by Editor BGF | May 26, 2025 | News
President Donald Trump said Sunday that the U.S. will delay implementation of a 50% tariff on goods from the European Union from June 1 until July 9 to buy time for negotiations with the bloc.
That agreement came after a call Sunday with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, who had told Trump that she “wants to get down to serious negotiations,” according to the U.S. president’s retelling.
“I told anybody that would listen, they have to do that,” Trump told reporters on Sunday in Morristown, New Jersey, as he prepared to return to Washington. Von der Leyen, Trump said, vowed to “rapidly get together and see if we can work something out.”
In a social media post Friday, Trump had threatened to impose the 50% tariff on EU goods, complaining that the 27-member bloc had been “very difficult to deal with” on trade and that negotiations were “going nowhere.” Those tariffs would have kicked in starting June 1.
https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-trade-tariffs-european-union-f335ba9aa9d0b36cfe483f6f045c9b01
by Editor BGF | May 26, 2025 | Shinzo Abe Initiative for Peace and Security, News
Nation’s quiet adoption of tech-enabled participation can show a new way forward
- Glen Weyl is founder of the RadicalxChange Foundation and the Plurality Institute. Audrey Tang is Taiwan’s cyber-ambassador and the former first minister of digital affairs of Taiwan. Weyl and Tang co-authored the newly released in Japanese book “Plurality: The Future of Collaborative Technology and Democracy.”
The global order is undergoing its most profound transformation since the end of World War II. A retreat by the U.S. from its traditional role as a champion of liberal democracy and international cooperation, combined with disruptive economic realignments and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, signals a seismic shift.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Japan-can-be-a-beacon-of-pluralistic-innovation-and-democratic-renewal
by Editor BGF | May 26, 2025 | News, Shaping Futures
This new machine-learning model can match corresponding audio and visual data, which could someday help robots interact in the real world.
“We are building AI systems that can process the world like humans do, in terms of having both audio and visual information coming in at once and being able to seamlessly process both modalities. Looking forward, if we can integrate this audio-visual technology into some of the tools we use on a daily basis, like large language models, it could open up a lot of new applications,” says Andrew Rouditchenko, an MIT graduate student and co-author of a paper on this research.
A new approach developed by researchers from MIT and elsewhere improves an AI model’s ability to learn in this same fashion. This could be useful in applications such as journalism and film production, where the model could help with curating multimodal content through automatic video and audio retrieval.
https://news.mit.edu/2025/ai-learns-how-vision-and-sound-are-connected-without-human-intervention-0522
by Editor BGF | May 26, 2025 | News
Launched on May 27, 2025, under Governor Michael Dukakis and Nguyen Anh Tuan of the Boston Global Forum (BGF), the AIWS Bank and Finance Ecosystem Model marks a historic leap in AI-driven banking. Rooted in the Boston Finance Accord’s 24/7 AI Governance Vision (April 22, 2025), it redefines finance with ethical AI and blockchain. Key components include the AIWS AI-Finance Platform (quantum AI for Bitcoin predictions), Global Blockchain Network (Universal Transaction Layer), Ethical Finance Charter (99% fair with Social Impact Score), Digital Asset Hub (Cultural Asset Tokenization Exchange), and Investor Network (AI-Driven Impact Predictor). Pioneering features like the Universal Financial Passport (streamlining global access), Predictive Charity Engine (automating aid), and Quantum-Powered Wealth Redistribution Model (reducing inequality) set a new standard, aiming to serve 1billion users by 2030.
by Editor BGF | May 26, 2025 | Global Alliance for Digital Governance
A transformative financial initiative is taking shape in Boston, driven by the upcoming Boston Plurality Summit on June 9, 2025, at 8:00 AM EDT. The summit will explore “Pioneering Bank and Finance Ecosystem Model for the Boston Finance Accord’s 24/7 AI Governance Vision,” redefining banking with ethical AI and continuous governance.
Launched on April 22, 2025, at Harvard University’s Loeb House by the Boston Global Forum (BGF), the Boston Finance Accord sets a global standard for AI-driven finance, emphasizing 24/7 operations, transparency, and citizen empowerment. This vision has inspired the AIWS Bank model, led by BGF Co-Chairs Governor Michael Dukakis and Nguyen Anh Tuan.
AIWS Bank features cutting-edge components: the AIWS AI-Finance Platform (AIFP) for predictive analytics, the AIWS Global Blockchain Network (AGBN) for zero-latency payments, the AIWS Digital Asset and Crypto Hub (ADACH) with a Cultural Asset Tokenization Exchange (CATE) for AIWS Top 100 films, the AIWS Ethical Finance Charter (AEFC) with a Social Impact Score (SIS), and the AIWS Investor and Innovation Network (AIIN) with an AI-Driven Impact Investment Predictor (IIP). A new highlight is the AIWS Universal Financial Passport (UFP), streamlining financial access.
The June 9 summit will feature luminaries including Elisabeth Moreno (Chairwoman, Ring Capital), Yasuhide Nakayama (Board Member, Chartered Group), E. Glen Weyl (economist), Audrey Tang (Taiwan’s Digital Minister), Nguyen Anh Tuan, and Koji Fusa (GVE), discussing alignment with the Accord’s 24/7 governance model.
“AIWS Bank is a movement to harness AI and blockchain for humanity,” said Nguyen Anh Tuan. “With the Accord as our guide, we’re building an ethical, inclusive financial future.”
