Weekly Digest on AI and Emerging Technologies (28 April 2025)

Governance, Legislation, and Geostrategies

Shaping the World’s AI Future: How the U.S. and China Compete to Promote Their Digital Visions

(Kayla Blomquist, Keegan McBride – Just Security – 25 April 2025) On April 8, numerous committees within the United States House of Representatives held hearings on AI, examining China’s growing capabilities, the release of DeepSeek’s R1 reasoning model, and potential implications for U.S. security and economic interests. These conversations attempted to untangle what is more important for U.S. strategic interests: building the most advanced and capable AI technology, potentially at the cost of widespread global adoption, or following China’s approach by focusing on building a new global technology ecosystem where potentially less capable models could be adopted and deployed rapidly at scale. Recent evidence suggests it may be beneficial for the United States to pursue the latter strategy. Smaller, more resource-efficient, and localizable models are gaining significant traction globally, potentially rivalling the impact of compute-intensive frontier systems in user adoption metrics. This is exemplified by the recent releases of models from Chinese firms like DeepSeek and Alibaba; smaller in size and, therefore, more efficient to run. They have quickly achieved high rates of international adoption despite, or perhaps because of, their relatively modest size. – https://www.justsecurity.org/110608/us-china-competition-ai/

DeepSeek: A Tool Tuned for Social Governance

(Alex Colville – The Jamestown Foundation – 25 April 2025) The government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) does not just envision its “AI+ initiative” as bolstering the national economy but aiding its plans for modernizing its social stability system. DeepSeek has been designed, thanks to regulations, in a way that makes it a perfect tool to support the “public opinion guidance” system that aligns the public with state policy through propaganda. Any adoption of DeepSeek’s model overseas has the potential to spread the PRC’s domestic social governance system abroad. – https://jamestown.org/program/deepseek-a-tool-tuned-for-social-governance/

Finland’s Quantum Strategy Published, Outlines Eight Measures to Strengthen Nation’s Leadership Position in Quantum

(Quantum Insider – 25 April 2025) Finland has released a national quantum technology strategy outlining eight measures to strengthen its position as a global leader in quantum computing, sensing, and secure communications. The strategy emphasizes targeted investment in education, infrastructure, and industry access to quantum systems, while acknowledging that Finland must compete through focus and agility rather than state aid. Key proposals include creating a national quantum competence center, expanding access to quantum-classical-AI hybrid platforms, and promoting EU-aligned standards and regulations. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/04/25/finlands-quantum-strategy-published-outlines-eight-measures-to-strengthen-nations-leadership-position-in-quantum/

Spain Launches $860 Million Quantum Strategy to Boost National Industry and Secure Digital Sovereignty

(Quantum Insider – 25 April 2025) Spain has launched its first National Quantum Technologies Strategy, committing over €800 million through 2030 to advance research, commercialization, and public engagement in quantum science. The strategy targets leadership in quantum computing, communication, and sensing, while linking national competitiveness to EU goals for digital sovereignty and secure infrastructure. A dedicated Quantum Communications Hub and early funding for major research centers reflect Spain’s effort to build a coordinated, scalable, and globally relevant quantum ecosystem. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/04/25/spain-launches-860-million-quantum-strategy-to-boost-national-industry-and-secure-digital-sovereignty/

Sam Altman: AI privacy safeguards can’t be established before ‘problems emerge’

(Suzanne Smalley – The Record – 25 April 2025) The CEO of OpenAI said (…) that it’s too early to implement privacy regulations for artificial intelligence because the technology — and how it impacts society — is rapidly evolving. “It’s very difficult to predict all of this in advance,” said Sam Altman, who has run OpenAI since 2019, at a major privacy conference in Washington, D.C. “Dynamic response is the only way to responsibly figure out the right guardrails for new technology.” – https://therecord.media/sam-altman-openai-privacy-safeguards

FTC publishes updates to children’s privacy rule, easing fears that Trump admin would nix it

(Suzanne Smalley – The Record – 25 April 2025) After a six-year effort to update a landmark children’s online privacy protection rule dating to 2000, the Federal Trade Commission this week made a tougher version of the regulation official and announced it will go into effect on June 23. The development is noteworthy because despite the agency having previo