Huawei kicked out of EU solar industry association | Mideast titans step back from AI model race as US, China dominate | America’s coming brain drain

New Zealand's introduces bill to ban social media for under-16s

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• Huawei was expelled from SolarPower Europe, its first-ever removal of a member, amid an EU bribery probe. A key inverter supplier contributing €60,000 annually, Huawei previously led major working groups. Its exclusion signals a growing fallout among EU institutions and the European energy sector. EURACTIV

• The UAE launched AI models like Falcon and Jais with ambition, but limited resources and intense global competition have led firms like G42 to shift strategy. Now focusing on customising foreign models, the UAE struggles to stay competitive against U.S. and Chinese AI leaders. Bloomberg

• China is rapidly surpassing the U.S. in critical technologies through massive state investment, while U.S. innovation leadership is threatened by funding cuts, immigration restrictions, and political attacks on universities. Without renewed public support for science, the U.S. risks ceding global technological dominance to China. Foreign Affairs

Australia

Labor urged to back science, boost spending on research
The Australian Financial Review
Michael Smith and Amelia McGuire
As Donald Trump slashes funding to US science, researchers and tech industry chiefs are holding out hope that Labor’s election victory will have the opposite result in Australia. With cost-of-living pressures dominating the government’s policy agenda over the past three years, they want Anthony Albanese to stem a decline in research and development funding and back science as a key long-term economic driver.

The tech giants reaping billions – and complaining about Australia
The Australian Financial Review
Sam Buckingham-Jones and John Kehoe
The world’s biggest tech companies are diverting billions of dollars out of Australia and paying minimal tax, at the same time as they complain to the Trump administration over the burden of local news and social media rules and push for the president to intervene. US-based giants Meta, Amazon, Netflix, Disney and Google made a combined $15 billion in revenue in Australia last year, but after shifting billions offshore for “distribution fees” or by reselling advertising for a parent company, they paid tax on significantly depressed earnings.

Labor’s big tech challenge will only get harder under Trump
The Australian Financial Review
The Australian Financial Review supports the argument that lower taxes encourage private sector investment and risk-taking necessary to underpin a productive and prosperous economy. This masthead therefore champions reducing Australia’s internationally uncompetitive 30 per cent company tax rate. This would help spur the investment required to grow successful enterprises that provide well paying jobs and create wealth for Australians.

China

Huawei kicked out of EU solar industry association
EURACTIV
Nikolaus J. Kurmayer
Brussels-based renewable lobby group SolarPower Europe has expelled Chinese electronics giant Huawei from its members amid an ongoing EU bribery investigation into the company. Founded in 1985 as a photovoltaic advocacy group, SolarPower Europe now represents over 300 companies and is one of the two main lobbying forces for renewable energy in the EU capital.

Hong Kong launches new measures to attract more tech, bio listings
Reuters
Hong Kong launched a scheme on Tuesday to offer smoother listings for tech companies on its stock exchange, as it looks to capitalize on Chinese companies' growing appetite to raise funds offshore. The new "technology enterprises channel" will make new listings easier for specialist technology and biotechnology firms, the bourse operator and Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission said in a joint statement.

The China technology challenge
Reaction
Ian Stewart
In January, Chinese company DeepSeek stunned financial markets with the release of its generative artificial intelligence model R1. It matched the efficacy of market leading US firm OpenAI’s most advanced models but was produced at a fraction of the cost. The DeepSeek announcement is one in a series of recent developments that mark a new stage in China’s economic evolution.

DeepSeek. Temu. TikTok. China tech is starting to pull ahead.
The New York Times
Eric Schmidt and Selina Xu
China’s top leaders did not appear to fully grasp the power of artificial intelligence in July 2023, when one of us, Eric, and Henry Kissinger met them. Economic malaise hung in the air. But when the other of us, Selina, returned to China just 19 months later, the optimism was palpable.

USA

America’s coming brain drain
Foreign Affairs
L. Rafael Reif
In June 2024, at a national science and technology conference, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the high-tech sector had become “the frontline and main battlefield of international competition, profoundly reshaping the global order and the pattern of development.” He is, of course, absolutely right. The United States and China compete for economic, military, and diplomatic dominance through the development of new technologies, including those with both military and civilian applications.

America has lost its lead in 5G
The Wall Street Journal
Ajit Pai
Six years ago, I stood with President Trump in the Roosevelt Room of the White House to announce America’s 5G strategy. It was the first time next-generation wireless technology had been elevated to a presidential policy priority. Mr. Trump set the bar high: “The race to 5G is a race America must win. . . . American companies must lead the world in cellular technology.”

Hegseth used multiple Signal chats for official Pentagon business
The Wall Street Journal
Alexander Ward and Nancy A. Youssef
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used Signal more extensively for official Pentagon business than previously disclosed, engaging in at least a dozen separate chats, people familiar with his management practices said. In one case, he told aides on the encrypted app to inform foreign governments about an unfolding military operation, the people said. He also used the nongovernmental message service to discuss media appearances, foreign travel, his schedule, and other unclassified but sensitive information, two people said.

Signal clone used by Mike Waltz pauses service after reports it got hacked
WIRED
Lily Hay Newman
The messaging app used by at least one top Trump administration official has suspended its services following reports of hackers stealing data from the app. Smarsh, TeleMessage’s parent company, says it is now investigating the incident. President Donald Trump's now-former national security adviser Mike Waltz was captured by a Reuters photographer last week using an unauthorized version of the secure communication app Signal—known as TeleMessage Signal or TM Signal—which allows users to archive their communications. Photos of Waltz using the app appear to show that he was communicating with other high-ranking officials, including Vice President JD Vance, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

U.S. army’s $499M bet on geospatial tech to shape future wars
Bulgarian military
Boyko Nikolov
Somewhere in the South China Sea, a U.S. Navy destroyer glides through contested waters. On its bridge, officers stare at screens displaying real-time 3D maps of the ocean floor, overlaid with satellite imagery and drone feeds pinpointing Chinese naval movements. A single miscalculation could spark conflict, but the data flowing through the system is precise, seamless, and instantaneous. This isn’t science fiction—it’s the kind of capability the U.S. Army aims to perfect through a massive new initiative.

North Asia

From booking beds to building AI: Yanolja Cloud CEO reimagines travel
The Korea Hearld
Kim Hae-yeon
From helping local travelers book a night’s stay in Korea to developing AI solutions for the travel industry, Yanolja Cloud has emerged as a bold case study in global travel tech transformation. What began in 2007 as a modest accommodation reservation app for youngsters in Korea has since gradually evolved into a concept of a global travel tech powerhouse.

Russia

Russia and China turn space into a warzone
London Loves Business
A new 316-page report released by the Secure World Foundation reveals a growing global race to develop counterspace capabilities. Russia and China are leading a surge in tactics that include jamming, spoofing, and cyber interference targeting satellites like Starlink. The report assesses 12 countries’ counterspace programs and finds increasing overlap between commercial satellite infrastructure and military use.

Europe

Poland says Russia is trying to interfere in presidential election
Reuters
Karl Badohal
Poland is facing an unprecedented attempt by Russia to interfere in its presidential election, the digital affairs minister said on Tuesday, as the first round of voting looms on May 18. Poland says its role as a hub for aid to Ukraine has made it a target for Russian sabotage, cyberattacks and disinformation, and it has been on high alert for interference, especially after Romania cancelled a presidential election in December due to alleged Russian meddling.

EU countries soften push to stop Chinese tech buyouts
POLITICO
Camille Gijs and Francesca Micheletti
The EU’s attempt to stop China from buying out its top chipmakers and AI companies is being hollowed out from within. National capitals are pushing to weaken rules that would require them to screen foreign investments in sensitive technologies, such as semiconductors or artificial intelligence, according to the latest draft compromise text on the review of the rules governing foreign direct investment (FDI) screening seen by POLITICO.

Capital flies into Europe’s defence drone start-ups
Financial Times
Tim Bradshaw, Sylvia Pfeifer and Patricia Nilsson
European investors are putting hundreds of millions of euros into two surveillance drone companies, Quantum Systems and Tekever, in deals that value each of the defence technology start-ups at more than €1bn. New investors are flocking to the market for defence or “dual use” technology, which can be used in both civilian applications and on the battlefield.

The European Union’s new take on tech: make Europe great again
Tech Policy Press
Mark Scott
Anyone working on tech policy who hasn’t spent time in the Belgian capital recently is in for a surprise. Brussels has long been the heart of the European Union project and a cornerstone of global digital policymaking. It is home to many of the 27-country bloc’s institutions. During the short walk between the European Commission’s Berlaymont Building and the European Parliament, visitors are likely to hear almost all the official EU languages — and often many others — in what is almost universally known as the Brussels Bubble.

Middle East

Mideast titans step back from AI model race as US, China dominate
Bloomberg
Mark Bergen and Omar El Chmouri
Within months of ChatGPT’s release in late 2022, research labs in the United Arab Emirates claimed to have developed credible rivals. At the top of the list was Falcon, a popular open-source artificial intelligence system built with government support, and Jais, a model named for the country’s highest mountain peak. The “future of AI is not a distant dream, but a present reality,” Peng Xiao, chief executive officer of Emirati tech conglomerate G42, said in a statement in 2023 shortly after the firm launched Jais.But today, the UAE’s dream of competitive, homegrown AI models remains far off. Falcon is significantly behind leading options from US companies in user numbers and public rankings.

UAE private schools begin to weave AI into all aspects of curriculum
The National News
Rachel Kelly
UAE private schools say they plan to integrate artificial intelligence into most aspects of the curriculum, as they seek to prepare children for a rapidly changing world. The shift will mean upskilling thousands of teachers and working AI theory and practices into a range of subjects, rather than teaching it as a standalone class. The National spoke to a cross-section of education leaders, a day after the Ministry of Education said government-run schools would begin teaching AI in all years, from the age of four.

NZ & Pacific Islands

National introduces bill to ban social media for under-16s
NZ Herald
Rafaella Melo
National MP Catherine Wedd is introducing a new member’s bill aiming to ban children under 16 from accessing social media platforms in New Zealand. Wedd, MP for Tukituki in Hawke’s Bay, said the My Social Media Age-Appropriate Users Bill is about protecting the “most vulnerable young teenagers and children from the online harms of social media”.

Big Tech

The Internet says goodbye to Skype, and thanks for all the calls
The Washington Post
Leo Sands
The decision to scrap Skype, announced in March, caps a remarkable 21-year run for a software that for many embodied the early values of the open internet: It was mostly free, had a user-friendly interface and made it easier for people to connect across the world. In its heyday, Skype had over 300 million users.

• From verb to shutdown: How Skype lost the video call race
  Smart Company
  Tegan Jones
  After 21 years, Skype is officially being retired by Microsoft. Its core features and accounts are being absorbed into Microsoft Teams, and users have until January 2026 to export their chat history and data. But despite the platform once being the king of online calls, businesses and individuals alike probably won’t notice — for many stopped using it years ago, despite the rise in reliance on video calls since the pandemic.

• It's last call for Skype as the once-popular video calling app shuts down
  NPR
  Joe Hernandez and Scott Neuman
  Skype, the pioneering online video calling service that has been around for more than two decades, will go offline for good after Monday. Microsoft, which owns Skype, announced in February that the service would be available until May 5 and urged users to switch over to the free version of Microsoft Teams, its communication platform that features the ability to video call.

Forget DOGE. We need Elon Musk to solve our robot problem.
The Washington Post
James Pethokoukis
Federal workers and Tesla shareholders find themselves in an unexpected alignment: Both are probably relieved by Elon Musk’s decision to step back from DOGE and refocus on his electric vehicle company, whose recent profits and stock performance have been disappointing. But even if you don’t belong to either constituency, you should be rooting for a Tesla rebound — and not for the reasons you might think. Though its electric cars are struggling to keep pace with China’s BYD, the company’s future, and perhaps the world’s, rests on building a different product: the perfect robot.

Google rolls out Gemini AI chatbot for kids under 13 with parental controls
Tech Business News
Matthew Giannelis
Google is set to roll out its Gemini AI chatbot next week for children under the age of 13 who have parent-managed accounts, as tech companies increasingly target younger audiences with AI-powered tools. In an email sent to a parent of an 8-year-old, Google announced: “Gemini Apps will soon be available for your child,” noting that the chatbot can help kids with tasks like asking questions, getting homework assistance, and creating stories.

U.S. seeks breakup of Google's ad-tech products after judge finds illegal monopoly
Reuters
The U.S. Department of Justice has proposed that Google sell its AdX digital ad marketplace and DFP platform for managing and delivering ads on websites, after a federal judge found the company illegally dominated two online ad-tech markets. The proposed remedies, including divestitures, are necessary to end the Alphabet-owned tech giant's monopolies and restore competition in the ad-exchange and publisher ad-server markets, the DOJ said in a court filing late on Monday.

Artificial Intelligence

Sam Altman hands Elon Musk a win, scrapping OpenAI’s for-profit plan
The Washington Post
Gerrit De Vynck
ChatGPT maker OpenAI will remain under the control of its founding nonprofit board, after abandoning its plan to split off its commercial operations as for-profit company. Former employees and Elon Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI who later split with its leaders, had criticized the restructuring plan, saying it would remove important oversight of its artificial intelligence technology. Musk filed a lawsuit seeking to block the plan; the suit is still ongoing.

• Elon Musk to go ahead with lawsuit against OpenAI despite nonprofit control statement, lawyer says
  Reuters
  Elon Musk plans to proceed with his highly watched lawsuit against OpenAI, his lawyer Marc Toberoff said on Monday, hours after the AI startup dialed back its earlier plan to remove control by its non-profit arm. Under OpenAI's newly proposed plan, its non-profit parent would continue to control the for-profit business and become a major shareholder.

‘Dangerous nonsense’: AI-authored books about ADHD for sale on Amazon
The Guardian
Rachel Hall
Amazon is selling books marketed at people seeking techniques to manage their ADHD that claim to offer expert advice yet appear to be authored by a chatbot such as ChatGPT. Amazon’s marketplace has been deluged with works produced by artificial intelligence that are easy and cheap to publish but include unhelpful or dangerous misinformation, such as shoddy travel guidebooks and mushroom foraging books that encourage risky tasting.

The people refusing to use AI
BBC
Suzanne Bearne
Nothing has convinced Sabine Zetteler of the value of using AI. "I read a really great phrase recently that said something along the lines of 'why would I bother to read something someone couldn't be bothered to write' and that is such a powerful statement and one that aligns absolutely with my views."

1,000 AI-Enhanced Works Now Protected by US Copyright Law
PC Mag
Will Mccurdy
The US Copyright Office has now registered over 1,000 works containing some level of AI-generated material. But this doesn’t mean you can rush to get legal copyright protection for your finest ChatGPT-generated memes or short video clips, as it seems the office is only granting these protections under specific circumstances. In an interview with Wipo Magazine, a publication for intellectual property lawyers, Assistant General Counsel Jalyce Mangum at the US Copyright Office explained how the process works.

Research

China’s blockchain playbook: infrastructure, influence, and the new digital order
CSIS
Anoosh Kumar
In the United States, blockchain remains largely synonymous with cryptocurrency. Policy debates often circle around investor protections, regulatory turf wars, and headlines about meme coins and high-profile collapses that obscure the technology's potential. China, however, is charting a very different course. Despite decisively banning cryptocurrencies in 2021, Beijing is making massive state-backed investments in blockchain technology, positioning it as a central pillar of its national digital and geopolitical strategy.

Was Made in China 2025 Successful?
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
When the Made in China 2025 Plan was issued in 2015, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce helped lead our members and other stakeholders in understanding the implications of the Plan, including the industrial policies, regulatory tools, and security measures that would be deployed to drive its success. The U.S. Chamber is therefore pleased to present this report, prepared independently by Rhodium Group, assessing China's Made in China 2025 (MIC25) policy.

Events & Podcasts

The cost of deterrence
CSIS
On April 30th, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) approved reconciliation legislation authorizing a $150 billion increase in defense spending. Chairman Mike Rogers stated, "If we want to restore American deterrence and ensure peace through strength, we must get back to as least 4% of GDP [defense] spending." The bill allocates increased funding for air and missile defense systems, including the 'Golden Dome', nuclear weapons modernization, space-based capabilities, and defense industrial base priorities.

The Daily Cyber & Tech Digest is brought to you by the Cyber, Technology & Security Programs team at ASPI and supported by partners.

For more on China's pressure campaign against Taiwan—including military threats, interference and cyberwarfare, check out ASPI’s State of the Strait Weekly Digest.