In this strategic policy piece, Hon. Mark Kennedy underscores Southeast Asia’s growing importance as a linchpin in the global competition for technological leadership and supply chain resilience. He argues that countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore are becoming critical partners for the United States and its allies in advancing semiconductor innovation, AI development, and economic diversification—thereby reducing dependence on China and fortifying democratic influence in the Indo-Pacific.
Kennedy highlights Vietnam’s aggressive push to become a regional semiconductor hub, as well as the broader regional momentum in Malaysia, Singapore, and beyond. With $235 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2024, Southeast Asia is outpacing China and attracting strategic interest from both the U.S. and Europe. The region’s digital economy is projected to reach $2 trillion by 2030, offering massive potential for aligned U.S. investment in cloud infrastructure, AI, and digital governance.
However, Kennedy warns that the U.S. risks losing ground. Without joining binding trade frameworks like CPTPP and RCEP, and with proposals like the AI Dispersion Framework potentially hampering U.S. companies, Washington could cede influence to authoritarian tech powers like China. He calls for a more pragmatic, tiered export control regime that balances national security with Southeast Asian development, enabling secure, responsible tech growth across the region.
To succeed, Kennedy recommends:
Upgrading the tech ecosystem from assembly to advanced R&D and chip design.
Strengthening IP and data governance.
Investing in talent and infrastructure.
Encouraging AI applications in diverse sectors and languages.
Supporting trusted, cost-effective legacy chip production in Southeast Asia and nearby allies like Mexico.
Ultimately, Kennedy positions Southeast Asia as a decisive front in shaping a democratic, open, and innovation-driven digital order. The U.S. must act with urgency and precision—not to contain AI, but to build trusted technology partnerships that advance security, prosperity, and freedom in the Indo-Pacific.
BGF Conference: Boston Finance Accord for AI Governance 24/7 Date: Tuesday, April 22, 2025 Venue: Harvard University Loeb House, Cambridge, MA Time: 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM EDT
The Boston Global Forum (BGF), founded in 2012 by Michael Dukakis, Nguyen Anh Tuan, Thomas Patterson, and John Quelch, with the guidance of its distinguished Board of Directors—Governor Michael Dukakis (Chairman), Nguyen Anh Tuan (CEO), Professor Thomas Patterson, Professor John Quelch, Professor Nazli Choucri, Professor Alex Pentland, and Professor David Silbersweig—leads ethical AI governance through the AI World Society (AIWS) Initiative (2017) and AIWS Government 24/7, a vision of continuous, AI-driven public service. Building on the Tokyo Accord (March 28, 2025, Tokyo) and the AI Action Summit (February 10-11, 2025, Paris), the BGF Conference on April 22, 2025, at Harvard University’s Loeb House launches the Boston Finance Accord for AI Governance 24/7. Leveraging Boston’s financial and academic strengths—particularly the contributions of distinguished professors from Harvard Business School (HBS) and MIT Sloan—this accord aims to establish secure, scalable funding mechanisms for real-time governance, honoring Shinzo Abe’s legacy.
Objectives
Award Recognition: Honor Audrey Tang with the 2025 World Leader in AIWS Award for her transparent governance innovations.
Financial Accord Development: Define the Boston Finance Accord, setting standards for a secure, scalable financial platform to support AIWS Government 24/7.
Global Dissemination: Share outcomes with world leaders, reinforcing US-Japan collaboration.
Key Themes
Finance-Driven AI Governance: Secure platforms (e.g., blockchain, real-time systems) to fund 24/7 services.
Boston’s Leadership: Uniting Fidelity, HBS, and MIT as a global model.
Ethical Standards: Transparency and equity, inspired by Tang’s systems.
Speakers
Ministers Minoru Kiuchi, Audrey Tang, Elisabeth Moreno, professors of Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, Softbank.
HANOI, April 4 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump and Vietnam’s leader To Lam agreed on Friday to discuss a deal to remove tariffs, both leaders said after a phone call that Trump said was “very productive”, as Hanoi escalated its campaign to dodge duties of 46%.
Days before Trump’s announcement on reciprocal tariffs that hit Vietnam hard, the country had already cut several duties as part of a series of concessions to the U.S., which also included pledges to buy more American goods such as planes and agriculture products.
“Just had a very productive call with To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, who told me that Vietnam wants to cut their Tariffs down to ZERO if they are able to make an agreement with the U.S.”, Trump wrote on his Truth social platform.
“I thanked him on behalf of our Country, and said I look forward to a meeting in the near future,” Trump added.
Lam confirmed the call and the pledge to cut tariffs on U.S. goods. “At the same time (Lam) proposed that the U.S. apply similar tax rates to goods imported from Vietnam,” read a report on Vietnam’s government portal published shortly after Trump’s post.
The two leaders agreed they will continue talking “to soon sign a bilateral agreement” on tariffs, the Vietnamese government said, adding Trump accepted an invitation to visit Vietnam soon.
On March 28, 2025, at The Okura Tokyo Hotel, Audrey Tang joined distinguished speakers in a discussion on “AIWS Government 24/7: AI and Financial Platform”. The session was moderated by Soichiro Chiba, Chairman of Thousandleaf and representative of Y7/Y20.
Watch the full discussion here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSj5AEg-wFE&t=7s
While the top minds in artificial intelligence are racing to make the technology think more like humans, researchers at Elon University have asked the opposite question: How will AI change the way humans think?
The answer comes with a grim warning: Many tech experts worry that AI will make people worse at skills core to being human, such as empathy and deep thinking.
‘Fundamental, revolutionary change’
Elon University researchers surveyed 301 tech leaders, analysts and academics, including Vint Cerf, one of the “fathers of the internet”, World Leader in AIWS Recipient, and now a Google vice president; Jonathan Grudin, University of Washington Information School professor and former longtime Microsoft researcher and project manager; former Aspen Institute executive vice president Charlie Firestone; and tech futurist and Futuremade CEO Tracey Follows. Nearly 200 of the respondents wrote full-length essay responses for the report.
More than 60% of the respondents said they expect AI will change human capabilities in a “deep and meaningful” or “fundamental, revolutionary” way over the next 10 years. Half said they expect AI will create changes to humanity for the better and the worse in equal measure, while 23% said the changes will be mostly for the worse. Just 16% said changes will be mostly for the better (the remainder said they didn’t know or expected little change overall).
The Boston Finance Accord for AI Governance 24/7, set to be unveiled on April 22, 2025, at Harvard University’s Loeb House during the Boston Global Forum (BGF) Conference, represents a groundbreaking framework to revolutionize governance through artificial intelligence and innovative financial systems. Building on the legacy of the AI World Society (AIWS) Initiative (2017), the Social Contract for the AI Age (2020), and the Tokyo Accord (March 28, 2025), this accord harnesses Boston’s financial and academic leadership—through distinguished professors from Harvard Business School (HBS) and MIT Sloan—to establish secure, scalable funding mechanisms for continuous, AI-driven public service. Championed by BGF co-founders Governor Michael Dukakis, Nguyen Anh Tuan, Professor Thomas Patterson, and Professor John Quelch, alongside its Board of Directors, the accord integrates ethical AI standards, citizen empowerment, and a new AIWS Knowledge System to promote fairness, kindness, and global collaboration. It aims to redefine governance for the Age of Global Enlightenment, ensuring 24/7 access to equitable, transparent services worldwide.
Invitation to Contribute
We invite thought leaders, innovators, policymakers, financial experts, and citizens worldwide to contribute to the official version of the Boston Finance Accord for AI Governance 24/7, to be announced at the BGF Conference on April 22, 2025, at Harvard University’s Loeb House. Your insights—whether on financial infrastructure, ethical AI governance, citizen participation, or the AIWS Knowledge System—will shape this transformative framework. Join us in advancing a vision where AI and finance unite to serve humanity continuously, reflecting the principles of transparency, equity, and inclusivity championed by the Boston Global Forum. Please submit your contributions, ideas, or feedback by April 18, 2025, to [email protected]. Together, let’s build a future of governance that inspires peace and opportunity for all.
DENDRAL was an influential project in artificial intelligence (AI) of the 1960s, and the computer software expert system that it produced. Its primary aim was to study hypothesis formation and discovery in science. For that, a specific task in science was chosen: help organic chemists in identifying unknown organic molecules, by analyzing their mass spectra and using knowledge of chemistry. It was done at Stanford University by Edward Feigenbaum, Bruce Buchanan, Joshua Lederberg, and Carl Djerassi, along with a team of highly creative research associates and students. The software program DENDRAL is considered the first expert system because it automated the decision-making process and problem-solving behavior of organic chemists. The project consisted of research on two main programs Heuristic Dendral and Meta-Dendral, and several sub-programs. It was written in LISP (programming language), which was considered the language of AI because of its flexibility.
Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s Minister of Digital Affairs, honored former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s legacy of balancing innovation with human dignity. She emphasized that technology must serve ethical, human-centered goals—a vision aligned with Japan’s Society 5.0.
Tang introduced Taiwan’s vision for the “AIWS Government 24/7 AI and Finance Platform,” stressing the importance of ethical, responsive governance supported by public trust and civic participation. Drawing from a decade of digital democracy, she shared how Taiwan uses “broad listening”—a model of collaborative dialogue rather than top-down broadcasting—to build trust and co-create policy.
She discussed the g0v movement, where citizens prototype digital solutions to improve public services, and highlighted Taiwan’s use of AI-enhanced deliberation tools like Pol.is to engage citizens in meaningful dialogue. One example was the public debate on Uber vs. taxis, which led to constructive policy outcomes without polarization.
Tang warned of AI’s risks—such as deepfakes and disinformation—but emphasized that AI can also empower collective intelligence and public deliberation. Taiwan implemented AI-facilitated “citizen assemblies” to combat fake ads, resulting in rapid legislative reforms to protect information integrity.
She introduced Taiwan’s guiding principle of “plurality over singularity”—embracing diverse intelligences to enhance human collaboration, not replace it. Tang also praised Japan’s initiatives, such as those led by Tokyo gubernatorial candidate Takaho Ano, that demonstrate participatory, tech-based governance.
In conclusion, Tang called for strengthening civic muscles through AI-assisted public dialogue, emphasizing that trust and accountability—not just technological advancement—are essential. She closed with her personal motto: transforming the Internet of Things into an Internet of Beings, and always remembering that while the singularity may be near, plurality is already here.
Adopted at the 4th Shinzo Abe Conference, Tokyo, March 28, 2025
The “Tokyo Accord for Government 24/7: AI and Finance Platforms,” adopted on March 28, 2025, at the 4th Shinzo Abe Conference in Tokyo, marks a landmark in the global pursuit of ethical, innovative, and continuous AI-powered governance. Hosted by the Boston Global Forum (BGF), this accord crowns over a decade of collaboration, sparked by BGF’s founding in 2012 by Michael Dukakis, Nguyen Anh Tuan, Thomas Patterson, and John Quelch, all dedicated to harnessing AI for humanity’s benefit and honoring the legacy of Japan’s late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Shaped by prior global AI dialogues, notably the AI Action Summit in Paris (February 10-11, 2025), the Tokyo Accord emerged from discussions among luminaries including Michael Dukakis, Audrey Tang, Elisabeth Moreno, Yasuhide Nakayama, Nguyen Anh Tuan, Alex Pentland, Kazuo Yano, Joris Poort, Soichiro Chiba, Yutaka Matsuo, Nobukatsu Kanehara, and Takehiro Kano, alongside Japanese policymakers like Minister Minoru Kiuchi. Their expertise forged a consensus on integrating AI and finance platforms for real-time governance, prioritizing scalability, transparency, and citizen empowerment.
Adopted on March 28, 2025, the Tokyo Accord sets standards for AIWS Government 24/7, focusing on a financial backbone for continuous public services. Inspired by Tang’s transparent systems in Taiwan, it promotes secure, interoperable finance platforms to ensure equity and ethical oversight. The accord’s roots trace to Nguyen Anh Tuan’s visit to Ishikawa Prefecture on March 26, 2025, where, inspired by Governor Hiroshi Hase, he envisioned a September 2025 conference to transform disaster recovery into human-centric AI initiatives, amplifying the accord’s spirit.
A testament to BGF’s “think and do” philosophy, the Tokyo Accord bridges AIWS vision with actionable policy. Its outcomes, shared with world leaders post-conference, aim to steer global governance into the Age of Global Enlightenment, reflecting Abe’s belief in technology as a force for peace and prosperity. Rooted in years of collaboration and crystallized in Tokyo, this historic document charts a bold path where AI and finance unite to serve humanity 24/7.
