by Editor BGF | Dec 22, 2024 | News, Shaping Futures
OpenAI saved its biggest announcement for the last day of its 12-day “shipmas” event.
On Friday, December 20, the company unveiled o3, the successor to the o1 “reasoning” model it released earlier in the year. o3 is a model family, to be more precise — as was the case with o1. There’s o3 and o3-mini, a smaller, distilled model fine-tuned for particular tasks.
OpenAI makes the remarkable claim that o3, at least in certain conditions, approaches AGI — with significant caveats. More on that below.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/20/openai-announces-new-o3-model/
by Editor BGF | Dec 22, 2024 | Shinzo Abe Initiative for Peace and Security, News
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump reportedly discussed the security environment surrounding China and Taiwan when he met with Akie Abe, the widow of late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, earlier this month.
According to sources, Trump said during the meeting, with a Taiwan contingency in mind, that China and Taiwan are a major issue for world peace. This indicated his administration’s stance of placing importance on dealing with the situation in Taiwan.
Trump and his wife Melania invited Abe to dinner at their Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Dec. 15. Trump and Abe talked about their memories of Shinzo Abe, and the conversation also touched on global affairs, including Taiwan.
https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/politics-government/20241222-229166/
https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/world/us-canada/20241216-228130/
by Editor BGF | Dec 22, 2024 | Global Alliance for Digital Governance
Professor Nazli Choucri, a member of the BGF Board of Directors, delivered a talk at the BGF Conference “AIWS – New Democracy” on November 25, 2024, at Harvard University’s Loeb House.
Watch her full discussion here.
by Editor BGF | Dec 15, 2024 | News, Shaping Futures
Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab on Monday December 9, 2024 said that it has overcome a key challenge in quantum computing with a new generation of chip, solving a computing problem in five minutes that would take a classical computer more time than the history of the universe.
Like other tech giants such as Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab and International Business Machines (IBM.N), opens new tab, Alphabet’s Google is chasing quantum computing because it promises computing speeds far faster than today’s fastest systems. While the math problem solved by the company’s Santa Barbara, California quantum lab does not have commercial applications, Google hopes quantum computers will one day solve problems in medicine, battery chemistry and artificial intelligence that are out of reach for today’s computers.
In an X post on December 9, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the chip cracked “a 30-year challenge in the field.”
“We see Willow as an important step in our journey to build a useful quantum computer with practical applications in areas like drug discovery, fusion energy, battery design + more”.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-says-it-has-cracked-quantum-computing-challenge-with-new-chip-2024-12-09/
https://www.businessinsider.com/google-unveiled-quantum-computer-chip-willow-2024-12
by Editor BGF | Dec 15, 2024 | Shinzo Abe Initiative for Peace and Security, News
Akie Abe, the widow of slain former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, will meet U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, according to a CNN report.
She is expected to dine with Trump, who is set to begin his second term next month, and his wife, Melania, the report said. The former prime minister enjoyed a close relationship with Trump and was the first world leader to meet him as president-elect in 2016.
Following Abe’s assassination during an election campaign stump speech in July 2022, Trump called his widow to express his condolences, CNN said.
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20241214/p2g/00m/0in/005000c
https://japan-forward.com/trump-to-dine-with-late-pm-shinzo-abes-wife-at-mar-a-lago/
by Editor BGF | Dec 15, 2024 | World Leader for Peace and Security, News, World Leaders in AIWS Award Updates
The meeting is taking place at the Elysée Palace, ahead of Notre-Dame Cathedral’s grand reopening, after five years of reconstruction.
President Emmanuel Macron, 2024 World Leader for Peace and Security Award recipient, hosted three-way talks with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, 2022 World Leader for Peace and Security Award recipient, and US President-elect Donald Trump in Paris on Saturday, December 7. Trump held talks with Macron inside the Elysée Palace ahead of the re-opening ceremony for Notre-Dame Cathedral, with Zelensky then arriving and immediately joining them. The trio posed for a picture but made no further public comment before starting the talks.
When he arrived at the Elysée, US President-elect Donald Trump said that the world was “a little crazy” as he met Macron. The two men embraced and shook hands several times on the steps of the French presidential palace, with Trump given a full guard of honor.
“It seems like the world is going a little crazy right now and we will be talking about that,” Trump told reporters as he prepared to sit down for talks with Macron which started around 45 minutes later than scheduled.
Despite tensions between the two men during his first term, Trump hailed his ties with the centrist French leader, saying: “We had a great relationship as everyone knows. We accomplished a lot.”
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/12/07/trump-zelensky-meet-in-paris-as-macron-hosts-three-way-talks_6735534_4.html
https://apnews.com/article/trump-paris-notre-dame-f97fde62ca2ce68c3874c395b305e26b
by Editor BGF | Dec 15, 2024 | News
Syria’s new government has told business leaders it will adopt a free-market model and integrate the country into the global economy in a major shift from decades of corrupt state control, the head of the biggest Syrian business lobby said on Tuesday.
“It will be a free-market system based on competition,” Bassel Hamwi, head of the Damascus Chambers of Commerce, told Reuters in an interview, three days after rebel forces toppled President Bashar al-Assad, opens new tab, ending a 54-year family autocracy.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, 2020 World Leader for Peace and Security Award recipient, said: “The collapse of the Assad regime offers new hope for the Syrian people. But this moment of change also carries risks and brings hardship. With the situation on the ground so volatile, our help to the people of Syria is ever more important.”
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syrias-new-rulers-back-shift-free-market-economy-business-leader-says-2024-12-10/
https://www.ft.com/content/7efc20db-6da9-47d0-96e3-94b0f230134c
https://www.agensir.it/quotidiano/2024/12/13/syria-humanitarian-aids-and-funds-from-the-eu-von-der-leyen-after-assad-new-hope-for-the-people/
One of BGF’s flagship programs, the Four Pillars for Peace and Security, brings together key global players including the United States, Japan, the European Union and the United Kingdom, and India. In today’s increasingly unstable world, the Four Pillars initiative serves as a vital framework for cooperation and strategic alignment among these influential nations. Additionally, BGF proudly incorporates the Shinzo Abe Initiative for Peace and Security, honoring the legacy of Japan’s former Prime Minister and his contributions to international stability and diplomatic relations.
by Editor BGF | Dec 15, 2024 | Global Alliance for Digital Governance
Professor Alex Pentland, a member of the BGF Board of Directors, delivered a talk at the BGF Conference “AIWS – New Democracy” on November 25, 2024, at Harvard University’s Loeb House. He highlighted the intricate balance between fostering AI innovation and implementing effective regulations to ensure that AI serves societal interests without stifling creativity and progress.
Professor Pentland emphasized the importance of transparent audit trails, combating misinformation, and updating societal structures. These points underscore the need for proactive and adaptive governance in the era of artificial intelligence.
Watch the full talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig6pV1TZ2u4
by Editor BGF | Dec 12, 2024 | Papers & Reports, Publications
Michael Dukakis, Elisabeth Moreno, Yasuhide Nakayama
With advisory guidance by Alex Pentland, Tuan Anh Nguyen
Boston, December 12, 2024
Abstract
The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents unprecedented opportunities to transform governance and essential public services. However most discussions have focused on one aspect of AI or one aspect of governance. What has been missing is a wholistic picture of how we might transform government for the better by using AI to augment human judgement. This paper attempts to outline what a positive future might look like, by proposing a AIWS (Artificial Intelligence World Society) Government model, envisioning a continuously operating national government enhanced by AI and aligned with AIWS principles. This model introduces ideas for how governments can transform governance in the Age of AI. We also propose the Boston Areti AI (BAI), an AI agent designed to assist leaders, learn from extraordinary leaders and influential individuals, improve year by year, and preserve their legacies. The AIWS Government model aims to create a principled, transparent, and citizen-centric governance system that operates every hour of every day, with no holidays, ensuring uninterrupted service delivery.
Crucially, this model does not require staff reductions; instead, it envisions reorganizing employees into shifts supported by AI agents, enabling continuous operation and enhanced efficiency. Over time, we expect that the system will be refined, by recognizing unintended consequences, by integrating new data and solutions, and adapting to changing societal needs. This paper outlines a vision of AIWS Government, integrates BAI within it, and begins to explore the potential benefits, challenges, and ethical considerations of implementation.
Alongside governance, we imaging forming AIWS Universities and AIWS Healthcare in order to illustrate how the AIWS framework can inspire comprehensive reforms in education and healthcare. Together, these concepts envision how governments can ethically and effectively embrace AI, fostering innovation, public trust, and a better quality of life.
We call on technical communities to join us in refining and realizing these ideas.
Download are here.
