AI + ML<\/p>\n
PLUS: Robot becomes Buddhist monk in Korea; TikTok spending $25bn in Thailand; Baidu floating chip biz; and more!<\/p>\n
China\u2019s Cyberspace Administration last week published<\/a> draft regulations\u00a0 governing the behavior of AI agents and suggested humans should always retain the ability to review decisions taken by software.<\/p>\n The draft expresses Beijing\u2019s enthusiasm for AI agents with a call for efforts to develop datasets that accelerate development, along with security standards that make agents safe to use and ensure they behave ethically.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also a call to develop mandatory standards for how agents will behave \u201cin fields such as healthcare, transportation, media, and public safety.\u201d China also wants to participate in international fora that develop such standards.<\/p>\n The draft calls for developers of AI agents to \u201cclarify the reasonable boundaries and required authority for various decision-making methods, such as decisions limited to the user, decisions requiring user authorization, and autonomous decisions by the intelligent agent.\u201d<\/p>\n Those boundaries should \u201cEnsure that users have the right to know and the final decision-making power regarding the autonomous decisions made by the intelligent agent, and that the intelligent agent’s actions do not exceed the scope authorized by the user.\u201d<\/p>\n The draft identifies many tasks Beijing thinks agents might take on, including marking homework, analyzing medical images, evaluating employee performance and recommending promotions, helping disaster relief efforts, and even providing \u201cintelligent management of the entire bidding and tendering process, ensuring standardization and efficiency throughout.\u201d<\/p>\n Samsung turns off its TV and appliance business in China<\/p>\n Korean giant Samsung last week decided to quit China\u2019s TV and appliance markets.<\/p>\n \u201cIn response to the rapidly changing market environment, after careful consideration, Samsung Electronics has decided to cease sales of all home appliances, including televisions and monitors, in the Chinese mainland market,\u201d states an \u201cadjustment notice<\/a>\u201d on the Samsung China website.<\/p>\n Samsung will honor warranties, and continue to provide after-sales service.<\/p>\n The company hasn\u2019t said why it\u2019s quitting these markets in China. The Register expects the reasons have a lot to do with the rise and rise of Chinese consumer electronics companies, which can make a patriotic pitch in addition to pointing out the high quality of their products.<\/p>\n Samsung\u2019s not the first to decide it\u2019s too tough to try trading televisions in China: Sony quit the country, too<\/a>.<\/p>\n Thailand approves giant TikTok datacenter<\/p>\n The government of Thailand last week approved<\/a> TikTok\u2019s plan to spend \u0e3f842 billion ($25 billion) on new datacenters in the country.<\/p>\n Thailand\u2019s Board of Investment said the project will see TikTok \u201cinstall additional servers and expand data storage and processing infrastructure across Bangkok, Samut Prakan and Chachoengsao Province, supporting rising demand for digital services and strengthening Thailand\u2019s role in regional digital infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n The Board also signed off on a 200 MW datacenter to be built by Skyline Data Center and Cloud Services Co, and a 134 MW facility from Bridge Data Centres.<\/p>\n Baidu to float its chip biz<\/p>\n Chinese web giant Baidu has filed paperwork to spin out its chip design business Kunlunxin.<\/p>\n Baidu flagged its plan to do this in January, when it said<\/a> the aim was to \u201cindependently showcase Kunlunxin’s value, attract investors focused on the AI chip sector, and leverage its standalone listing to enhance its market profile, broaden financing channels, and better align management accountability with performance.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis also supports the effort to unlock the value of Baidu’s AI-powered businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n Kunlunxin\u2019s chips suit inferencing and training workloads, but their performance can\u2019t match Nvidia\u2019s latest chips \u2013 or even four-year-old kit like the H100. That hasn\u2019t stopped Baidu using the chips to power its own AI services, and major Chinese corporations also use the company\u2019s chips.<\/p>\n Japan and EU to improve tech interoperability<\/p>\n The EU-Japan Digital Partnership Council recently convened its annual meeting and last week revealed<\/a> that talks included \u201cdeepened discussions on the joint development and interoperability of data spaces\u201d and promised to keep talking in a new \u201cData Strategy Working Group\u201d that will \u201cimprove the interoperability of data policy frameworks.\u201d<\/p>\n The meeting also discussed a successful pilot on interoperable digital identities which apparently \u201cshowed that cross-border use is technically possible, even where governance frameworks and technical architectures differ. Using prototypes of digital identity wallets, the project demonstrated how interoperability can be achieved in practice between different systems.\u201d<\/p>\n As part of discussions, the EU and Japan agreed to begin working in new areas, including video games and audiovisual strategies.<\/p>\n Humanoid robot becomes Buddhist monk<\/p>\n Seoul\u2019s Jogye Temple last week allowed a robot named Gabi to take the vows required of a Buddhist monk.<\/p>\n Temple leaders reportedly<\/a> decided to initiate the robot because they feel humanoid machines will soon become a part of everyday life.<\/p>\n