Economy
OpenAI CEO sees ‘huge’ Israeli role in reducing risks from the technology
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman predicted on Monday a “huge role” for Israel in reducing risks from artificial intelligence and eyed investment opportunities in the country even as it debates whether and how to regulate the technology behind ChatGPT.
Altman is one of the tech world’s most prominent voices urging governments to rapidly come up with regulations to make sure AI is used responsibly.
After crisscrossing Europe last month meeting lawmakers and national leaders to discuss the prospects and threats of AI, Altman now plans to travel to Jordan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, India and South Korea – all this week.
He is currently in Israel, which a Stanford University study has ranked among the top five countries for significant machine learning systems and concentration of AI skills. “I have been very heartened as I have been doing this trip around the world, getting to meet world leaders, in seeing the thoughtfulness, the focus, and the urgency on figuring out how we mitigate these very huge risks,” Altman said during a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog. “The energy on making use of the technology and its positive benefits is fantastic to see, and I am sure Israel will play a huge role.”
Visiting Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s R&D centre in Israel, Altman was asked whether his company might also open a local office.
According to a Microsoft statement issued in Hebrew, “he (Altman) said the company prefers to work together in one location but is studying various investment options in Israel”.
SAFETY CONCERNS
The rapid development and popularity of generative AI since Microsoft-backed OpenAI launched ChatGPT last year are spurring global lawmakers to formulate laws to address safety concerns linked to the technology. The European Union is striding ahead with its draft AI Act, which is expected to become law later this year, while the United States is leaning toward adapting existing laws for AI rather than creating whole new legislation.
Britain also wants to avoid heavy-handed legislation that could stifle innovation. “Israel – like Britain, and to a great extent like Canada, too – is at the U.S. end of the spectrum,” Ziv Katzir, director of national AI planning at the Israel Innovation Authority, told Reuters. “It has been working on this matter for the last 18 months or so, with a view to achieving the right balance between innovation and the preservation of human rights and civic safeguards.”
Israel published a 115-page draft AI policy in October and is collating public feedback ahead of a final decision.
Altman was not scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has drawn harsh criticism from leaders in the country’s lifeblood tech sector over a highly-disputed bid to overhaul the judicial system.
© Reuters. Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina attends a news conference in Moscow, Russia June 14, 2019. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File Photo
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s central bank will need two to three months to make sure that inflation is steadily declining before taking any decision on interest rate cuts, the bank’s governor Elvira Nabiullina told RBC media on Sunday.
The central bank raised its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 16% earlier in December, hiking for the fifth consecutive meeting in response to stubborn inflation, and suggested that its tightening cycle was nearly over.
Nabiullina said it was not yet clear when exactly the regulator would start cutting rates, however.
“We really need to make sure that inflation is steadily decreasing, that these are not one-off factors that can affect the rate of price growth in a particular month,” she said.
Nabiullina said the bank was taking into account a wide range of indicators but primarily those that “characterize the stability of inflation”.
“This will take two or three months or more – it depends on how much the wide range of indicators that characterize sustainable inflation declines,” she said.
The bank will next convene to set its benchmark rate on Feb. 16.
The governor also said the bank should have started monetary policy tightening earlier than in July, when it embarked on the rate-hiking cycle.
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Workers walk past an under-construction area with completed office towers in the background, in Shenzhen’s Qianhai new district, Guangdong province, China August 25, 2023. REUTERS/David Kirton/File Photo
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s top planning body said on Saturday it had identified a second batch of public investment projects, including flood control and disaster relief programmes, under a bond issuance and investment plan announced in October to boost the economy.
With the latest tranche, China has now earmarked more than 800 billion yuan of its 1 trillion yuan ($140 billion) in additional government bond issuance in the fourth quarter, as it focuses on fiscal steps to shore up the flagging economy.
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement on Saturday it had identified 9,600 projects with planned investment of more than 560 billion yuan.
China’s economy, the world’s second largest, is struggling to regain its footing post-COVID-19 as policymakers grapple with tepid consumer demand, weak exports, falling foreign investment and a deepening real estate crisis.
The 1 trillion yuan in additional bond issuance will widen China’s 2023 budget deficit ratio to around 3.8 percent from 3 percent, the state-run Xinhua news agency has said.
“Construction of the projects will improve China’s flood control system, emergency response mechanism and disaster relief capabilities, and better protect people’s lives and property, so it is very significant,” the NDRC said.
The agency said it will coordinate with other government bodies to make sure that funds are allocated speedily for investment and that high standards of quality are maintained in project construction.
($1 = 7.1315 renminbi)
© Reuters. Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina attends a news conference in Moscow, Russia June 14, 2019. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File Photo
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s central bank will need two to three months to make sure that inflation is steadily declining before taking any decision on interest rate cuts, the bank’s governor Elvira Nabiullina told RBC media on Sunday.
The central bank raised its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 16% earlier in December, hiking for the fifth consecutive meeting in response to stubborn inflation, and suggested that its tightening cycle was nearly over.
Nabiullina said it was not yet clear when exactly the regulator would start cutting rates, however.
“We really need to make sure that inflation is steadily decreasing, that these are not one-off factors that can affect the rate of price growth in a particular month,” she said.
Nabiullina said the bank was taking into account a wide range of indicators but primarily those that “characterize the stability of inflation”.
“This will take two or three months or more – it depends on how much the wide range of indicators that characterize sustainable inflation declines,” she said.
The bank will next convene to set its benchmark rate on Feb. 16.
The governor also said the bank should have started monetary policy tightening earlier than in July, when it embarked on the rate-hiking cycle.
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