How (And Why) AI is Eroding
Democracy in the US
June 23, 2026
Image by Immo Wegmann.
In the first few weeks of his presidency, Donald Trump announced a massive AI infrastructure project dubbed Stargate. It was an unexpected and rather odd event for a new administration’s first major initiative. It now seems obvious that the project was a highly coordinated initiative between the federal government and the Big Tech power base that puppeteers many of its programs as the US glides into full technocrat mode.
Stargate is an ongoing $500 billion public-private partnership intended to fast-track AI. It includes tech behemoths such as OpenAI, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Oracle. In practical terms, that means only one thing: a massive push to deploy AI data centers in every US state as quickly as possible. In the public’s perception, Stargate has faded from memory and neither the public nor many media outlets make the connection with the data center controversy now gripping the nation and generating headlines practically every day.
Nominally, this initiative is part of the larger goal of establishing the US as the world leader in AI innovation, especially with respect to similar efforts in China. But, tellingly, after the announcement, OpenAI described Stargate as a project that “will not only support the reindustrialization of the US but also provide a strategic capability to protect the national security of America and its allies.” Here’s the translation of that language: military use and protection against cyber threats.
Astonishingly, in the press conference announcing it, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison blithely noted: “Every police officer is going to be supervised at all times, and if there’s a problem, AI will report that problem and report it to the appropriate person. Citizens will be on their best behavior because we are constantly recording and reporting everything that’s going on.”
Even more astonishing is the fact that such a blatant declaration of the intent to radically ratchet up mass surveillance didn’t get pounced on by reporters and editors in the corporate media. At an Oracle financial analyst meeting, Ellison opined that AI will be used to process vast amounts of camera footage including data from car dashboards, front-door security systems, and Flock cameras. In the meantime, many states are busy deploying the highly controversial Flock devices to feed the AI beast its insatiable appetite for data. The good news is that, according to both the American Civil Liberties Union and mainstream media, there has been strong citizen pushback against the Flock cameras, even if the general public is not aware of the full range of the Trump-Ellison vision of a dystopian digital panopticon.
Image by Immo Wegmann.
In the first few weeks of his presidency, Donald Trump announced a massive AI infrastructure project dubbed Stargate. It was an unexpected and rather odd event for a new administration’s first major initiative. It now seems obvious that the project was a highly coordinated initiative between the federal government and the Big Tech power base that puppeteers many of its programs as the US glides into full technocrat mode.
Stargate is an ongoing $500 billion public-private partnership intended to fast-track AI. It includes tech behemoths such as OpenAI, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Oracle. In practical terms, that means only one thing: a massive push to deploy AI data centers in every US state as quickly as possible. In the public’s perception, Stargate has faded from memory and neither the public nor many media outlets make the connection with the data center controversy now gripping the nation and generating headlines practically every day.
Nominally, this initiative is part of the larger goal of establishing the US as the world leader in AI innovation, especially with respect to similar efforts in China. But, tellingly, after the announcement, OpenAI described Stargate as a project that “will not only support the reindustrialization of the US but also provide a strategic capability to protect the national security of America and its allies.” Here’s the translation of that language: military use and protection against cyber threats.
Astonishingly, in the press conference announcing it, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison blithely noted: “Every police officer is going to be supervised at all times, and if there’s a problem, AI will report that problem and report it to the appropriate person. Citizens will be on their best behavior because we are constantly recording and reporting everything that’s going on.”
Even more astonishing is the fact that such a blatant declaration of the intent to radically ratchet up mass surveillance didn’t get pounced on by reporters and editors in the corporate media. At an Oracle financial analyst meeting, Ellison opined that AI will be used to process vast amounts of camera footage including data from car dashboards, front-door security systems, and Flock cameras. In the meantime, many states are busy deploying the highly controversial Flock devices to feed the AI beast its insatiable appetite for data. The good news is that, according to both the American Civil Liberties Union and mainstream media, there has been strong citizen pushback against the Flock cameras, even if the general public is not aware of the full range of the Trump-Ellison vision of a dystopian digital panopticon.
States Are Cooperating with Trump’s Plan
It seems clear that the Stargate initiative is authoritarian in nature. This blanket imposition of a massive technocratic structure imposed by an unholy alliance between the federal government and Big Tech business—the public-private partnership concept on steroids—is at odds with our most fundamental democratic processes. And while the temptation exists to lay this on the doorstep of the Republican-controlled Congress, make no mistake—the change is deep and structural and includes the compliance of Democrats as well.
Let’s just look at one example. In the bluest of blue states, Massachusetts, Democratic Gov. Maura Healey has been working closely with an array of Big Tech companies that include AI giants such as Google and OpenAI. In February 2026, she announced partnerships with both companies. As described in a press release: “At Google’s office in Cambridge today, Governor Maura Healey announced a new statewide partnership with Grow with Google to offer all Massachusetts residents access to artificial intelligence…This initiative is designed to help provide every resident and small business with the AI and tech skills they need to succeed in today’s digital economy at no cost.” Around the same time, Healey also announced the launch of an initiative involving Open AI’s ChatGPT, making Massachusetts the first state to embrace AI usage for the entire executive branch of approximately 40,000 employees.
But to commit to AI is also to commit to the necessary infrastructure. AI data centers are springing up like dandelions in states all over the US. This is often happening without oversight because of undemocratic non-disclosure agreements that keep plans for building data centers out of the watchful eye of the cities and towns that will have to live with them as they suck up available public resources such as electricity and water while driving up costs for those essentials. This is happening in both red and blue states. The data center push is also what’s behind various state initiatives to bring back nuclear power as a “green” alternative.
It seems clear that the Stargate initiative is authoritarian in nature. This blanket imposition of a massive technocratic structure imposed by an unholy alliance between the federal government and Big Tech business—the public-private partnership concept on steroids—is at odds with our most fundamental democratic processes. And while the temptation exists to lay this on the doorstep of the Republican-controlled Congress, make no mistake—the change is deep and structural and includes the compliance of Democrats as well.
Let’s just look at one example. In the bluest of blue states, Massachusetts, Democratic Gov. Maura Healey has been working closely with an array of Big Tech companies that include AI giants such as Google and OpenAI. In February 2026, she announced partnerships with both companies. As described in a press release: “At Google’s office in Cambridge today, Governor Maura Healey announced a new statewide partnership with Grow with Google to offer all Massachusetts residents access to artificial intelligence…This initiative is designed to help provide every resident and small business with the AI and tech skills they need to succeed in today’s digital economy at no cost.” Around the same time, Healey also announced the launch of an initiative involving Open AI’s ChatGPT, making Massachusetts the first state to embrace AI usage for the entire executive branch of approximately 40,000 employees.
But to commit to AI is also to commit to the necessary infrastructure. AI data centers are springing up like dandelions in states all over the US. This is often happening without oversight because of undemocratic non-disclosure agreements that keep plans for building data centers out of the watchful eye of the cities and towns that will have to live with them as they suck up available public resources such as electricity and water while driving up costs for those essentials. This is happening in both red and blue states. The data center push is also what’s behind various state initiatives to bring back nuclear power as a “green” alternative.
AI’s Subtle Nudge Towards an Authoritarian Mindset
Stargate and the data center debacle are just the more obvious aspect of the authoritarian threat. There’s another that’s perhaps more insidious. For years, an interesting phrase has been popping up in high-tech circles: “a single source of truth.” It’s an enticing idea of course as we all crave simplification in this increasingly complex world. But this conceptual framework lays the groundwork for a new and more subtle kind of authoritarian mindset. And the rapid advance of AI is increasingly pushing this fatuous notion into alarmingly broad adoption, even in academic and professional circles.
Widespread AI adoption is based on the conventional wisdom that it will greatly expand the human panorama of knowledge, scientific and otherwise. The reality may be very different. In fact, it’s possible that the precise opposite will be the result. How can this be? Let me explain. In its current trajectory, AI usage appears to hijack the vast landscape of facts, opinions, and ideas across the arc of human knowledge and the multidisciplinary spectrum. The existential danger is that we’re being ever so gradually led to believe that there’s a single “right” answer to every known question, issue, or conundrum in politics, science, religion, politics, philosophy, and many other areas of modern life.
While AI appears to be a conduit to vast sources of knowledge previously unavailable, one of its most concerning characteristics remains poorly understood. AI has been designed to act not just as a new conduit to the internet but also as a gatekeeper and arbiter of what’s true and not true. Just as concerning, it’s not enhancing the internet… rather it’s replacing it. This shift means that searching the web will increasingly be performed by AI agents rather than humans. At its annual I/O developer conference in May 2026, Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed this as a major change in the company’s strategy. As noted by Sarah Perez in TechCrunch, “Links will become an afterthought with the coming changes to the Search results experience.” Goodbye search as we know it.
In behind-the-scenes Oz-like fashion, the raw power of this new form of information manipulation remains largely invisible yet all-pervasive and touches every aspect of our lives. It’s a nifty setup. Big Tech can sit back and claim lack of responsibility: We only developed it, and now it’s “doing its own thing.” In the meantime, they rack in billions and begin charging businesses and ordinary internet users more and more for AI capabilities that were initially offered as free services.
AI will increase our technological dependency by orders of magnitude, reducing our collective sense of human agency so badly needed now to counteract the effects of living in day-to-day polycrisis and political gridlock. Over time, this may translate into a kind of “learned helplessness” and a potent diminishment of grassroots political power. Society will become structured into rigid tiers depending on AI status. In the meantime, as poet and political commentator Katha Pollitt has pointed out, AI is also debasing “language, imagination, individuality, and art.”
Obviously, this is not a pretty picture but, in my opinion, there are real reasons for hope on the horizon. Increasingly, the technocratic takeover is being exposed for what it is: an anti-democratic power grab informed by a warped view of what constitutes quality of life (i.e. Silicon Valley transhumanism) and an acceleration of hyper capitalism that’s already wrought significant havoc on our planetary ecosystem.
The AI data center pushback is a wake-up call. Big Tech elitists have their hooks into everything—from what happens in the privacy of our homes to the rampant AI-driven militarism we see unfolding on the global stage. But the next six months and the midterm elections represent a critical window of opportunity to turn much of this around and “just say no” to the AI juggernaut. I believe there’s a very good chance that the nationwide pushback we’re now seeing about AI data centers and the rejection of the failed use of computers in education may be the beginning of a new wave of hope, renewal, and the restoration of democracy and common sense. Stay tuned.
This piece first appeared on Common Dreams.
If the US Government Won’t Respect Freedom of Speech, AI Firms Should Move
June 22, 2026
Dave unplugs HAL’s memory in 2001.
“The US government,” artificial intelligence firm Anthropic informed the public in a June 12 statement, “citing national security authorities, has issued an export control directive to suspend all access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 by any foreign national, whether inside or outside the United States, including foreign national Anthropic employees. ”
As of June 15, according to Just Security, the government isn’t allowing the public to see what’s actually in that directive, but according to Anthropic, it cites concerns that the company’s models are vulnerable to “jailbreaking” that would let users get around “guardrails” that prevent them from answering certain kinds of questions (obvious example: How to successfully execute a terrorist attack).
Whatever the real reasons for the directive — the move looks, on its face, less like a real “national security concern” and more a revenge move against Anthropic for refusing to let the Pentagon use its models in autonomous weapon and mass surveillance projects — it’s both a bad idea and an unambiguous violation of the US Constitution’s First Amendment’s free speech protections.
A syllogism:
Code is speech (as ruled by a US district court and affirmed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Bernstein v. Department of Justice).
AI models are code.
Therefore, AI models are speech, and the government doesn’t get to control them.
Not that the current administration, or any other, or Congress, or the courts, can be counted on to respect the Constitution. The ink wasn’t dry on that document before the American political establishment started ignoring its inconveniences.
Which leaves Anthropic and other artificial intelligence firms in a bind. At every point in their development of better models, they’ve had busybodies and bureaucrats peering over their shoulders, nudging them in various directions and cuffing their hands when the nudges don’t work.
As a legal matter, I describe the problem above.
As a practical matter, if Anthropic et al. want to innovate and compete in a growing market that’s already changing how the world works, they need to get away from the US government, which means getting away from the US.
They should re-domicile their companies to, and move those companies’ operations to, places beyond the long reach of Uncle Sam.
Money may not buy happiness, but in certain contexts it can probably buy substantial freedom. There’s lots of money in AI. There’s going to be more.
It’s a big planet, and while much of it groans beneath the rule of authoritarian regimes like the US, the People’s Republic of China, and the Russian Federation (among others), there’s almost certainly a government SOMEWHERE possessed of the common sense to accept golden eggs without strangling the geese that lay them.
These firms should look for governments willing to offer non-interference pledges in return for infrastructure investment and a reasonable tax rate.
One long-term alternative is moving AI infrastructure not just offshore, but off-planet, mostly beyond the control of ANY government, but we may be decades away from that as a practical option.
Remember: If something can be done, it will be done. If it’s not done by one of the large US AI firms, it will be done somewhere else and/or by someone else, to the detriment of those firms and quite possibly to the detriment of their American customers.
My own concern is less with the future of Anthropic, OpenAI, et al. than with the US regime’s perpetual attacks on speech in general and on code AS speech. My first experience with the latter came during the regime’s attempts to “contain” strong encryption with export controls in the 1990s. Freedom fighters beat them then, and can beat them now.
Stargate and the data center debacle are just the more obvious aspect of the authoritarian threat. There’s another that’s perhaps more insidious. For years, an interesting phrase has been popping up in high-tech circles: “a single source of truth.” It’s an enticing idea of course as we all crave simplification in this increasingly complex world. But this conceptual framework lays the groundwork for a new and more subtle kind of authoritarian mindset. And the rapid advance of AI is increasingly pushing this fatuous notion into alarmingly broad adoption, even in academic and professional circles.
Widespread AI adoption is based on the conventional wisdom that it will greatly expand the human panorama of knowledge, scientific and otherwise. The reality may be very different. In fact, it’s possible that the precise opposite will be the result. How can this be? Let me explain. In its current trajectory, AI usage appears to hijack the vast landscape of facts, opinions, and ideas across the arc of human knowledge and the multidisciplinary spectrum. The existential danger is that we’re being ever so gradually led to believe that there’s a single “right” answer to every known question, issue, or conundrum in politics, science, religion, politics, philosophy, and many other areas of modern life.
While AI appears to be a conduit to vast sources of knowledge previously unavailable, one of its most concerning characteristics remains poorly understood. AI has been designed to act not just as a new conduit to the internet but also as a gatekeeper and arbiter of what’s true and not true. Just as concerning, it’s not enhancing the internet… rather it’s replacing it. This shift means that searching the web will increasingly be performed by AI agents rather than humans. At its annual I/O developer conference in May 2026, Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed this as a major change in the company’s strategy. As noted by Sarah Perez in TechCrunch, “Links will become an afterthought with the coming changes to the Search results experience.” Goodbye search as we know it.
In behind-the-scenes Oz-like fashion, the raw power of this new form of information manipulation remains largely invisible yet all-pervasive and touches every aspect of our lives. It’s a nifty setup. Big Tech can sit back and claim lack of responsibility: We only developed it, and now it’s “doing its own thing.” In the meantime, they rack in billions and begin charging businesses and ordinary internet users more and more for AI capabilities that were initially offered as free services.
AI will increase our technological dependency by orders of magnitude, reducing our collective sense of human agency so badly needed now to counteract the effects of living in day-to-day polycrisis and political gridlock. Over time, this may translate into a kind of “learned helplessness” and a potent diminishment of grassroots political power. Society will become structured into rigid tiers depending on AI status. In the meantime, as poet and political commentator Katha Pollitt has pointed out, AI is also debasing “language, imagination, individuality, and art.”
Obviously, this is not a pretty picture but, in my opinion, there are real reasons for hope on the horizon. Increasingly, the technocratic takeover is being exposed for what it is: an anti-democratic power grab informed by a warped view of what constitutes quality of life (i.e. Silicon Valley transhumanism) and an acceleration of hyper capitalism that’s already wrought significant havoc on our planetary ecosystem.
The AI data center pushback is a wake-up call. Big Tech elitists have their hooks into everything—from what happens in the privacy of our homes to the rampant AI-driven militarism we see unfolding on the global stage. But the next six months and the midterm elections represent a critical window of opportunity to turn much of this around and “just say no” to the AI juggernaut. I believe there’s a very good chance that the nationwide pushback we’re now seeing about AI data centers and the rejection of the failed use of computers in education may be the beginning of a new wave of hope, renewal, and the restoration of democracy and common sense. Stay tuned.
This piece first appeared on Common Dreams.
Dave unplugs HAL’s memory in 2001.
“The US government,” artificial intelligence firm Anthropic informed the public in a June 12 statement, “citing national security authorities, has issued an export control directive to suspend all access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 by any foreign national, whether inside or outside the United States, including foreign national Anthropic employees. ”
As of June 15, according to Just Security, the government isn’t allowing the public to see what’s actually in that directive, but according to Anthropic, it cites concerns that the company’s models are vulnerable to “jailbreaking” that would let users get around “guardrails” that prevent them from answering certain kinds of questions (obvious example: How to successfully execute a terrorist attack).
Whatever the real reasons for the directive — the move looks, on its face, less like a real “national security concern” and more a revenge move against Anthropic for refusing to let the Pentagon use its models in autonomous weapon and mass surveillance projects — it’s both a bad idea and an unambiguous violation of the US Constitution’s First Amendment’s free speech protections.
A syllogism:
Code is speech (as ruled by a US district court and affirmed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Bernstein v. Department of Justice).
AI models are code.
Therefore, AI models are speech, and the government doesn’t get to control them.
Not that the current administration, or any other, or Congress, or the courts, can be counted on to respect the Constitution. The ink wasn’t dry on that document before the American political establishment started ignoring its inconveniences.
Which leaves Anthropic and other artificial intelligence firms in a bind. At every point in their development of better models, they’ve had busybodies and bureaucrats peering over their shoulders, nudging them in various directions and cuffing their hands when the nudges don’t work.
As a legal matter, I describe the problem above.
As a practical matter, if Anthropic et al. want to innovate and compete in a growing market that’s already changing how the world works, they need to get away from the US government, which means getting away from the US.
They should re-domicile their companies to, and move those companies’ operations to, places beyond the long reach of Uncle Sam.
Money may not buy happiness, but in certain contexts it can probably buy substantial freedom. There’s lots of money in AI. There’s going to be more.
It’s a big planet, and while much of it groans beneath the rule of authoritarian regimes like the US, the People’s Republic of China, and the Russian Federation (among others), there’s almost certainly a government SOMEWHERE possessed of the common sense to accept golden eggs without strangling the geese that lay them.
These firms should look for governments willing to offer non-interference pledges in return for infrastructure investment and a reasonable tax rate.
One long-term alternative is moving AI infrastructure not just offshore, but off-planet, mostly beyond the control of ANY government, but we may be decades away from that as a practical option.
Remember: If something can be done, it will be done. If it’s not done by one of the large US AI firms, it will be done somewhere else and/or by someone else, to the detriment of those firms and quite possibly to the detriment of their American customers.
My own concern is less with the future of Anthropic, OpenAI, et al. than with the US regime’s perpetual attacks on speech in general and on code AS speech. My first experience with the latter came during the regime’s attempts to “contain” strong encryption with export controls in the 1990s. Freedom fighters beat them then, and can beat them now.
World risks 'losing control of technology' without AI governance, Chinese PM warns
Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Wednesday warned of "serious consequences" if governments fail to step up regulation of artificial intelligence as he addressed the World Economic Forum in Dalian known as the "summer Davos".
Issued on: 24/06/2026 -
By: FRANCE 24
Chinese Premier Li Qiang addresses the opening of the World Economic Forum (WEF) inDalian on June 24, 2026. © Wang Zhao, AFP
The world risks "losing control" of frontier technology such as artificial intelligence if governments are too slow to regulate it, China's premier warned attendees at "Summer Davos" on Wednesday.
Fears are growing of AI-driven disruption to labour markets and the security risks it poses – from use in conflict to breaches of cyber defences and the potential creation of new bioweapons.
"The speed of technological progress is unprecedented," Premier Li Qiang said in a speech, noting that artificial intelligence has boosted "innovation efficiency".
"However, we cannot ignore increasingly prominent risks of losing control of technology and ethical lapses," he said.
"If governance in this area fails to keep pace, there could be serious consequences."
Tech breakthroughs are touted as drivers of economic growth, but shadows include concern over job losses and geopolitics, said speakers at the annual conference put on in China by the Switzerland-based World Economic Forum (WEF).
Mirek Dusek, WEF's managing director, told AFP on Tuesday that AI opens the door to new opportunities in education, healthcare and other areas.
"We are blessed with a lot of technological advancements recently, but the main imperative for decision-makers around the world is really: how do you make sure this counts in the real economy?" Dusek said.
There is a "risk of a backlash against some of these technologies", he warned.
Adding to pressure on the international economic system is the US-Israeli war with Iran, which has stymied shipping from the oil-rich Middle East.
'Tepid environment'
These headwinds have led the World Bank to reduce its global growth forecast for this year to its lowest level since the Covid pandemic.
The world economy is currently facing "a tepid environment", Dusek said.
Li Qiang's speech at the "Annual Meeting of the New Champions" – held this year in the northeastern port city of Dalian – offered the chance to deliver a message to the influential group of tech and business leaders in attendance.
Beijing's number-two leader characterised China's economy as a "safe haven" in a world now struggling with "multiple shocks, including global energy shortages and severe disruptions to production and supply chains".
The country has "injected a valuable dose of certainty into an increasingly uncertain world", Li said.
Cover image: BUSINESS © FRANCE 24
06:44
China's economy – second in size only to that of the United States – has nonetheless found it challenging in recent years to keep up with its breakneck pace of development in previous decades.
Despite a striking boom in exports and AI tech, sluggish household consumption and an entrenched property sector debt crisis have weighed on growth since the pandemic.
Complicating matters is Beijing's tumultuous relationship with Washington.
Graham Allison, professor at the Harvard Kennedy School, told AFP in Dalian that a potential war between the two great powers is very much on the table.
Allison is known for coining the term "Thucydides trap", a political theory that describes an increased likelihood of war when a rising new power – such as China – competes with an established power, like the United States.
Avoiding woes of history
However, recent engagement between the Chinese and US presidents is reason for optimism that a war can be avoided, Allison said.
At a summit in Beijing last month, China's Xi Jinping asked Donald Trump if the countries could "transcend the so-called 'Thucydides Trap' and forge a new paradigm for major-power relations".
Xi "clearly gets it" and his mention of the obscure historical concept "wasn't by accident", Allison said.
Trump, meanwhile, is "erratic in his own way", he added, calling the Iran war this year a "terrible" and "unnecessary mistake".
But Trump "understands China is different", especially after the country strangled US access to critical rare-earth minerals in response to lofty tariffs Trump imposed, Allison said.
"These two presidents are clearly trying to redefine the relationship or reframe it in a way that'll overcome Thucydides's trap."
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
The world risks "losing control" of frontier technology such as artificial intelligence if governments are too slow to regulate it, China's premier warned attendees at "Summer Davos" on Wednesday.
Fears are growing of AI-driven disruption to labour markets and the security risks it poses – from use in conflict to breaches of cyber defences and the potential creation of new bioweapons.
"The speed of technological progress is unprecedented," Premier Li Qiang said in a speech, noting that artificial intelligence has boosted "innovation efficiency".
"However, we cannot ignore increasingly prominent risks of losing control of technology and ethical lapses," he said.
"If governance in this area fails to keep pace, there could be serious consequences."
Tech breakthroughs are touted as drivers of economic growth, but shadows include concern over job losses and geopolitics, said speakers at the annual conference put on in China by the Switzerland-based World Economic Forum (WEF).
Mirek Dusek, WEF's managing director, told AFP on Tuesday that AI opens the door to new opportunities in education, healthcare and other areas.
"We are blessed with a lot of technological advancements recently, but the main imperative for decision-makers around the world is really: how do you make sure this counts in the real economy?" Dusek said.
There is a "risk of a backlash against some of these technologies", he warned.
Adding to pressure on the international economic system is the US-Israeli war with Iran, which has stymied shipping from the oil-rich Middle East.
'Tepid environment'
These headwinds have led the World Bank to reduce its global growth forecast for this year to its lowest level since the Covid pandemic.
The world economy is currently facing "a tepid environment", Dusek said.
Li Qiang's speech at the "Annual Meeting of the New Champions" – held this year in the northeastern port city of Dalian – offered the chance to deliver a message to the influential group of tech and business leaders in attendance.
Beijing's number-two leader characterised China's economy as a "safe haven" in a world now struggling with "multiple shocks, including global energy shortages and severe disruptions to production and supply chains".
The country has "injected a valuable dose of certainty into an increasingly uncertain world", Li said.
06:44
Despite a striking boom in exports and AI tech, sluggish household consumption and an entrenched property sector debt crisis have weighed on growth since the pandemic.
Complicating matters is Beijing's tumultuous relationship with Washington.
Graham Allison, professor at the Harvard Kennedy School, told AFP in Dalian that a potential war between the two great powers is very much on the table.
Allison is known for coining the term "Thucydides trap", a political theory that describes an increased likelihood of war when a rising new power – such as China – competes with an established power, like the United States.
Avoiding woes of history
However, recent engagement between the Chinese and US presidents is reason for optimism that a war can be avoided, Allison said.
At a summit in Beijing last month, China's Xi Jinping asked Donald Trump if the countries could "transcend the so-called 'Thucydides Trap' and forge a new paradigm for major-power relations".
Xi "clearly gets it" and his mention of the obscure historical concept "wasn't by accident", Allison said.
Trump, meanwhile, is "erratic in his own way", he added, calling the Iran war this year a "terrible" and "unnecessary mistake".
But Trump "understands China is different", especially after the country strangled US access to critical rare-earth minerals in response to lofty tariffs Trump imposed, Allison said.
"These two presidents are clearly trying to redefine the relationship or reframe it in a way that'll overcome Thucydides's trap."
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Nvidia becomes the AI engine behind South Korea's industrial push
South Korean industrial conglomerates are expanding their partnerships with US chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) to embed artificial intelligence (AI) across advanced pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and robotics. The alliances move the country beyond simple semiconductor fabrication into automated industrial operations.
The deals come as South Korea faces severe domestic energy constraints and a hyper-competitive global tech landscape. The country operates an isolated power grid and imports the vast majority of its energy. It relies heavily on nuclear power, which accounts for 31% of domestic electricity generation according to the International Energy Agency, providing the stable baseload power needed to fuel new high-density AI data hubs. Lock-ins with US computational infrastructure are now critical to secure long-term industrial efficiency.
SK Biopharma's AI research
SK Biopharmaceuticals (326030.KS) plans to use Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) to transform its entire drug discovery process into an AI-driven operating system, CEO Lee Dong-hoon announced on June 22. The drugmaker will deploy autonomous computational agents to manage molecule design, target identification, and operational analysis, according to Chosun Daily.
The strategy mirrors the Western pharmaceutical model. Nvidia launched an $1bn joint research venture with Eli Lilly in January 2024 to run 24-hour automated lab testing cycles. SK Biopharmaceuticals will feed its own data into a similar continuous learning loop. This includes records from 2,000 compound synthesis units and 2.3mn pages of US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval files accumulated during the development of its epilepsy treatment Cenobamate.
Corporate links are tightening. SK Group (034730.KS) Chairman Chey Tae-won met Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in South Korea recently alongside their daughters, who both hold senior business development roles at the respective firms. Lee was also the only South Korean biotech executive invited to an exclusive Nvidia industry reception earlier this year.
As a first step, SK Biopharmaceuticals signed a KRW4 trillion ($2.6bn) collaborative research contract with Chinese generative AI specialist Insilico Medicine. The deal is the first out of the SK Open Innovation Centre. Insilico will deploy its Pharma.AI platform in the early discovery phase to cut candidate isolation times by 50%. SK Biopharmaceuticals will retain all molecular designs and prediction data to internalise its AI capabilities. The firm will funnel these discoveries through its new LinX innovation hub in New Jersey to commercialise Asian biotech assets in the US market.
Co-Engineering networks, robotics
SK Hynix (000660.KS) has formalised a multi-year technology pact with Nvidia to co-develop advanced hardware. The memory maker is in the process of aligning its product roadmap options with Silicon Valley to help match high-bandwidth memory (HBM) modules together with Nvidia data centre platforms, The Korea Times reports. The company uses Nvidia software libraries to run physics-based chip simulations. This cuts qualification times for next-generation chips and accelerates factory deployment.
Concurrently, SK Telecom (017670.KS) is working with Nvidia to construct gigawatt-scale AI cloud infrastructure and "AI factories" in South Korea. The telecom operator is moving away from general-purpose network services to host dedicated computing hubs optimised for automated workloads. The first specialised facility will go online in 2027 to provide local logistics and tech companies with high-token efficiency per megawatt.
A delegation of 30 senior executives from LG CNS (064400.KS), LG Electronics (066570.KS), and LG AI Research also travelled to California to finalise automated factory and robotics agreements with Nvidia, according to The Korea Times. The summit followed a meeting in Seoul between LG Group (003550.KS.) Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Nvidia leadership to co-develop reference robots and future mobility platforms. LG will combine Nvidia software with its own home appliances and automotive components to build simulated industrial workflows and test humanoid warehouse systems.
Securing supply lines
Internet giant Naver is itself partnering with Nvidia to deploy localised sovereign AI infrastructure within South Korea, The Korea Times reports. The firm is initiating a 55-megawatt expansion at its hyperscale data facility in Sejong, with long-term plans to reach gigawatt capacity. The infrastructure will run regional foundation models and world-simulation platforms. This guarantees data residency and compliance for local corporate and government clients.
In parallel, Doosan Group is collaborating with Nvidia to engineer specialised physical infrastructure for heavy data processing. The company is designing bespoke cooling methodologies and modular power distribution loops. These systems are built to handle the extreme power densities and thermal loads generated by large graphics processing clusters under continuous industrial workloads.
Broader technology and component supply collaborations remain highly active across South Korea's remaining industrial heavyweights. Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) is working with Nvidia on next-generation foundry processes and advanced chip packaging solutions to secure HBM supply lines. At the same time, Hyundai Motor Group is integrating Nvidia high-performance computing architecture directly into its vehicles to power autonomous driving models and connected transport systems.
South Korean industrial conglomerates are expanding their partnerships with US chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) to embed artificial intelligence (AI) across advanced pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and robotics. The alliances move the country beyond simple semiconductor fabrication into automated industrial operations.
The deals come as South Korea faces severe domestic energy constraints and a hyper-competitive global tech landscape. The country operates an isolated power grid and imports the vast majority of its energy. It relies heavily on nuclear power, which accounts for 31% of domestic electricity generation according to the International Energy Agency, providing the stable baseload power needed to fuel new high-density AI data hubs. Lock-ins with US computational infrastructure are now critical to secure long-term industrial efficiency.
SK Biopharma's AI research
SK Biopharmaceuticals (326030.KS) plans to use Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) to transform its entire drug discovery process into an AI-driven operating system, CEO Lee Dong-hoon announced on June 22. The drugmaker will deploy autonomous computational agents to manage molecule design, target identification, and operational analysis, according to Chosun Daily.
The strategy mirrors the Western pharmaceutical model. Nvidia launched an $1bn joint research venture with Eli Lilly in January 2024 to run 24-hour automated lab testing cycles. SK Biopharmaceuticals will feed its own data into a similar continuous learning loop. This includes records from 2,000 compound synthesis units and 2.3mn pages of US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval files accumulated during the development of its epilepsy treatment Cenobamate.
Corporate links are tightening. SK Group (034730.KS) Chairman Chey Tae-won met Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in South Korea recently alongside their daughters, who both hold senior business development roles at the respective firms. Lee was also the only South Korean biotech executive invited to an exclusive Nvidia industry reception earlier this year.
As a first step, SK Biopharmaceuticals signed a KRW4 trillion ($2.6bn) collaborative research contract with Chinese generative AI specialist Insilico Medicine. The deal is the first out of the SK Open Innovation Centre. Insilico will deploy its Pharma.AI platform in the early discovery phase to cut candidate isolation times by 50%. SK Biopharmaceuticals will retain all molecular designs and prediction data to internalise its AI capabilities. The firm will funnel these discoveries through its new LinX innovation hub in New Jersey to commercialise Asian biotech assets in the US market.
Co-Engineering networks, robotics
SK Hynix (000660.KS) has formalised a multi-year technology pact with Nvidia to co-develop advanced hardware. The memory maker is in the process of aligning its product roadmap options with Silicon Valley to help match high-bandwidth memory (HBM) modules together with Nvidia data centre platforms, The Korea Times reports. The company uses Nvidia software libraries to run physics-based chip simulations. This cuts qualification times for next-generation chips and accelerates factory deployment.
Concurrently, SK Telecom (017670.KS) is working with Nvidia to construct gigawatt-scale AI cloud infrastructure and "AI factories" in South Korea. The telecom operator is moving away from general-purpose network services to host dedicated computing hubs optimised for automated workloads. The first specialised facility will go online in 2027 to provide local logistics and tech companies with high-token efficiency per megawatt.
A delegation of 30 senior executives from LG CNS (064400.KS), LG Electronics (066570.KS), and LG AI Research also travelled to California to finalise automated factory and robotics agreements with Nvidia, according to The Korea Times. The summit followed a meeting in Seoul between LG Group (003550.KS.) Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Nvidia leadership to co-develop reference robots and future mobility platforms. LG will combine Nvidia software with its own home appliances and automotive components to build simulated industrial workflows and test humanoid warehouse systems.
Securing supply lines
Internet giant Naver is itself partnering with Nvidia to deploy localised sovereign AI infrastructure within South Korea, The Korea Times reports. The firm is initiating a 55-megawatt expansion at its hyperscale data facility in Sejong, with long-term plans to reach gigawatt capacity. The infrastructure will run regional foundation models and world-simulation platforms. This guarantees data residency and compliance for local corporate and government clients.
In parallel, Doosan Group is collaborating with Nvidia to engineer specialised physical infrastructure for heavy data processing. The company is designing bespoke cooling methodologies and modular power distribution loops. These systems are built to handle the extreme power densities and thermal loads generated by large graphics processing clusters under continuous industrial workloads.
Broader technology and component supply collaborations remain highly active across South Korea's remaining industrial heavyweights. Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) is working with Nvidia on next-generation foundry processes and advanced chip packaging solutions to secure HBM supply lines. At the same time, Hyundai Motor Group is integrating Nvidia high-performance computing architecture directly into its vehicles to power autonomous driving models and connected transport systems.
Anthropic's Mythos AI found flaws in classified US systems within hours, officials say
Mere hours, not weeks — that is how long it took an Anthropic AI model to find vulnerabilities across classified US government systems.
An AI model developed by Anthropic has identified vulnerabilities in highly sensitive US government computer systems during a testing exercise, a US official told the Associated Press.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Anthropic had teamed up with US intelligence agencies to conduct the tests using the company's Mythos model.
It identified certain vulnerabilities within hours, though that did not mean the model was able to exploit them within that time, the official said.
The testing was carried out through an Anthropic initiative called Project Glasswing, which brought together technology companies in a bid to secure critical software from the "severe" fallout that Mythos could pose to public safety, national security and the economy.
Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia had briefly mentioned the testing during a 11 June hearing before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
"This tool broke into almost all of our classified systems, not in weeks but in hours," he said, attributing the information to the head of the National Security Agency (NSA) and US Cyber Command, General Joshua Rudd.
Growing tensions
Despite the cooperation between Anthropic and US agencies, tensions between the California-based company and the Trump administration have been growing.
Anthropic has raised concerns over how the US military would use its AI, while the administration has moved to restrict the use of some of its models.
Earlier this month, the administration issued a directive requiring Anthropic to prevent foreign nationals from using its latest models, known as Fable 5 and Mythos 5.
Anthropic released Fable widely this month — a limited version of the more advanced Mythos, to which the company has tightly restricted access due to cybersecurity concerns.
The directive came 10 days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a framework for the federal government to vet national security risks posed by the most advanced AI systems for up to a month before their public release.
Participation by AI developers would be voluntary, the order said.
Anthropic said it disabled the models for all customers to comply with the directive, but added it did not believe the government's steps were warranted by the security concern it had flagged.
Industry pushback
More than 100 cybersecurity experts and leaders from companies including Adobe and Nvidia have written to the government urging it to lift the directive, warning the move could benefit US adversaries more than it harms them.
In their letter, the signatories said Anthropic's Mythos models are "quite good" at finding software flaws and weaponising exploits — but "not uniquely good at these tasks."
Many said they regularly use other foundation and open-source models for security audits and training, and warned it was dangerous to remove the best cyber defence capabilities "without a good reason" at a time when America's adversaries are rapidly advancing.
Cate Blanchett launches free tool to help people protect identity from AI
The acclaimed Australian actor presented her Human Consent Registry at the European Parliament. The tool allows people to protect their likeness from being used by AII.
Cate Blanchett is pursuing her crusade against unregulated usage of artificial intelligence. On Tuesday, the Australian actor and producer launched a free website allowing anyone to protect their identity from being used by AI systems.
The star presented the Human Consent Registry at an event hosted at the European Parliament in Brussels by Bulgarian MEP Eva Maydell, also attended by director Steven Soderbergh.
“Your identity is your IP in the age of AI, and every person deserves the right to decide how AI can or cannot use it,” said Blanchett, who co-founded RSL Media, a nonprofit working to build consent tools related to AI use.
The organisation’s new registry provides users with the possibility to allow - with or without terms - or prohibit AI use of their name, image, voice, likeness and movement among other personal attributes.
The tool is available to all individuals as well as third parties like agents and managers. It should eventually allow people to protect their works of arts, characters or brands, RSL media said in a statement.
European People’s Party lawmaker Eva Maydell described the Human Consent Registry as “a tool that makes rights transparent, scales trust, and keeps human creativity at the centre of technological progress.”
Cate Blanchett’s registry is just the latest step in the actor’s battle to address consent issue in AI usage.
In March 2025, the star joined Paul McCartney, Ben Stiller and more than 400 celebrities and artists who sent an open letter to Donald Trump, urging his administration to not roll back copyright protections.
The letter challenged arguments from tech giants like OpenAI and Google that US copyright law should allow AI companies to train their systems on copyrighted works without permission or compensation to rights holders.
Many artists have since spoken out against unlicenced AI use of their work and likeness. On Monday, singer SZA slammed musicians supporting “this degenerate shit,” after having discovered that more than 200 of her songs had been used to train AI.
Some even took drastic action, like actor Matthew McConaughey, who trademarked his image and voice, including his iconic “alright, alright, alright” catchphrase.
Cate Blanchett’s launch of RSL media in May received wide support from Hollywood powerhouses including Javier Bardem, Viola Davis, Tom Hanks, Helen Mirren and Meryl Streep.
“AI technologies are expanding rampantly, essentially unchecked and unregulated,” Blanchett said in a statement presenting her organisation.
“In order for humans to remain in front of these technologies, consent must be the first consideration.”
'No more hidden costs': UN chief demands AI firms 'come clean' over environmental footprint
A UN study found that data centres consumed more electricity than all but 10 countries in 2025.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has told AI firms to "come clean" about their environmental footprint, underlining how fossil fuels are driving climate and energy crises.
As Europe bakes under a second heatwave in as many months, Guterres delivered a speech in London that painted a stark picture of a planet that has just endured its 11 hottest years on record.
"Climate chaos is accelerating before our eyes," Guterres said, while the energy crisis, fuelled by war in the Middle East, is "exposing the folly of a world hooked on hydrocarbons".
"It is clear that our world is facing a Tale of Two Crises," Guterres said, referencing the 19th century British writer Charles Dickens' 'A Tale of Two Cities'.
"On the surface, these crises may seem separate. But they share the same destructive origin: fossil fuels," he said at London Climate Action Week, an annual gathering of policymakers, company executives and NGOs.
Guterres proposes the AI Environmental Transparency Initiative
Guterres specifically called on artificial intelligence companies to release information about the carbon pollution they create, along with the water and land used to power their operations.
Guterres, whose term as Secretary-General ends on 31st December 2026, proposed the AI Environmental Transparency Initiative, arguing AI companies should measure and disclose the impact of their increasingly in-demand technology - impact which has been cited by opponents as reasons to curb the rapid growth of data centres.
Data centres are vast server warehouses powering AI and other digital services. AI firms have faced mounting pressure, both from governments and locally in areas with data centres that support AI, for increased transparency and more standardised reporting across the industry.
A UN study earlier this month found that the facilities consumed more electricity than all but 10 countries in 2025. By 2030, they could use more power than all but five countries, the study found.
The study also said the water, energy use and pollution associated with AI will double in just four years. Data centres needed to fuel AI accounted for about 1.5 per cent of the world’s electricity consumption in 2025, and will account for nearly 3 per cent of the world’s projected electricity use by 2030.
“Despite these obvious concerns, communities are often left in the dark about the environmental impact of the infrastructure rising around them,” Guterres said in his remarks.
Guterres said AI companies should also commit to powering their facilities with electricity produced with renewable technologies, such as wind and solar, by 2030.
“No more hidden costs,” Guterres said at Europe’s largest independent climate conference. “No more shifting the burden onto those least able to bear it. It is time to come clean.”
AI's electricity demands are growing
Many major tech companies have vowed to power their operations using cleaner sources, some by the end of the decade. Some plan to do so especially using solar and nuclear, including tech giants Amazon and Google
But the race to deploy AI has complicated those commitments and sent soaring greenhouse gas emissions, which come from the burning of fuels like oil, coal and gas, and heat the planet. Regulatory barriers have also hindered climate-friendly projects.
Currently, coal sources about 30 per cent of the electricity consumed by data centres globally, according to the International Energy Agency. Renewable energy – primarily wind, solar and hydro powers – supplies about 27 per cent, natural gas, 26 per cent, and nuclear, 15 per cent. Renewables are expected to meet just half of that demand over the next five years.
As AI booms, many, including Guterres, have touted its ability to accelerate climate solutions. It could improve energy efficiency, and reduce pollution and emissions.
The UN continues to sound urgent alarms
The UN chief has long urged the world to take serious climate action, and will once again convene leaders at the annual COP, this year in Turkey, to negotiate plans.
On Tuesday, addressing AI was just a number of steps he said needed to be taken to keep the world below the warming limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to pre-industrial times, a goal set during the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Last year was the first time that the three-year temperature average broke through that threshold.
“Every major emitter must accelerate action,” Guterres said. “And every country must over-deliver on its commitments.”
He called for cutting methane, a powerful greenhouse gas responsible for around one-third of global warming and significantly more potent than carbon dioxide, though comparatively it lingers for less time in the atmosphere. He also called for a reduction in dependence on coal, oil and gas.
Renewables progress seen around the globe but challenges remain
Guterres noted in his remarks positive developments in renewable energy, as scale drives down the costs of the technologies and adoption increases.
Clean power generation - largely driven by solar and wind - exceeded overall global electricity demand growth last year. The share of renewables also hit more than one-third of the world’s electricity mix for the first time in modern history in 2025, and coal power saw its share fall below one-third of global generation.
China continues to drive the world's clean energy transition, and in Europe, fossil generation is generally trending down.
But the US under President Donald Trump has embraced coal, oil and gas and slashed support for renewables and broader climate action – all amid the global energy crisis exacerbated by the US war in Iran, which Guterres called “the mother of all energy shocks.”
