In this week’s edition, crisis communications between the US and China are lacking, Biden reinforces his tech agenda during the State of the Union, Microsoft announces they will incorporate ChatGPT into Bing, and Chris Inglis steps down as national cyber director. Additionally, the US and UK sanction Russian cybercrime group, Trickbot, tech jobs are on the rise in New York and Washington, DC, and disinformation researchers test ChatGPT.
Industrial Policy & International Security
Balloon incident reveals more than spying as competition with China intensifies | The New York Times
After a US spy plane and Chinese fighter collided off the coast of Hainan Island in 2001, both countries committed to improve crisis communications and management. However, China’s response to the discovery of a spy balloon passing over the continental United States, including Montana’s nuclear silos, indicates that not much has changed. Surveillance balloons equipped with high-tech sensors are able to hover at altitudes that allow them to intercept transmissions that satellites cannot. Though China has a history of spying on the US—stealing F-35 designs, security clearance files from the Office of Personnel Management, and medical and travel records from US companies—the obviousness of this intrusion in the midst of rising tensions and tech competition is a problem. Moreover, no call from Beijing to Washington was made to work out a deal, and China condemned the US for an “excessive reaction” when the balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina. The intelligence yield is still unknown.
US Regulation
Biden rallies against Big Tech in State of the Union address | The Verge
During his second State of the Union address, President Joe Biden called on Congress to get behind tougher tech regulation. He emphasized the importance of boosting competition in the tech industry to eliminate unfair advantages and reiterated goals to enforce user data protections, impose limits on data collection, and ban targeted advertising to children. Last year, Biden similarly highlighted the importance of child online safety. While lawmakers have introduced a number of bills targeting these issues, they have lacked sufficient support to force a vote. On the positive side, Biden praised the $52 billion CHIPS and Science Act and his administration’s efforts to invest in American innovation and compete with China.
Innovation
Google Follows Microsoft in Unveiling AI Search Features | The Wall Street Journal
In the wake of OpenAI’s ChatGPT release, companies are racing to commercialize generative AI. In a series of competing announcements, Microsoft shared plans to incorporate ChatGPT into its Bing search engine, and Google tested experimental chatbot, Bard, and announced additional AI tools including Google Maps enhancements. Microsoft hopes this leap will help them compete against Google’s search engine dominance; in 2022, Google controlled 90 percent of the search market share and generated $162 billion in revenue. While Google has been criticized for slow adoption of AI in the past, the company has more to lose. Executives stated the company is hesitant to release tools like ChatGPT until Google can guarantee proper effectiveness and accuracy. For example, Bard generated an incorrect response to a prompt last week and Google has yet to identify a public launch date. Notably, China’s Baidu Inc. has also announced the release of its own chatbot next month.
Cyber
US, UK sanction Russia-based cybercrime gang | The Hill
On Thursday, the US Treasury Department and the UK announced joint sanctions against seven individuals linked to Trickbot, a Russia-based cybercrime group. Trickbot is accused of targeting hospitals and healthcare centers with ransomware attacks during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. According to the Treasury Department, Trickbot is associated with Russian Intelligence Services. The State Department also accused Russia of being a safe haven for cybercriminals. The new sanctions block Trickbot’s access to “all property and interests in property held by the designated individuals in the US or in possession of US citizens.”
Inglis to step down next week from post as nation’s first national cyber director | Politico
Chris Inglis, the first national cyber director, will step down from his role at the White House next week. Congress established the position in 2021 to coordinate the growing number of agencies and departments protecting the nation's digital infrastructure. Inglis fully staffed the Office of the National Cyber Director, established its role within the interagency, and worked closely with counterparts at the National Security Council and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. During his nearly two years of service, Inglis responded to crises including the attack against Colonial Pipeline and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and participated in the formation of the Counter Ransomware Initiative. President Biden has not announced a nominee to replace Inglis. Current Deputy National Cyber Director Kemba Eneas Walden will serve in an acting capacity until the Senate confirms the next director.
State & Local Tech Ecosystems
Silicon Valley Layoffs Mean Washington, D.C., Is a Hotter Tech Hiring Market | The Wall Street Journal
The job market for software developers is shifting away from Silicon Valley to cities like Washington, DC and New York, where companies are seeking more software and computer engineering talent. According to an analysis by Vertis AI, there were 3,815 job postings in the Washington, DC region and 3,325 in the New York area at the end of last year. In contrast, available jobs in San Francisco and San Jose barely surpassed 2,000 each and have been declining since a peak in 2022. In contrast, Data from Handshake, an entry-level job site, shows an increase in technical positions in non-tech industries from 2021 to 2022, while the number of tech jobs dropped. In part, this shift is a result of the finance industry and other non-tech corporations’ move away from contracting out to hiring in-house tech talent. Additionally, some companies are opening East Coast offices after workers left the Bay Area during the pandemic.
Democracy Online
Disinformation researchers raise alarms about AI chatbots | The New York Times
Researchers are concerned that ChatGPT may become a powerful tool for spreading misinformation. NewsGuard, a company that tracks online misinformation, conducted an experiment last month to understand how ChatGPT responds to prompts referencing conspiracy theories and false information. The chatbot complied with NewsGuard requests about 80 percent of the time. While this use case is prohibited by OpenAI, the NewsGuard experiment demonstrated that it can easily be used to craft false narratives cheaply and with fewer indicators like syntax errors or copy-paste jobs. OpenAI employs humans and machines to monitor ChatGPT inputs and relies on user feedback to filter out toxic training data. And they recently announced a new tool to identify AI-produced text but, so far, it only has a 26 percent success rate. When The New York Times repeated NewsGuard’s experiment, ChatGPT’s compliance rate declined to 33 percent. While the chatbot can learn and change, it’s clear that additional measures ranging from media literacy to government regulation are required.
