TikTok to begin appeal against being sold or banned in US | Enterprise software firms from China target Thailand | France picks Sejourne as nominee for EU Commission after Breton clash
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TikTok has argued in court that a US law requiring its sale or ban would severely impact free speech rights of its 170 million US users. Concerns about data exploitation by China drive the legislation, but TikTok denies links to Chinese authorities. The case may reach the Supreme Court. BBC
Chinese enterprise software companies are increasingly targeting Thailand as a key market for digital expansion, offering cloud-based solutions for local businesses, including SMEs. This trend follows the US-China tech war, driving China to develop and expand its technologies overseas. The Thai IT sector is predicted to grow rapidly, with digitalisation expected to contribute significantly to GDP by 2030. Bangkok Post
Thierry Breton, France's European Commissioner for Industry and Internal Market, resigned on September 16, 2024, following a dispute with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Breton cited "questionable governance" after von der Leyen allegedly asked Paris to withdraw his candidacy for personal reasons. His resignation comes as von der Leyen finalizes her new team of commissioners, and France will now propose Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné as his replacement. Reuters
ASPI
India rapidly becoming a global research powerhouse: principal scientific advisor
Outlook Business
PTI
India is rapidly becoming a global research powerhouse and is poised to become a global leader in biotechnology, Ajay Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, said on Thursday, citing the nation's rapid advancements in research and innovation. Speaking at the Global Bio-India 2024 Summit, Sood emphasized India's rise as a pivotal hub for technological excellence, particularly in biological manufacturing and biofuels. "India is rapidly becoming a global research powerhouse," Sood said, referencing a recent report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) that ranked India among the top five countries in 45 out of 64 technologies, a significant increase from 37 technologies last year.
China is rapidly becoming a leading innovator in advanced industries
Information Technology & Innovation Foundation
Robert D. Atkinson
There may be no more important question for the West’s competitive position in advanced industries than whether China is becoming a rival innovator. While the evidence suggests it hasn’t yet taken the overall lead, it has pulled ahead in certain areas, and in many others Chinese firms will likely equal or surpass Western firms within a decade or so. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s (ASPI) Critical Technology Tracker also found that China has become the leader in almost all the critical technologies the tracker covers. The tracker focuses on how innovative countries are in foundational technologies such as energy, the environment, defense, nuclear, quantum computing, and many other critical industries.
Australia
Australia’s new social media bill ‘worryingly poor’
The Mercury
Jared Lynch
Proposed laws to crack down on social media giants spreading misinformation online are captive by “ineffective and hostile industry codes”, a tech policy group warns as a new war of words erupts between Tesla billionaire Elon Musk and the Albanese government. The federal government has announced new legislation, under which social media platforms such as X and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram face fines of up to 5 per cent of their global revenue if they fail to rein in misinformation. Mr Musk said the government were “fascists” while Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones retaliated calling the tech baron a “crackpot”, sparking a fresh feud with the tech baron.
Australian government one of leading victims of data breaches, report finds
9News
Yashee Sharma
Australia has recorded the highest number of data breaches in more than three years, with the government sector being one of the greatest targets, according to a new report. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner published the data today, revealing it recorded 527 breaches from January to June this year. That figure was up nine per cent from the six months prior and the highest reported since the second half of 2020.
Aussie workers go ‘back to school’ to sharpen tech skills as skilled migrant shortage sparks talent war
The Australian
Jared Lynch
The world’s biggest tech companies are turning to TAFE to rapidly train Australian workers so they are equipped to capitalise on the artificial intelligence frenzy and help the lack of skilled migrants entering the country. SAS, a US-based developer of analytics and AI software, has partnered with TAFE NSW to offer a 10-week course that is aimed at sharpening “essential technical and enterprise skills”.
Cyber security an ‘opportunity, not a cost’ says new Special Envoy Andrew Charlton
Herald Sun
Clare Armstrong
Major hospitals, grocery, transport and energy companies are among the critical sectors required to bolster their cyber security measures to protect Australians from crimes like the Medibank and Optus hacks. Companies across eight sectors, including financial services, water and data storage, have until the end of September to demonstrate they have complied with new cyber security obligations developed after 18 months of consultation and work. Special Envoy for Cyber Security and Digital Resilience Andrew Charlton said the new requirements were only part of the sweeping measures the Albanese Government was taking to protect critical infrastructure and ensure the security of Australians’ private data.
China
China’s video game achievement may be anomaly for years to come despite Black Myth: Wukong
The Sydney Morning Herald
Matt Haldane
Ahead of the August 20 global release of the video game Black Myth: Wukong, anticipation caused so much excitement in China that sales of Sony’s PlayStation 5 skyrocketed over the preceding seven days, leading to long wait times at bricks-and-mortar shops. The Wukong mania that swept the nation shows how far the domestic video gaming industry has come in the last 10 years: Sony could not legally sell the PlayStation in China a decade ago, when the country was in its final year of a 15-year console ban.
China’s quantum* crypto tech may be unhackable, but it's hardly a secret
The Register
Rupert Goodwins
We have a new call to arms in the 21st century battlefront between the West and China. The Middle Kingdom is building an uncrackable national infrastructure based on quantum key distribution. The laws of physics are being used against us, and we're not keeping up, claims a think tank.
China hit hard by new Dutch export controls on ASML chip-making equipment
South China Morning Post
Che Pan
Mainland semiconductor factories could face significant production challenges, as the Netherlands bans Dutch chip tool giant ASML Holding from servicing some of its most reliable equipment in China, according to industry insiders. Earlier this month, Dutch foreign trade and development minister Reinette Klever announced a change to the country’s export controls, requiring ASML to apply for licences to sell its 1970i and 1980i immersion deep ultraviolet machines to China-based customers.
China wants red flags on all AI-generated content posted online
The Register
Simon Sharwood
China's internet regulator on Saturday proposed a strict regime that will, if adopted, require digital platforms to label content created by artificial intelligence. The Cyberspace Administration of China announced its draft plan, which will require platforms and online service providers to label all AI-generated material with a visible logo and with metadata embedded in relevant files. The draft proposes that logos appear in several locations in a text, image, video, or audio file.
China telecom opens AI, security innovation centres in Hong Kong
Frontier Enterprise
Staff Writer
China Telecom Global has launched its Artificial Intelligence Innovation Center and Security Business Innovation Centre in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong-based unit of the Beijing-based telco group said the establishment of the Artificial Intelligence Innovation Centre in collaboration with China Telecom Artificial Intelligence, and the Security Business Innovation Centre with China Telecom Security represents “a significant step in implementing China Telecom’s strategy for high-quality development, building new productive forces, and advancing its cloud and digital transformation initiatives.”
Huawei’s home-grown mobile OS without Android support set to launch this month
South China Morning Post
Xinmei Shen
Huawei Technologies will soon launch the latest iteration of its home-grown mobile operating system HarmonyOS Next, an executive reportedly said, boosting the telecommunications equipment giant’s bid to take on Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS in the domestic market. Huawei will officially launch HarmonyOS Next at the end of this month, Chen Xinxin, general manager of HarmonyOS industry solutions, said on Saturday at the China International Fair For Trade In Service in Beijing, according to local media reports.
USA
Why Biden’s multibillion-dollar plan to build America’s next tech powerhouses is getting starved
POLITICO
Christine Mui and Mohar Chatterjee
A Biden administration program aimed to pour billions of dollars into technologies of the future in the U.S. heartland. Instead, it’s been starved by Congress and potentially destined to stay that way. The national, bipartisan Tech Hubs program could have been a campaign winner. Instead, it’s underfunded and barely present on the political stage — and anxious awardees are “holding their breath” for November.
North Asia
DeepL translation targets Taiwan as next key Asian market
Nikkei Asia
Steven Borowiec
AI-powered translation platform DeepL is looking to Taiwan as its next promising Asian market, after Japan and South Korea, the company's CEO told Nikkei Asia. Jarek Kutylowski said the company is monitoring how the traditional Chinese version of its text-based translation service is being received in Taiwan since its launch in July. Traditional Chinese is the primary form of written communication in Taiwan, while simplified Chinese is used in mainland China.
Southeast Asia
Enterprise software firms from China target Thailand
Bangkok Post
Suchit Leesa-nguansuk
Chinese enterprise software companies are entering the Thai market, viewing the country as potentially one of the fastest growing for digitalisation going forward. Several Chinese software companies, most of which are small and medium-sized enterprises, entered the market earlier to offer cloud-based solutions to Chinese online merchants operating in Thailand, including solutions for sales order management, inventory management and accounting.
NZ & Pacific Islands
Pacific Islands Forum investigating cyberattack on networks
RFA
Harry Pearl for BenarNews
The Pacific islands’ peak diplomatic body is investigating a cyberattack on its networks, its top official said Friday while refusing to be drawn on reports that Chinese state-sponsored hackers were responsible for the breach. The attack on the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, which supports its 18 member countries and territories, occurred in February, Secretary General Baron Waqa said.
Europe
France picks Sejourne as nominee for EU Commission after Breton clash
Reuters
Michel Rose and Foo Yun Chee
France picked Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne as its new candidate for the next European Commission as the incumbent, Thierry Breton, abruptly quit on Monday with tough words for the EU's re-elected executive chief Ursula von der Leyen. This was an unexpected twist in the highly political EU power transition that follows the June European elections and in which key jobs in the bloc's powerful decision-making institutions are shared out for the next five years.
For Apple, the EU is a cash sinkhole
POLITICO
Edith Hancock
The European Union is now a costly headache for Apple. Just last week, the world's largest company lost its appeal over a €13 billion tax bill. It was fined €1.8 billion in March over app store rules. And it's got three investigations that could see it fined for not complying with the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) requirements.
How the EU’s landmark Apple tax ruling gave Ireland €13bn it didn’t want
The Guardian
Rory Carroll and Dan Milmo
Margrethe Vestager, the EU competition chief, had waged a bitter, decade-long battle to curb Ireland’s controversial tax breaks for Apple and on Tuesday the European court of justice gave her a resounding victory. “I was ready to face the loss, but it was the win that made me cry,” she said.
UK
UK convenes global coalition to boost cyber skills and tackle growing threats
The UK Government
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Feryal Clark MP
The UK will convene leading nations including the US and EU for talks on how to tackle the growing threat of cyber-attacks, as new figures show nearly half of British businesses do not have the skills needed to protect against cyber-crime. Taking place at Wilton Park in West Sussex, the discussions come at a critical time following recent high-profile incidents - including the global IT outage, an attack impacting NHS service providers, and attempts to disrupt London’s transport network.
Middle East
The crude system of coded messages keeping Hamas’s leader alive
The Wall Street Journal
Summer Said and Rory Jones
Hamas’s top leader Yahya Sinwar could well be dead today if not for a low-tech communications system honed in prison that shields him from Israel’s intelligence-gathering dragnet. Sinwar has largely shunned phone calls, text messages and other electronic communications that Israel can track and that have led to the demise of other militants. Instead, he is using a complex system of couriers, codes and handwritten notes that allows him to direct Hamas’s operations even while hiding in underground tunnels, according to Arab cease-fire mediators.
IDF using Axon Vision AI to combat drones
Globes
Dean Shmuel Elmas
Israel's Ministry of Defense has bought dozens of EdgeUAV systems from Israeli company Axon Vision, which use AI to detect nearby air threats, sources familiar with the matter have told "Globes." The systems accomplish this by analyzing and classifying data collected by cameras mounted on armored fighting vehicles or stationary installations. The systems are part of the Ministry of Defense's total order from Axon Vision, which this year totals over $2.5 million.
Africa
How InstaDeep became Africa’s biggest AI startup success
Rest of World
Damilare Dosunmu
Karim Beguir is the co-founder and CEO of InstaDeep, a Tunisian startup that was acquired for $682 million by BioNTech. Karim Beguir starts his interview with Rest of World by bringing up Star Wars. This is something he does often, since he’s from the remote Tunisian city of Tataouine, which lent its name and otherworldly desert landscapes to the movie franchise.
Gender & Women in Cyber
Women in tech groups 'can’t run on inspiration alone'
BBC
Zoe Kleinman
Groups supporting women in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) fields are struggling to survive as corporations’ shrinking budgets, and cultural changes, see diversity strategies take a back seat. Ada Lovelace Day – a global annual celebration of women working in Stem – is on borrowed time.
Big Tech
TikTok to begin appeal against being sold or banned in US
BBC
Lily Jamali
TikTok will start making its case on Monday against a law that will see it banned in the US unless Chinese owner ByteDance sells the social media app within nine months. The measure - signed into law by President Biden in April - has been prompted by concerns that US users' data is vulnerable to exploitation by China's government.
TikTok fights ban in court as Harris and Trump campaigns embrace the app
The Washington Post
Eva Dou and Drew Harwell
The fate of the wildly popular TikTok app hangs in the balance as the company tries to persuade a Washington appeals court on Monday to halt a fast-approaching ban on the platform’s use across America. A Washington appeals court is hearing oral arguments Monday from TikTok and the Justice Department on whether a ban of the app violates the First Amendment.Will TikTok be banned in January? That question is headed to court.
The New York Times
Sapna Maheshwari
TikTok could be banned in the United States in mere months. Its lawyers head to court on Monday to fight that outcome, the latest stage in an ongoing clash between the short-form video app and the American government.
Artificial Intelligence
Electricity infrastructure is the next play for AI investors
Financial Times
Patrick Temple-West
As demand for artificial intelligence technologies continues to grow, a new class of companies are starting to emerge as a way to play the sector: electricity providers. “Investors are looking for the next derivative on AI,” James West, a senior analyst at Evercore ISI on sustainable technologies energy, told me. “The technology investors that are calling us are asking about power.”
Events & Podcasts
ASPI Women in Defence and Security Network 10th Anniversary Gala
ASPI
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute's Women in Defence and Security Network is celebrating its 10-year anniversary and, to mark this significant milestone, you are invited to join us for a special gala dinner at The Marion on Wednesday, October 16. This event will be a celebration of the WDSN's achievements over the decade and an opportunity to look back on the gains made as well as where work remains to improve the recruitment, retention development and advancement of women in the different fields of national security. Tickets are available now, with discounted tickets for students and groups.
Jobs
ASPI Research Internship
ASPI
Have you recently completed your studies (undergraduate or postgraduate) and want to develop your expertise in defence, foreign and national security policy, including in areas such as strategic competition, defence, deterrence, foreign interference, technology, and security? Do you want to inform the public and government on the critical strategic choices facing Australia and learn what it takes to be a professional analyst? If so, apply for the ASPI Research Internship Program! Please note that this is a paid internship program. Applications will close at midnight Friday 27 September 2024.
The Daily Cyber & Tech Digest is brought to you by the Cyber, Technology & Security team at ASPI.
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