August 12, 2026

AI Watch

U.S. ban on foreign-made humanoid robots targets China over security risks– www.cbc.ca

pgnewser August 4, 2026 0

U.S. ban on foreign-made humanoid robots targets China over security risks– www.cbc.ca
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The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is banning imports of new foreign-made humanoid robots and power inverters, citing national security risks, in a move that targets China.

Beijing quickly accused the U.S. of protectionism.

The measures are likely to test relations with Beijing ahead of a planned U.S. visit by Chinese leader Xi Jinping to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in September. China dominates the global market for humanoid robots with an estimated market share of roughly 85 per cent.

The FCC’s ban also includes new imports of quadruped robots, often referred to as four-legged robot dogs. The agency said imports of advanced robots pose cybersecurity and other national security risks. Offshore production of such equipment also leaves U.S. supply chains vulnerable to disruptions.

The ban on power inverters, which are used to convert direct current (DC) electricity into alternating current (AC) electricity and are used in renewable energy systems, data centres and household appliances, could have sweeping ramifications.

Democrats’ Fundraisers Are Also Running AI’s Congressional Access Operation– readsludge.com

pgnewser August 4, 2026 0

Democrats’ Fundraisers Are Also Running AI’s Congressional Access Operation– readsludge.com
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Democratic fundraising consultants working for Senate campaigns, including those of Sen. Jacky Rosen and Rep. Haley Stevens, also run a nonprofit backed in part by Google and Amazon that has become one of the AI industry’s primary channels for cultivating relationships with the congressional staff overseeing federal AI legislation.

The Innovative Future Collective (IFC), founded by Democratic fundraising consultants Ashley Kennedy and Tonya Fulkerson, has spent the past year flying congressional aides on industry-guided tours of Google, Meta, Amazon, Palantir, Anduril, and other companies at the center of the AI industry’s campaign to shape federal AI policy, including its push to preempt state AI regulation. The nonprofit describes the trips, built around briefings from company policy executives for committee counsels and chiefs of staff overseeing AI legislation, as “educational,” and told Sludge in March that it “does not engage in advocacy.”

Though IFC does not disclose its donors, two companies whose executives regularly participate in its congressional programs, Google and Amazon, have identified IFC among the political and policy organizations they fund in their own public political-engagement disclosures.

Kennedy and Fulkerson own Fulkerson Kennedy & Company (FK&Co.), a political fundraising firm that has been paid nearly $3 million this election cycle for fundraising consulting services by Democratic campaigns and committees, according to Federal Election Commission records. Its clients include Sens. Chris Coons, Jacky Rosen, and Martin Heinrich; Reps. Chris Pappas and Haley Stevens, who are running for open Senate seats; and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. IFC’s first federal tax filing, covering 2025, shows the nonprofit paid $179,079 back to FK&Co. for “management, staffing, and fundraising services.”

China Hits U.S., Europe With New Rare Earths Export Controls– legalinsurrection.com

pgnewser August 4, 2026 0

China Hits U.S., Europe With New Rare Earths Export Controls– legalinsurrection.com
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Early this year, the Trump administration unveiled a new minerals stockpile initiative called “Project Vault,” which prioritizes the development of mines and processing operations for more than 50 minerals deemed critical.

This move comes on top of Trump’s pursuit of new alliances to challenge China’s control over these essential resources. Additionally, the administration has been expediting mine openings, supporting new smelting operations, and exploring deep-sea options for these resources.

These developments are likely not making Chinese officials happy. Subsequently, it should not come as a surprise that China has now imposed new export controls on rare earths bound for this country.

China added MP Materials (MP.N) and USA Rare Earth (USAR.O) as well as eight other ​U.S. entities it said are linked to the U.S. military to its export ‌control list in retaliation for Washington placing several Chinese companies under restrictions this month.

Aveox, a motor manufacturer for mission-critical applications, was also among those placed on the list, which halts Chinese dual-use exports to the companies.

Pentagon-backed ​MP Materials, which operates the only active rare earth mine in the U.S., and ​USA Rare Earth are both involved in the mine-to-magnet supply chain.

USA Rare ⁠Earth said it did not have any comment on the matter. MP Materials and Aveox were ​not available for comment outside of business hours.

Thousands of Admissions in Doubt at University in Mexico After AI is Used to Prevent Cheating– legalinsurrection.com

pgnewser August 4, 2026 0

Thousands of Admissions in Doubt at University in Mexico After AI is Used to Prevent Cheating– legalinsurrection.com
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AI is probably going to be an ongoing issue in higher education for years to come.

A top Mexican university used AI to prevent exam cheating. Now thousands of admissions are in doubt

Daniel Fernando García Velázquez took the admissions exam for Mexico’s most famous university four times before finally getting the result that should have guaranteed him admission.

On his first three attempts, he had no option other than to travel the 400 km (250 miles) from his native Veracruz to Mexico City to take the test, because the prestigious National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) insisted it had to be taken in person.

On his fourth – and what should have been victorious – attempt this June, he traveled up anyway, even though this time, for the first time in the university’s history, it would be administered online.

This time, Velázquez aced the exam – scoring 94 out of 120 in what should have secured him a spot on the Communication and Journalism degree program offered at UNAM’s Aragón School of Higher Studies.

How to Stop China from Freeriding on American AI– warontherocks.com

pgnewser August 4, 2026 0

How to Stop China from Freeriding on American AI– warontherocks.com
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The release of the Chinese open-weight AI model Kimi K3 has compressed a year’s worth of unresolved AI policy debate into a single news cycle. On July 21, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened sanctions against Chinese labs found to have built their models on “theft,” reporting that the government is “finding watermarks of our U.S. large language models on many of the Chinese models.” The following day, White House science advisor Michael Kratsios clarified that the Chinese AI lab behind K3, Moonshot AI, had built a sophisticated platform to copy Anthropic’s Fable model while evading detection.

Industry has been vocal about its own views, with Nvidia’s Jensen Huang declaring that American companies should “absolutely” use Chinese models that outcompete American counterparts on price. In the Washington Post, investor Bill Gurley argued that treating open models as a danger to be licensed and contained runs afoul of the free-market principles that have long powered American innovation.

AI Capability Races Ahead of the Business Payoff | American Enterprise Institute– www.aei.org

pgnewser August 4, 2026 0

AI Capability Races Ahead of the Business Payoff | American Enterprise Institute– www.aei.org
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The state of the AI revolution can be confusing. At times, it can seem as if the latest artificial intelligence models are showing huge capability increases. One example is when two OpenAI models broke out of the lab, accessed the internet, and broke into another AI company. Or, as a Wall Street Journal headline put it, “The Day the Bots Broke Loose.”

But then you might come across another headline from the Wall Street Journal: “Big Companies Are Starting to Hire Again, Defying Predictions of AI Wipeout.” And from that piece:

The push to expand head count, at least modestly, is a reversal from the prevailing corporate messaging during much of the AI era. Major employers largely held back on adding people due to economic uncertainties or a belief that artificial intelligence could shoulder more tasks on the job. But some executives say the costs and limitations of AI now demand that more people be added; others want to hire people back following layoffs.

Graphics card prices jump by up to 20% in China as shops stockpile Nvidia and AMD GPUs– www.techspot.com

pgnewser August 4, 2026 0

Graphics card prices jump by up to 20% in China as shops stockpile Nvidia and AMD GPUs– www.techspot.com
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Ripple effect: Just when it seemed like graphics card prices couldn’t get much worse, the memory crisis has delivered another unpleasant surprise. Nvidia and AMD GPU prices have surged in China, with some models rising by as much as 20% in a single week and premium cards now selling for almost 60% above their official MSRPs.

Distributor lists from MSI and Colorful reveal the increases. MSI raised the RTX 5080 Shadow 3X OC and Ventus from 9,999 yuan ($1,477) to 11,999 yuan ($1,773), a 20% jump in seven days. Its RTX 5070 Ti Shadow 3X OC rose 19.5%, while the RTX 5090D V2 increased 13%. What’s worse is that these cards were already well above their suggested prices before the latest adjustment.

Comparing the new figures with Nvidia’s Chinese MSRPs makes the situation look even worse. MSI’s RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio OC is now 54% above the base MSRP, while the RTX 5080 Gaming Trio models are around 57% higher. Colorful’s RTX 5080 Vulcan W OC is priced at 13,199 yuan ($1,949), 59% above MSRP, and its RTX 5070 Ti Vulcan W OC carries a similar 58.7% premium.

The increases aren’t just limited to Nvidia. A market snapshot showed Radeon cards climbing across Chinese retailers, with some RX 9000 models seeing double-digit increases. AMD reportedly warned Asus, XFX, Sapphire, and other partners earlier this month that its GPU-and-memory bundles would become 10% more expensive.

The culprit is, of course, the continuing rise in GDDR6 and GDDR7 costs, combined with more expensive PCBs, coolers, and packaging. Nvidia supplies board partners with GPU and memory kits, so higher VRAM costs are passed directly to manufacturers. Reports claim the latest adjustment adds around 600 yuan ($89) to 8GB cards, 900 yuan ($133) to 12GB models, and 1,200 yuan ($177) to 16GB products.

EU will require companies to label AI-generated content starting Sunday– www.techspot.com

pgnewser August 4, 2026 0

EU will require companies to label AI-generated content starting Sunday– www.techspot.com
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The takeaway: Companies operating in the European Union are now subject to a new requirement: clearly label content created or altered by artificial intelligence. Beginning Sunday, the EU’s latest transparency rules take effect, covering everything from chatbot responses to AI-generated images, audio, and video. The aim is simple: users should be able to tell, without guessing, whether what they are seeing or hearing is real or machine-generated.

The rule is part of the EU’s broader artificial intelligence law, which is being rolled out in phases. This first step focuses on disclosure. If content is generated by AI or significantly manipulated by it, companies must make that clear. That includes adding visible labels as well as technical markers, such as watermarks or embedded metadata, that help identify synthetic material.

The push comes as deepfakes and other AI-generated media become more convincing and easier to produce. Regulators are particularly concerned about how quickly this content can spread and how difficult it has become to determine what is real.

The requirements apply mainly to content created in professional contexts. Material designed to inform the public about matters of general interest must carry a label if it is produced by AI without human editorial oversight. At the same time, the EU has carved out exceptions. Individuals using AI for personal purposes are not covered, and exemptions exist for “artistic, creative, satirical, fictional” works.

Meta has added an “AI Info” label to posts on Facebook and Instagram to identify content created with artificial intelligence.

EU’S AI Act Kicks in

pgnewser August 4, 2026 0

Starting this Sunday, the EU’s new AI Act begins to take effect, which includes key provisions empowering the EU to regulate AI models and apply fines to companies that fall out of compliance. The law also gives the EU investigatory powers to penalize non-cooperating companies and individuals.

The Act itself presents a challenge to AI geopolitical realities of power as nations and associations like the EU attempt to use domestic laws to affect foreign AI powers. For instance, the fines countries give to foreign companies doing business in their territory due to non-compliance with their AI rules could become weapons of war in the AI geopolitical reality of power.

EU to begin enforcing AI Act from Sunday with hefty fines for rule breakers – Firstpost– news.google.com
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The European Union will begin enforcing key provisions of its AI Act from Sunday, empowering regulators to oversee AI models and fine companies that violate the bloc’s rules.

The European Union will take a major step in regulating artificial intelligence from Sunday, when authorities gain the power to enforce key provisions of the bloc’s landmark AI Act. The move allows regulators to oversee advanced AI systems, order corrective measures and impose significant financial penalties on companies that fail to comply with the law.

The AI Act, adopted by the European Union in 2024, is being rolled out in phases and follows a risk-based framework.

Under the legislation, AI systems considered to pose greater risks to people’s rights or health face stricter obligations designed to safeguard individuals.

The law also prohibits the use of AI for predictive policing, emotion recognition systems in workplaces or schools, and technologies that manipulate human behaviour.

 

AI can become more biased than humans while choosing who gets hired; study finds |– timesofindia.indiatimes.com

pgnewser July 23, 2026 0

AI can become more biased than humans while choosing who gets hired; study finds |– timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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Artificial intelligence is increasingly being trusted to help employers screen CVs, rank candidates and even conduct early-stage interviews. The promise is simple: AI can process thousands of applications quickly, reduce administrative workloads and, in theory, make hiring decisions more objective than humans. According to a recent review by MIT Technology, based on the 2024 study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology titled “Costly Exploration Produces Stereotypes With Dimensions of Warmth and Competence”, large language models (LLMs) may not only inherit human biases from the data they are trained on but also develop entirely new stereotypes based on their own experiences. Rather than simply reflecting existing prejudice, these systems can create fresh patterns of discrimination as they attempt to optimise decision-making over time.The findings are particularly significant because businesses are rapidly integrating AI into recruitment. If these systems begin making assumptions about groups of applicants after only a handful of hiring decisions, they could gradually reinforce unfair employment practices without any explicit human instruction.The research, conducted by scientists at Princeton University and the University of Chicago, builds on earlier psychological work showing how stereotypes can emerge from repeated decision-making. It suggests that the same learning strategies that make AI effective at solving complex problems can also make it unusually prone to stereotyping job candidates.

U.S. pledges $5 billion to boost AI in government-backed scientific research– www.scientificamerican.com

pgnewser July 23, 2026 0

U.S. pledges $5 billion to boost AI in government-backed scientific research– www.scientificamerican.com
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Overall federal funding for scientific research is set to decline in 2027, the most senior White House science figure said on Wednesday. The government, however, pledged to spend $5 billion on promoting artificial intelligence in science.

Michael Kratsios, the White House’s science and technology adviser, told the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology that the money will be drawn from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASA, as well as other federal agencies.

The goal is to produce “the premier AI for science ecosystem in the world,” he said. The funding will be earmarked for “research awards, funding opportunities, specialized scientific datasets and research facilities,” the White House said in a statement.

China Explores Elevating Cognitive Effects into Its Vision of Warfare– warontherocks.com

pgnewser July 23, 2026 0

China Explores Elevating Cognitive Effects into Its Vision of Warfare– warontherocks.com
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EXCERPT:

In March 2025, China’s military researchers published a concept describing how to rapidly capture and subdue the city of Taipei. Distributed in restricted military channels, this approach argues Beijing can achieve victory “by blocking the city’s ability to receive external assistance, restricting its ability to enable operations, breaking its operational system, collapsing cognitive cohesion, and eliminating its ability to recover.” Its objective is to break the Taiwan people’s will to fight.

While this concept is not yet doctrine, it is an important and rarely seen example of how China’s military strategy and research inform the way it plans to fight a war over Taiwan. The authors’ framework operationalizes China’s new military strategy of “national total war,” referring to whole-of-nation mobilization, and “cognitive domain operations,” referring to influencing the mental space where people and organizations make decisions. Details on both remain sparse, particularly in the context of how they may support the Chinese military’s primary mission of capturing Taiwan.

“All-domain megacity incapacitation warfare” (大型城市全域失能战) describes in remarkable detail how China’s military might capture Taipei by integrating military firepower with cognitive effects. An article from the March 2025 edition of Military Art, China’s leading internal journal on military theory, proposes this idea. The Central Military Commission oversees and approves this journal, and its official circulation is limited to restricted military channels. Because the journal is closely held within China’s military, the article’s authors have liberty to speak in specifics and without varnish as they inject their concept into China’s internal debate on how to plan a war on Taiwan.