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UK AI Safety Summit begins with global leaders in attendance, remarks from China and Musk

The U.K. AI Safety Summit concluded its first day with a common declaration, the U.S. announcing an AI safety institute, China willing to communicate on…

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The U.K. AI Safety Summit concluded its first day with a common declaration, the U.S. announcing an AI safety institute, China willing to communicate on AI safety and comments from Elon Musk.

The United Kingdom’s global summit on artificial intelligence (AI) safety, “AI Safety Summit” began on Nov. 1 and will carry on through Nov. 2 with government officials and leading AI companies from the world in attendance, including from the United States and China. 

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is hosting the event, which is taking place nearly 55 miles north of London in Bletchley Park. It comes at the end of a year of rapid advancements in the widespread use and accessibility of AI models following the emergence of OpenAI’s popular AI chatbot ChatGPT.

Who is in attendance?

The AI Safety Summit expects to have around 100 guests in attendance. This includes leaders of many of the world’s prominent AI companies such as Microsoft president Brad Smith, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google and DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, Meta’s AI chief Yann LeCunn and its president of global affairs Nick Clegg and billionaire Elon Musk.

On a governmental level, global leaders from around 27 countries are expected to be in attendance including the U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the secretary-general of the United Nations Antonio Guterres.

The U.K. also extended the invitation to China, which has been a major competitor to Western governments and companies in AI development. Chinese Vice Minister of Science and Technology, Wu Zhaohui will be attending, along with companies Alibaba and Tencent.

Initial summit proceedings

The two-day summit’s primary aim is to create dialogue and cooperation between its dynamic group of international attendees to shape the future of AI, with a focus on “frontier AI models.” These AI models are defined as highly capable, multipurpose AI models that equal or surpass the capabilities of current models available.

The first day included several roundtable discussions on risks to global safety and integrating frontier AI into society. There was also an “AI for good” discussion on the opportunities presented by AI to transform education.

The 'Bletchley Declaration' and the U.S.’s AI Safety Institute

During the summit, Britain published the "Bletchley Declaration” which serves as an agreement to boost global efforts of cooperation in AI safety. The signatories of said declaration included 28 countries, including the U.S. and China, along with the European Union.

In a separate statement on the declaration, the U.K. government said:

"The Declaration fulfills key summit objectives in establishing shared agreement and responsibility on the risks, opportunities and a forward process for international collaboration on frontier AI safety and research, particularly through greater scientific collaboration.”

Other countries endorsing the statement include Brazil, France, India, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates.

Related: Biden administration issues executive order for new AI safety standards

In addition, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said that it plans to create its own AI Safety Institute, focusing on the risks of frontier models.

Raimondo said she will “certainly” be calling on many in the audience who are “in academia and the industry” to participate in the initiative. She also suggested a formal partnership with the U.K.’s Safety Institute.

Musk calls summit a “referee" 

Elon Musk, the owner of social media platform X and CEO of both SpaceX and Tesla, has been a prominent voice in the AI space. He has already participated in talks with global regulators on the subject. 

At the U.K’s AI Safety Summit on Wednesday, he said the summit wanted to create a “"third-party referee" oversee AI development and warn of any concerns.

According to a Reuters report Musk is quoted saying:

"What we're really aiming for here is to establish a framework for insight so that there's at least a third-party referee, an independent referee, that can observe what leading AI companies are doing and at least sound the alarm if they have concerns.”

He also said before there is “oversight” there must be “insight” inference to global leaders making any mandates. “I think there's a lot of concern among people in the AI field that the government will sort of jump the gun on rules, before knowing what to do," Musk said.

Related: UN launches international effort to tackle AI governance challenges

China says it's ready to bolster communications

Also in attendance was China’s Vice Minister of Science and Technology, Wu Zhaohui who emphasized that everyone has the right to develop and deploy AI.

"We uphold the principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefits. Countries regardless of their size and scale have equal rights to develop and use AI," he said.

"We call for global cooperation to share AI knowledge and make AI technologies available to the public on open source terms."

He said that China is “willing to enhance our dialogue and communication in AI safety” with “all sides.” These remarks come as China and many Western countries, particularly the U.S., have been racing to create the most advanced technology on the market. 

The summit will continue for its final day on Nov. 2 with remarks from the U.K. Prime Minister and U.K. Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan.

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Government

Angry Shouting Aside, Here’s What Biden Is Running On

Angry Shouting Aside, Here’s What Biden Is Running On

Last night, Joe Biden gave an extremely dark, threatening, angry State of the Union…

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56 mins ago

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March 8, 2024

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Angry Shouting Aside, Here's What Biden Is Running On

Last night, Joe Biden gave an extremely dark, threatening, angry State of the Union address - in which he insisted that the American economy is doing better than ever, blamed inflation on 'corporate greed,' and warned that Donald Trump poses an existential threat to the republic.

But in between the angry rhetoric, he also laid out his 2024 election platform - for which additional details will be released on March 11, when the White House sends its proposed budget to Congress.

To that end, Goldman Sachs' Alec Phillips and Tim Krupa have summarized the key points:

Taxes

While railing against billionaires (nothing new there), Biden repeated the claim that anyone making under $400,000 per year won't see an increase in their taxes.  He also proposed a 21% corporate minimum tax, up from 15% on book income outlined in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), as well as raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% (which would promptly be passed along to consumers in the form of more inflation). Goldman notes that "Congress is unlikely to consider any of these proposals this year, they would only come into play in a second Biden term, if Democrats also won House and Senate majorities."

Biden also called on Congress to restore the pandemic-era child tax credit.

Immigration

Instead of simply passing a slew of border security Executive Orders like the Trump ones he shredded on day one, Biden repeated the lie that Congress 'needs to act' before he can (translation: send money to Ukraine or the US border will continue to be a sieve).

As immigration comes into even greater focus heading into the election, we continue to expect the Administration to tighten policy (e.g., immigration has surged 20pp the last 7 months to first place with 28% in Gallup’s “most important problem” survey). As such, we estimate the foreign-born contribution to monthly labor force growth will moderate from 110k/month in 2023 to around 70-90k/month in 2024. -GS

Ukraine

Biden, with House Speaker Mike Johnson doing his best impression of a bobble-head, urged Congress to pass additional assistance for Ukraine based entirely on the premise that Russia 'won't stop' there (and would what, trigger article 5 and WW3 no matter what?), despite the fact that Putin explicitly told Tucker Carlson he has no further ambitions, and in fact seeks a settlement.

As Goldman estimates, "While there is still a clear chance that such a deal could come together, for now there is no clear path forward for Ukraine aid in Congress."

China

Biden, forgetting about all the aggressive tariffs, suggested that Trump had been soft on China, and that he will stand up "against China's unfair economic practices" and "for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."

Healthcare

Lastly, Biden proposed to expand drug price negotiations to 50 additional drugs each year (an increase from 20 outlined in the IRA), which Goldman said would likely require bipartisan support "even if Democrats controlled Congress and the White House," as such policies would likely be ineligible for the budget "reconciliation" process which has been used in previous years to pass the IRA and other major fiscal party when Congressional margins are just too thin.

So there you have it. With no actual accomplishments to speak of, Biden can only attack Trump, lie, and make empty promises.

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/08/2024 - 18:00

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International

United Airlines adds new flights to faraway destinations

The airline said that it has been working hard to "find hidden gem destinations."

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8 hours ago

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March 8, 2024

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Since countries started opening up after the pandemic in 2021 and 2022, airlines have been seeing demand soar not just for major global cities and popular routes but also for farther-away destinations.

Numerous reports, including a recent TripAdvisor survey of trending destinations, showed that there has been a rise in U.S. traveler interest in Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and Vietnam as well as growing tourism traction in off-the-beaten-path European countries such as Slovenia, Estonia and Montenegro.

Related: 'No more flying for you': Travel agency sounds alarm over risk of 'carbon passports'

As a result, airlines have been looking at their networks to include more faraway destinations as well as smaller cities that are growing increasingly popular with tourists and may not be served by their competitors.

The Philippines has been popular among tourists in recent years.

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United brings back more routes, says it is committed to 'finding hidden gems'

This week, United Airlines  (UAL)  announced that it will be launching a new route from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Morocco's Marrakesh. While it is only the country's fourth-largest city, Marrakesh is a particularly popular place for tourists to seek out the sights and experiences that many associate with the country — colorful souks, gardens with ornate architecture and mosques from the Moorish period.

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"We have consistently been ahead of the curve in finding hidden gem destinations for our customers to explore and remain committed to providing the most unique slate of travel options for their adventures abroad," United's SVP of Global Network Planning Patrick Quayle, said in a press statement.

The new route will launch on Oct. 24 and take place three times a week on a Boeing 767-300ER  (BA)  plane that is equipped with 46 Polaris business class and 22 Premium Plus seats. The plane choice was a way to reach a luxury customer customer looking to start their holiday in Marrakesh in the plane.

Along with the new Morocco route, United is also launching a flight between Houston (IAH) and Colombia's Medellín on Oct. 27 as well as a route between Tokyo and Cebu in the Philippines on July 31 — the latter is known as a "fifth freedom" flight in which the airline flies to the larger hub from the mainland U.S. and then goes on to smaller Asian city popular with tourists after some travelers get off (and others get on) in Tokyo.

United's network expansion includes new 'fifth freedom' flight

In the fall of 2023, United became the first U.S. airline to fly to the Philippines with a new Manila-San Francisco flight. It has expanded its service to Asia from different U.S. cities earlier last year. Cebu has been on its radar amid growing tourist interest in the region known for marine parks, rainforests and Spanish-style architecture.

With the summer coming up, United also announced that it plans to run its current flights to Hong Kong, Seoul, and Portugal's Porto more frequently at different points of the week and reach four weekly flights between Los Angeles and Shanghai by August 29.

"This is your normal, exciting network planning team back in action," Quayle told travel website The Points Guy of the airline's plans for the new routes.

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International

Walmart launches clever answer to Target’s new membership program

The retail superstore is adding a new feature to its Walmart+ plan — and customers will be happy.

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8 hours ago

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March 8, 2024

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It's just been a few days since Target  (TGT)  launched its new Target Circle 360 paid membership plan. 

The plan offers free and fast shipping on many products to customers, initially for $49 a year and then $99 after the initial promotional signup period. It promises to be a success, since many Target customers are loyal to the brand and will go out of their way to shop at one instead of at its two larger peers, Walmart and Amazon.

Related: Walmart makes a major price cut that will delight customers

And stop us if this sounds familiar: Target will rely on its more than 2,000 stores to act as fulfillment hubs. 

This model is a proven winner; Walmart also uses its more than 4,600 stores as fulfillment and shipping locations to get orders to customers as soon as possible.

Sometimes, this means shipping goods from the nearest warehouse. But if a desired product is in-store and closer to a customer, it reduces miles on the road and delivery time. It's a kind of logistical magic that makes any efficiency lover's (or retail nerd's) heart go pitter patter. 

Walmart rolls out answer to Target's new membership tier

Walmart has certainly had more time than Target to develop and work out the kinks in Walmart+. It first launched the paid membership in 2020 during the height of the pandemic, when many shoppers sheltered at home but still required many staples they might ordinarily pick up at a Walmart, like cleaning supplies, personal-care products, pantry goods and, of course, toilet paper. 

It also undercut Amazon  (AMZN)  Prime, which costs customers $139 a year for free and fast shipping (plus several other benefits including access to its streaming service, Amazon Prime Video). 

Walmart+ costs $98 a year, which also gets you free and speedy delivery, plus access to a Paramount+ streaming subscription, fuel savings, and more. 

An employee at a Merida, Mexico, Walmart. (Photo by Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Jeff Greenberg/Getty Images

If that's not enough to tempt you, however, Walmart+ just added a new benefit to its membership program, ostensibly to compete directly with something Target now has: ultrafast delivery. 

Target Circle 360 particularly attracts customers with free same-day delivery for select orders over $35 and as little as one-hour delivery on select items. Target executes this through its Shipt subsidiary.

We've seen this lightning-fast delivery speed only in snippets from Amazon, the king of delivery efficiency. Who better to take on Target, though, than Walmart, which is using a similar store-as-fulfillment-center model? 

"Walmart is stepping up to save our customers even more time with our latest delivery offering: Express On-Demand Early Morning Delivery," Walmart said in a statement, just a day after Target Circle 360 launched. "Starting at 6 a.m., earlier than ever before, customers can enjoy the convenience of On-Demand delivery."

Walmart  (WMT)  clearly sees consumers' desire for near-instant delivery, which obviously saves time and trips to the store. Rather than waiting a day for your order to show up, it might be on your doorstep when you wake up. 

Consumers also tend to spend more money when they shop online, and they remain stickier as paying annual members. So, to a growing number of retail giants, almost instant gratification like this seems like something worth striving for.

Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024

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