services for the United States government, in a deal that could be finalized within weeks, the Financial Times reported on Friday, amid President Donald Trump's efforts to implement sweeping measures to minimize federal spending.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Oracle will offer federal agencies a 75% discount on its license-based software and a "substantial" discount on its cloud service through the end of November.

Google's cloud contract is likely "to land in a similar spot", the Financial Times said, citing a senior official at the General Services Administration, adding that equivalent discounts from Microsoft's Azure and Amazon Web Services are expected to follow soon.

"Every single of those companies is totally bought in, they understand the mission," the senior official told the newspaper. "We will get there with all four players."

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

Google and the General Services Administration did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment outside regular business hours.

In April, Google agreed to offer a 71% discount till September 30 to US federal agencies for its business apps package that could generate up to $2 billion in cost savings if there is government-wide adoption.