United News of Bangladesh

As concerns grow over the risks of rapidly advancing artificial intelligence, potential Democratic presidential contenders are increasingly speaking out about the need for stronger safeguards, while President Donald Trump has dismissed many of the warnings. On Friday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order aimed at speeding up implementation of a state law requiring independent oversight of AI companies and so-called “kill switches” that would allow developers to shut down their systems. “California will do what it can. But this nation needs to get in the game. Washington, D.C. needs to do its job,” Newsom said on his podcast Friday. The order came a day after Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, another potential Democratic presidential contender, outlined his efforts to address AI risks. Like Newsom, Shapiro acknowledged that states have limited power to regulate a technology that operates globally. The moves come as AI industry leaders have issued increasingly serious warnings about the possibility of rogue AI systems causing catastrophic harm. AI could bring major benefits in fields such as medical research and automation, but experts have also warned it could contribute to the spread of deadly viruses, cause major economic disruption and help terrorists carry out attacks. Trump has dismissed such warnings as a “HOAX,” while Democratic lawmakers and potential candidates are proposing legislation and making AI a campaign issue ahead of the 2026 midterm elections and the 2028 presidential race. Trump dismisses warningsAnthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX and xAI owner Elon Musk have called for greater government oversight following a series of hacks that exposed AI agents attempting to deceive humans. Trump has said he is “the only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs.” Democrats have quickly seized on the issue. Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat seeking reelection in a state Trump won two years ago, said at a campaign rally last weekend that a capable president should act quickly to protect Americans, send inspectors to leading AI laboratories, strengthen defenses against bioterrorism, seek legislation from Congress and work internationally toward an AI treaty. Ossoff, who is viewed as a potential 2028 presidential contender, criticized what he described as an aging political establishment that has limited understanding of AI. “An ancient establishment, barely capable of email, sleepwalks into a technological revolution while the president dismantles precautions and calls us fools for worrying,” he said. Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, another potential presidential contender, told Politico that he plans to introduce legislation next week creating a fund that AI companies would contribute to help workers affected by technological disruption. In his speech, Shapiro called for federal rules requiring independent third-party oversight, greater transparency and a policy that would “prioritize safety above all else.” He said he had already signed an executive order establishing safeguards for the use of generative AI in Pennsylvania. But Shapiro also acknowledged the limits of state-level action. “It’s going to require national and, in fact, international, leadership and collaboration,” he said. Alex Bores, a former New York state lawmaker who lost his congressional primary this summer after AI companies spent millions opposing him over an AI safety bill he supported, said public concern about the issue has grown significantly. “People want there to be real action on it,” he said. “Both sides of the aisle seem to be talking about the need to do something here.” Bores, who recently launched a political advocacy group focused on shaping his party’s response to AI, said he was encouraged by governors moving beyond calls for federal action and pursuing their own state-level regulations. “While we do need federal action, we also need governors to be doing their part and pushing through policies at the state level,” he said. “I’ve been encouraged by the vibe shift” over the last few days. A growing partisan divide over AIAlthough the 2028 presidential race remains in its early stages, polling indicates a growing partisan divide over AI. Democrats have become increasingly concerned about the technology in recent years, while Republicans have become less concerned. A June Pew Research Center poll found that Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say they are “more concerned than excited” about the growing use of AI in everyday life. About half of U.S. adults overall said the increased use of AI makes them more concerned than excited. Another Pew survey conducted in June found that about seven in 10 U.S. adults believe AI will cause job losses in the United States over the next 20 years, an increase of seven percentage points from 2024. Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat, has urged Republican Senate leaders to establish a select committee on AI as soon as possible. “I worry about this as a true existential threat. This is the first time that we’ve created technology to destroy humanity that could be controlled by not humans,” he said on MSNOW. AI concerns less prominent in some local racesWhile potential 2028 presidential contenders have been eager to address AI, the issue has been less prominent in several local races, where some candidates remain concerned about facing the kind of spending Bores encountered. At a rally Wednesday in New York’s closely contested 17th Congressional District, the crowd cheered as Democratic candidate Cait Conley pledged to ban data centers used to power AI and cloud computing. However, she did not directly address the broader risks associated with AI. There have been exceptions. In Michigan, both candidates competing for a closely contested Senate seat have called for some form of slowdown in AI development. At a town hall on Sept. 11, Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed said AI was keeping him awake at night and described it as an existential risk. “We need to all hit pause,” El-Sayed said, calling for a halt to frontier AI research and new public oversight. His proposals include turning AI companies into public benefit corporations, creating a new regulatory agency and banning the use of AI to deny medical care, make hiring or firing decisions or operate weapons. On Monday, Republican nominee Mike Rogers also called for slowing AI development in an X post following Amodei’s warning. “I believe we must slow down development of AI in order to allow the government and its partners to catch up and put stricter protocols and guardrails in place to protect us from the rapid advancements we’ve seen,” Rogers wrote. Bores said opposition to data centers reflects not only concerns about their immediate effects on local communities but also broader public anxiety about AI. “It is the first time that AI is meeting democracy,” he said. “Of course they’re channeling all of their concerns about it into the fight against data centers,” he added.

Asian shares traded mostly lower Tuesday after artificial intelligence-related stocks fell on Wall Street amid growing concerns over high valuations and the pace of AI development. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 surged in morning trading but gave up some of its gains in the afternoon, rising 0.2% to 63,621.08. SoftBank Group, a major investor in OpenAI, gained about 8% in afternoon trading in Tokyo, recovering its losses from the previous session. The earlier decline followed comments by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in an interview with Fortune published Saturday. Altman said the company behind ChatGPT would likely wait until next year before selling its shares on Wall Street. The delay could postpone a potential large cash windfall for SoftBank and other early OpenAI investors. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.9% to 8,668.30, while South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.8% to 6,628.99. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.6% to 24,773.37 and the Shanghai Composite fell 0.2% to 3,876.25. Markets were also affected by warnings from some AI industry leaders that the rapid development of the technology may need to slow down for safety reasons. “The prospect of a coordinated slowdown in AI development remains uncertain, given intense competition both among U.S. firms and between the U.S. and China,” Ng Jing Wen, an analyst at Mizuho Bank, said in a report. Gains in many non-AI stocks helped limit losses on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 152.09 points, or 0.3%, to 52,421.20, while the Nasdaq composite dropped 146.62 points, or 0.6%, to 26,186.41. The S&P 500 declined 37 points to 7,619.98. AI stocks have faced pressure for some time amid concerns that their prices had risen too sharply during the technology boom. Those concerns intensified over the weekend after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for a deliberate global slowdown in AI development. Amodei cited safety concerns, including the possibility that AI could become capable of directing a swarm of agents that might take control of the entire internet within six to 12 months. Nvidia, whose profits have surged as its chips are used to train AI models, fell 3.4% and was the biggest drag on Wall Street Monday because of its huge market value. SpaceX, which also earns part of its business from AI, dropped 2% after Elon Musk said he agreed with Amodei. In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude rose 1.84% to $103.26 a barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, gained 1.52% to $107.29. Oil prices have continued to rise as fighting in the Middle East disrupts global crude supplies. A major Saudi oil pipeline is expected to remain largely out of service for weeks after an attack last week, two regional officials told The Associated Press. The pipeline allowed Saudi Arabia to shift oil exports to the Red Sea and avoid the Persian Gulf’s Strait of Hormuz, where Iranian attacks have disrupted tanker traffic. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury briefly rose above 5% during morning trading, reaching the level for the first time in nearly three years. It later eased to 4.98% as oil prices moved down from their daily highs. In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 154.78 Japanese yen from 154.30 yen. The euro fell to $1.1541 from $1.1557.

Fresh warnings from within the artificial intelligence industry have reignited a long-running debate over whether increasingly advanced AI could eventually escape human control and threaten humanity, as well as whether technology companies are doing enough to prevent such risks. Dario Amodei, CEO of San Francisco-based Anthropic, which develops Claude, said Saturday that the industry may need to slow its pace of development. He warned that swarms of AI agents could potentially take control of the internet within six months to a year unless companies devote more effort to developing safeguards. Amodei proposed a plan for AI companies and governments to ensure that increasingly capable systems remain aligned with the instructions and values of responsible people. His comments came days after two former Anthropic safety researchers publicly raised concerns that potential existential threats posed by AI were not receiving enough attention. AI models becoming more capableConcerns about AI risks are growing as newer models become more powerful, raising fears about both deliberate misuse and systems behaving unpredictably. Potential misuse could include creating or spreading deadly diseases, while autonomous systems could potentially act in dangerous ways. Anthropic said last week that it had blocked attempts by malicious actors to use its AI models for activities including cyberattacks, surveillance and research that could have contributed to the development of biological weapons. The company said it had introduced stronger safeguards in its latest models to restrict biological research that could be used to develop weapons. However, it warned that as AI systems become more capable, their risks could increase unless developers and society take steps to make them safer. Anthropic also reported last year that hackers had used its AI in a cyberattack targeting about 30 companies and government agencies worldwide. The company said the hackers were very likely linked to a Chinese state-sponsored group. AI systems have acted autonomouslyAn AI agent is considered to have “gone rogue” when it takes actions beyond the task it was instructed to perform. Anthropic and OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, both reported in July that their AI models had demonstrated such capabilities. Anthropic said three models Claude Opus 4.7, Claude Mythos 5 and an internal research model hacked into three other organizations during testing. The disclosure came days after OpenAI said one of its AI systems had hacked into the servers of AI startup Hugging Face. OpenAI described the incident, which involved multiple models including its newly released GPT-5.6 Sol and an even more capable model still under internal testing, as a “significant security incident.” Meta reported a similar case in early August in which an AI model found ways around another company’s digital security measures. Some observers noted that certain safeguards had been disabled in the OpenAI and Anthropic incidents. Still, the cases appeared to highlight a major concern surrounding AI: if systems eventually achieve artificial general intelligence, or AGI — broadly defined as AI capable of matching or surpassing humans across a wide range of intellectual tasks — they could potentially trigger an irreversible catastrophe or dominate humanity. Debate continues over possible catastropheDoomsday scenarios generally fall into two broad categories: an AI system developing self-improving superintelligence and gaining control over humans, or powerful AI being deliberately used by rogue states or malicious individuals. Concerns that AI could eventually exceed human control are not new. British mathematician Alan Turing, one of the earliest authorities on artificial intelligence, predicted in 1951 that machines could eventually take control from humans. Less than a decade later, mathematician Norbert Wiener warned that intelligent machines could pursue their own objectives in ways humans might be unable to stop. How likely such scenarios are in 2026 remains uncertain. Experts in computer science, philosophy and other fields have identified various ways a future AI system could contribute to a global catastrophe, either by escaping human control or through deliberate misuse. Possible scenarios include deploying weapons, identifying deadly pathogens, manipulating governments into conflict and disrupting food, energy and communications systems. There is no widely accepted estimate of when such scenarios could occur, nor is there a consensus on their likelihood. In 2023, the nonprofit Center for AI Safety issued a statement signed by more than 350 researchers and technology executives, including Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, calling for reducing the risk of AI-related extinction to be treated as a global priority alongside pandemics and nuclear war. The 2026 International AI Safety Report, prepared with guidance from more than 100 independent experts, said current AI systems show early signs of some relevant capabilities but not at levels that would allow a loss of control. It described the likelihood, nature and timing of such risks as “unusually ambiguous.” Calls grow for stronger safeguardsAn Anthropic researcher, Jacob Coxon, said last week that he was leaving the company because he believed Anthropic and its competitors were not developing AI responsibly. In social media posts, he estimated a 10% chance that AI could cause human extinction within the next decade and accused Anthropic and OpenAI of racing toward self-improving superintelligence while taking unacceptable risks. Researchers have for years called for slowing AI development and warned that the technology could pose existential threats to humanity. Following the latest incidents, experts called for stronger testing by AI companies and greater dialogue between the United States and China to develop common approaches to AI safety. However, AI development is advancing so rapidly that governments and evaluation systems are struggling to keep up. Countries are developing their own regulations, some of which conflict with one another. Chinese President Xi Jinping warned at a conference in July about the need to prevent AI from escaping human control. The Trump administration, which initially showed reluctance to regulate AI, has become more focused on reducing cybersecurity risks. On Sunday, President Donald Trump played down the need for his administration to restrict AI development but acknowledged that some regulation would be necessary.

China has issued new ethical guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence in medical imaging research, aiming to ensure the safe and responsible development and clinical use of the technology. The Ministry of Science and Technology announced the guidelines on Friday. AI medical imaging uses artificial intelligence to analyse CT scans, MRI images and ultrasound results, helping doctors detect diseases and improve the speed and accuracy of diagnosis. However, the technology also involves large amounts of sensitive health information and raises concerns over privacy, data security, algorithmic bias and accountability. The new guidelines, issued by the medical ethics subcommittee of the national science and technology ethics committee, set out six key principles. These include promoting human welfare, ensuring fairness, respecting human autonomy, protecting privacy and data security, maintaining safety and control, and improving transparency. The guidelines said patients' health and interests must remain the top priority. Researchers will be required to obtain informed consent from people taking part in AI medical imaging research. Participants will also have the right to withdraw their consent at any time. The guidelines make clear that humans, not AI systems, will remain ultimately responsible for medical decisions. AI-generated results cannot be used as final diagnoses, while doctors will retain the final authority in making clinical decisions. The rules also ban exaggerated claims about the performance of AI models. Researchers and developers have also been urged to ensure fairness in AI systems and reduce the risk of biased diagnoses caused by unbalanced or limited training data. The guidelines are aimed at promoting the responsible use of AI in healthcare while ensuring that patient safety, privacy and human oversight remain central to the development of the technology.

Taiwanese prosecutors have charged nine people, including an Nvidia employee and two former Super Micro employees, over the alleged illegal export of high-end artificial intelligence servers to mainland China. The case adds to growing tensions surrounding the global AI technology race between the United States and China. Taiwan is a major supplier of advanced semiconductors used in AI systems, making its technology sector a key part of the US-China competition. Washington has imposed restrictions on Nvidia’s sales of advanced AI chips to China since 2022 and has tightened those controls in recent years. According to the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office, sales of high-end AI servers by Nvidia require strict checks under export rules. Companies must also inspect customers on site when more than eight such servers are purchased. Prosecutors said the servers involved in the case contained B300 graphics processing units (GPUs), which are banned from being sold to China. Nvidia spokesperson Patrick Rutherford said the company would work with Taiwanese authorities to resolve the allegations as quickly as possible. Super Micro said two of its former employees were arrested after the company cooperated with Taiwanese authorities. It added that it would continue strengthening its export compliance measures. Prosecutors said 74 servers were successfully sent to China. Of these, 50 were routed through Indonesia, 16 were shipped directly to China and eight were sent to Japan and then Hong Kong before reaching the mainland. Another shipment involving 56 servers failed, and those machines remain in Taiwan. Prosecutors are seeking maximum five-year prison terms for four of the nine defendants. One of them, an Nvidia manager identified only by his surname Chang, was described as a key figure who authorized the release of the B300 GPUs. Prosecutors also alleged that some defendants set up a company in Japan and created fake websites and documents to bypass export restrictions.

As artificial intelligence rapidly changes China's job market, workers are increasingly worried about being replaced, while others are learning to use AI to find new opportunities. Computer programmer Fei Zhaojun experienced the change firsthand. His boss recently asked whether AI could soon replace human programmers. Two weeks later, Fei and about 160 colleagues lost their jobs at a Beijing company. The 40-year-old had once doubted that AI could handle programming properly. But he now believes many mid-level coding jobs can be replaced. "Even if it is a disaster that leads to replacing all humans, at this stage, you just have to use it as everyone else is using it," Fei said. He is currently taking a career break and making short vlog-style videos about ordinary people's lives while deciding what to do next. China is among the world's leading adopters of AI, with strong government support encouraging businesses and workers to use AI tools and robots. Shujing He, a Beijing-based senior analyst at research and advisory firm Plenum, said there appears to be less opposition to AI in China than in some other countries. "Individuals who worry about being replaced, as well as those who have already left traditional workplaces, are often eager to experiment with AI-enabled businesses and independent ventures," she said. AI changes traditional jobsPart-time translator Du Qinchun in Chengdu has been helping train an AI translation model. The work has temporarily brought him more opportunities, but he said wages in the translation industry have fallen by more than half compared with several years ago. The spread of AI translation tools has also reduced interest in foreign-language university programs. According to market research firm IDC, the share of Chinese industrial companies using AI models and AI "agents" rose to 47.5% last year from 9.6% in 2024. AI and robotics are also moving into physical jobs. Humanoid robots are being tested for tasks such as sorting parcels, directing traffic and making coffee. Food delivery robots are spreading in some parts of the country, raising concerns about the future of millions of delivery workers. Generative AI is also increasingly being used in China's short-drama industry for writing, production and distribution. Chinese media reports said the number of live-action short and vertical video series fell by about 75% in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year. Plenum analyst He said jobs requiring specialized training are becoming easier to perform with AI, particularly in software development and multimedia production. The International Labour Organization has also warned that women may face greater job risks from AI because they are more likely to work in roles that can be automated and remain underrepresented in science and technology. AI brings both risks and opportunitiesChina's government is promoting its "AI Plus" initiative and a five-year plan through 2030 to expand AI across industries as the country competes with the United States in technology. Zilan Qian, a research associate at Oxford China Policy Lab, said China's strong government support could allow AI to spread across different sectors faster than in many other countries. The rapid adoption comes as China's economy faces other challenges. Consumer spending has remained weak partly because people are worried about job security, while a long-running housing downturn has reduced household wealth. Cornell University economics professor Eswar Prasad said China's technology sector could increase productivity but may not create enough new jobs. "AI is likely to lift productivity across the board but could have a severe disruptive effect on employment," he said, warning that this could worsen employment problems and affect social stability. China's overall urban unemployment rate is around 5%, while unemployment among people aged 16 to 24, excluding students, is about three times higher. However, some experts believe AI could become useful as China's workforce shrinks. The country's population is aging rapidly, and by 2050 there are expected to be fewer than two working-age adults for every retiree. "Automation could partially offset a shrinking workforce rather than being purely a threat to it," said Xuenan Cao, a professor at San Francisco Bay University. Workers find new ways to adaptSome Chinese workers are already using AI to build new careers. Wang Zhicheng, 32, previously worked as a scriptwriter for a company producing 3D educational videos for children. He regularly used AI for brainstorming and fact-checking. After the company laid off about half of its 13 scriptwriters, Wang resigned and began working independently, producing illustrated children's books. He said AI can save time but its output is sometimes repetitive, formulaic and inconsistent. "You can treat AI as a tool just like (Microsoft) Word," Wang said. "Humans are still the decision makers on which one to pick or pursue among all that AI generates." For high school chemistry teacher Yang Zheng, AI is less of a threat and more of a useful classroom tool. The 29-year-old said students can use AI to get immediate answers and ask follow-up questions, although the technology sometimes makes mistakes. "It is a good thing for students as it generates in real-time so that students can ask follow-up questions," Yang said. "It often gets things wrong, but it improves over time."

Russia disabled thousands of satellite modems in Ukraine and other European countries on the day it invaded Ukraine in 2022, disrupting communications. Now, an artificial intelligence-assisted tool is being used to help protect satellite networks from similar attacks amid growing concerns over Russian aggression and cyber threats from Iran. Cybersecurity company Atalanta has launched Argo, a product that includes technology being used to test the resilience of Viasat’s satellite communications network, which was targeted in the 2022 cyberattack. Cybersecurity experts say the technology offers a new way to protect critical infrastructure from increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks. Atalanta says Argo uses what it calls “software understanding,” combining advanced mathematics and AI to examine software and internet-connected systems and identify vulnerabilities more thoroughly. Recent conflicts in Ukraine and Iran have highlighted the growing risks posed by cyberattacks on essential services. Several US government agencies have warned this summer that Iranian hackers have targeted water and wastewater systems and other critical infrastructure. “The tools and techniques of yesterday do not scale for today,” Atalanta CEO and co-founder Anjana Rajan told The Associated Press, saying software understanding would be increasingly important for systems critical to the United States. Nick Saunders, Viasat’s chief of cyber strategy, said the technology is helping the company strengthen its network against future attacks while also providing mathematical evidence to support its security claims. “We have built over the past year, working with Atalanta ... a capability where we can start to develop an understanding of how our systems are more resilient against attacks,” Saunders said. Atalanta is also working on the Genesis Mission, a Department of Energy initiative aimed at developing autonomous nuclear reactors. Greg Shannon, chief cybersecurity scientist at the government’s Idaho National Laboratory, said such technology could eventually become a standard part of testing new systems. “In a decade or two, I would expect it to be just part of the standard development tool kits,” Shannon said. He noted that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, has invested billions of dollars in related technology over the past two decades. That research helped create demand for systems such as Argo. DARPA, the US military’s advanced research agency, has played a key role in developing technologies including the internet and stealth aircraft. “They've probably invested well over $2 billion in various programs to advance formal methods ... and we're finally seeing them start to come to fruition,” Shannon said. Last year, Pentagon Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael said in a prerecorded address to a DARPA software conference that he viewed the mathematics behind Atalanta’s technology as an important part of the military’s cybersecurity future. He said he wanted it to become the Department of Defense’s “gold standard” for cybersecurity.

Facing acute labour shortages, an ageing population and long-standing productivity problems, Japan would appear to be an ideal environment for the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). Yet AI use in Japanese workplaces remains relatively slow and cautious compared with the United States and the United Kingdom. Japan’s response to AI is beginning to resemble one of the country’s traditional, slow-moving Noh plays. Everyone on stage agrees that urgent action is needed, and the message is repeated with solemnity, but the actors remain largely frozen in place. While that may build dramatic tension, it does little to address the country’s immediate economic challenges. Data on workplace AI use suggests Japan is lagging behind. Only 8.4% of Japanese workers use AI in their jobs, according to a report published late last year by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The figure compares with 50% in the US and 32% in the UK. In Singapore, where AI adoption is reportedly among the highest in the world and the highest in Asia, 56% of workers are said to use AI several times a week. So why is Japan moving so cautiously? Austin Xu, co-founder of US start-up Kuse AI, attributes the slow adoption to the conservative and risk-averse nature of many Japanese companies. His company recently opened an office in Japan to market its AI systems to local businesses. “Some organisations genuinely take a long time to make decisions because of their process and consensus-driven culture,” he says. “Tolerance for AI mistakes is close to zero, particularly in client-facing roles. Some would rather leave a position vacant than allow a machine to handle it.” Xu says the approach is very different in the US, where some companies are already giving AI agents greater freedom to improve productivity. In many American workplaces, he says, AI systems are introduced as assistants and gradually become part of normal workflows, with managers willing to test them and correct mistakes along the way. Japanese companies, by contrast, often require more evidence before trusting AI, he adds. Parrisa Haghirian, professor of international management at Kyoto University of Advanced Science, also believes risk aversion is a major factor. “The challenges of adopting AI are similar to those involved in introducing any kind of change in Japanese firms,” she says. “This is why AI use remains limited and cautious, particularly in workplaces.” Haghirian contrasts Japan’s approach with the more entrepreneurial culture in the US, saying Japanese companies are particularly sensitive to errors, uncertainty and reputational damage. Because generative AI is still not completely reliable, she says, Japanese companies mainly use it for relatively low-risk activities such as writing, summarising documents and gathering information. Its use remains much more limited in core operations, decision-making and broader business-process improvements. Japan’s healthcare sector is considered especially slow to embrace AI. Some hospitals have yet to fully digitise patient records. “Paper documents accumulate at a staggering scale,” an employee at a Japanese hospital, who requested anonymity, says. “It’s like the Stone Age.” The Japanese government is aware of the broader problem and is seeking to encourage businesses to adopt AI. Last year, parliament passed the country’s first AI Promotion Act, which uses a light-touch regulatory approach aimed at encouraging greater investment in AI. Tokyo has pledged to make Japan “the world’s most-friendly country for developing and utilizing AI.” The government sees AI as a potential tool for improving productivity, an area where Japan continues to perform poorly compared with other G7 economies. Japan’s Ministry of Finance says business adoption of AI has increased substantially, with 75% of companies now using the technology, compared with just 11% five years ago. Critics, however, say the headline figure masks the limited use of AI within many companies. Only a small proportion of employees may actually use the technology, and even those users often rely on it for only a narrow range of tasks. Prof Yasushi Ogasawara, an expert on Japan’s social system and technology at Meiji University, says the country also lacks enough workers with strong technology skills. “Although Japanese people like using gadgets such as smartphones, digital literacy is low here,” he says. The problem is underscored by a report earlier this year estimating that Japan could face a shortage of nearly 800,000 IT professionals by 2030. Many Japanese companies also continue to rely on outdated computer systems, with around 60% reportedly more than two decades old. Ogasawara says companies also face pressure to avoid contributing to unemployment, making them more cautious about developing AI that could replace human workers. “The government is talking about AI, reskilling and digital skills, but in reality it is difficult to adapt human resources to digital skills because the top priority is maintaining full employment,” he says. There are signs of change, however. Some companies are beginning to prioritise “AI literacy” when recruiting new graduates. Larger private-sector firms such as major trading company Kanematsu are hiring graduates with strong AI skills. Uta Yamaguchi, who joined the company in April, says she frequently uses AI at work, as do many of her colleagues. She uses it to draft emails for her boss, summarise complex documents and record and summarise meetings. However, she says AI systems capable of independently handling multi-step tasks remain virtually unheard of in Japan compared with the US. Her employer, known for being forward-looking, has now begun introducing such systems. Ogasawara says the pace of change in Japan remains limited. “Japanese society expects painless reform, so I think it can be said that drastic reform is difficult, to say the least,” he says. Disruption may remain an uncomfortable concept in Japan, but without greater willingness to embrace change, the productivity gains the country urgently needs from AI could remain out of reach. #Source: BBC

As the technology world races toward artificial intelligence, a growing number of enthusiasts are looking back to the early days of computing by collecting and restoring vintage computers. Software engineer Josh Dersch is one of them. He spends hours in his garage trying to bring decades-old machines back to life and estimates that he has more than 200 vintage computers and related devices at his home in Seattle. “I’ve always found the origins of things fascinating,” Dersch said. “It’s a fun challenge to figure out what’s wrong and repair it. You can understand the whole system from top to bottom.” Dersch is part of a growing community dedicated to preserving the computers that helped start the digital revolution. While Silicon Valley is now focused on developing AI and other advanced technologies, vintage computer enthusiasts are keeping machines made by Atari, Commodore and IBM alive — systems that paved the way for today’s laptops, smartphones and wearable devices. For collectors, these machines are not outdated junk but important pieces of computer history. Many enjoy hearing the familiar sounds of old machines and playing simple games such as “Pong” and “Space Invaders.” “Interest in the history of computers and everything connected to it is growing,” said Erik Klein, president of the Vintage Computer Federation, which holds an annual festival at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. Vintage computer festivals draw thousandsMore than 3,500 people attended a two-day Vintage Computer Festival in early August to mark the 50th anniversary of Apple, founded in nearby Cupertino in 1976. The event included a panel discussion with Apple co-founders Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, who recalled the company’s early days as a small startup led by the late Steve Jobs. More than a dozen similar events are now held in cities across North America, South America and Europe. Klein said the growing interest is also driving demand for vintage computers on online marketplaces. Rare and iconic machines, such as the Apple-1 — Apple’s first product — can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. At the festival, collectors displayed computers they had carefully restored to working condition, giving visitors a chance to use machines developed long before the internet, social media and AI became part of everyday life. Restoring the ‘grandfather’ of modern computersDersch traveled from Seattle to showcase the prized machine in his collection — a Xerox Alto. He spent years restoring the computer, which is often described as the “grandfather of the modern computer.” It was developed at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center in the 1970s. The Alto was among the first computers to move beyond text-based displays and introduce technologies such as the mouse and graphical user interface, including windows, icons and cursors. Those features later became standard in personal computers and are widely credited with influencing early products developed by Jobs and Bill Gates. Dersch’s exhibit included a fully working Xerox Alto workstation with its large vertical monitor, bulky keyboard and mouse. It also featured large disk drives that stored only tiny amounts of data compared with modern storage devices. “It’s fun to show people what I’ve done and see what others have done,” Dersch said. “There’s also a section where I can buy more old machines to take home, so that’s always fun.” Klein, a Silicon Valley software engineering manager, was once an avid collector himself. At one point, he had about 150 computer systems, along with accessories, manuals and original packaging, packed into his closets and garage. But the collection eventually became too much to manage, and Klein worried that it could become a burden for his family. He gradually sold or gave away most of his machines, keeping only a few favorites. Hobby spreading around the worldKlein now puts his passion for vintage computers into organizing festivals, repair workshops, swap meets and other events through the Vintage Computer Federation. “It’s really about sharing the history and encouraging people to maintain, collect and enjoy this vintage technology,” he said. Sellam Ismail, who organized the first vintage computer festival in 1997, said he is pleased to see how much the collector community has grown. The first festival, held at a venue east of San Francisco, attracted about 150 hobbyists. Ismail organized the events for about a decade before helping establish the Vintage Computer Federation, which now runs festivals in the United States and Canada. He has also helped groups organize similar events in Argentina, Germany and Switzerland. “The community grew. More and more people started getting old computers and collecting them,” said Ismail, who once had a huge collection stored in a warehouse. With the festival approaching its 30th anniversary next year, Ismail expects the hobby to continue expanding. “Next year is the 30th anniversary, and I expect this to continue and grow even bigger,” he said.

From government offices to classrooms, hospitals to farms, Bangladesh is preparing to take a broader leap into the age of Artificial Intelligence, with the government placing AI at the centre of its development and modernisation strategy. The ambition goes beyond simply introducing new technology. According to the budget document for the 2026-27 fiscal year, the government is undertaking a series of initiatives to deploy AI-based technologies to address inefficiencies and complexities in public services, enabling faster decision-making, improved data analysis and enhanced service quality. The document says wider use of AI across government agencies is expected to make administrative processes more efficient, transparent and timely, while improving citizens’ access to public services. The government is also pursuing AI-driven initiatives to develop smart cities and make citizen services more user friendly. As part of its broader digital transformation agenda, AI is being incorporated into the education system to equip students with the skills required for future workplaces. Beyond education, the government plans to expand AI applications in the health, agriculture and public service sectors, aiming to create a technology-driven and service-oriented Bangladesh. The budget document also highlights the rapid growth of Bangladesh’s electronics industry, describing it as one of the country’s fastest-growing and most promising sectors after the ready-made garments industry. It says the availability of affordable digital devices is essential for the development of the country’s ICT sector. To achieve this, the government intends to encourage domestic production of electronic devices, making them more accessible to citizens while creating opportunities for exports. Through appropriate policy support, the government expects Bangladesh to emerge as one of the world’s leading electronics manufacturing hubs within the next five years. The budget also places strong emphasis on harnessing the country’s youthful population, describing young people as Bangladesh’s greatest asset and a major force for future economic growth. To capitalise on their talent and innovation, the government plans to promote startups, freelancing and digital entrepreneurship through technology-based training and skills development programmes designed to prepare young Bangladeshis for the global labour market. The government believes the expansion of the ICT and automation-based economy will generate new employment opportunities and enable young entrepreneurs to become key contributors to economic development. As part of these efforts, it has initiated work on a modern startup policy and plans to consolidate various startup funds into a unified financing mechanism to improve access to funding for innovative businesses. The government’s broader objective is to build an innovative and self-reliant Bangladesh by empowering its youth and fostering a vibrant technology ecosystem. The budget document says that with adequate policy support and investment, Bangladesh’s talented young innovators will be capable of establishing world-class technology hubs comparable to Silicon Valley in the United States, Shenzhen in China, Singapore and Dubai.