Technology Weekly News | August 2024

?? Stay updated with the major developments shaping the tech landscape! Here's a roundup of the latest tech news highlights:

?? European AI Act Takes Effect, Setting Global Standards for AI Regulation

The European Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), the world’s first comprehensive AI regulation, officially takes effect on August 1, 2024. Designed to ensure trustworthy AI in the EU, the Act aims to create a harmonized market that fosters innovation and investment while protecting fundamental rights.

The AI Act categorizes AI systems into four risk levels: minimal, specific transparency, high, and unacceptable. Minimal-risk systems face no obligations, while high-risk systems must meet stringent requirements. Unacceptable-risk systems, including those manipulating behavior or enabling social scoring, are banned. The Act also addresses general-purpose AI models, ensuring transparency and managing systemic risks. National authorities will oversee compliance, with the AI Office enforcing rules and supporting implementation through advisory bodies.

With full rules applying from August 2026, the AI Act’s phased approach includes immediate bans on high-risk AI and voluntary compliance through the AI Pact. The Commission is developing guidelines and seeking input for a general-purpose AI Code of Practice, ensuring comprehensive and effective AI regulation.

Read more at ec.europa.eu

?? AIS Partners with Oracle to Launch Thailand’s First Hyperscale Cloud

Advanced Info Service Public Company Limited (AIS), Thailand's leading digital life service provider, has announced plans to deploy Oracle Alloy and launch AIS Cloud, Thailand's first locally owned and operated hyperscale cloud. This new cloud service will offer more than 100 Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) services, enhancing AI capabilities and ensuring compliance with local regulatory requirements.

AIS Cloud will support organizations in addressing data residency and sovereignty requirements such as Thailand's PDPA Act and the Cybersecurity Act. By leveraging Oracle Alloy, AIS will provide resilient in-country disaster recovery capabilities and support digital transformation across public and private sectors. AIS’s established network infrastructure, serving over 45 million subscribers, will be bolstered by this new venture, driving innovation and business growth.

The strategic collaboration between Oracle and AIS will position AIS as a leading hyperscale cloud provider, enabling faster development of new services and fostering AI innovation. This move will significantly enhance the competitive advantage of Thai organizations, attract investments, and support sustainable economic growth in Thailand. AIS Cloud will be operational in two AIS data centers, ensuring local support and compliance with regulatory standards.

Read more at www.ais.th

?? Google Unveils AI-Enhanced Database Features at Cloud Next Tokyo 2024

This week, Google is hosting its Cloud Next conference in Tokyo, focusing on AI workloads. Key updates include enhancements to the Spanner SQL database with graph and vector search support, and Gemini-powered features in BigQuery and Looker for data engineering, analysis, governance, and security.

Google emphasizes the need for enterprises to consolidate data from silos into a unified multimodal data platform, integrating structured and unstructured data. New Spanner capabilities, including full-text and vector search, aim to enrich GenAI applications. Bigtable now supports SQL, making it easier for developers to use, while Oracle database services can now be hosted on Google Cloud, bridging applications between Google and Oracle clouds.

Google's new features aim to activate enterprise data flows, enabling AI-enabled applications and enhancing business operations. With added support for open-source tools like Apache Spark and Kafka, Google Cloud continues to expand its offerings, driving digital transformation and AI innovation.

Read more at www.techcrunch.com

?? Thailand Aims to Become a Leading AI Creator, Set to Host AI Thailand Forum 2024

Thailand is poised to transform from an AI user to an AI application creator, as stated by the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC). This transition is underpinned by the country's robust high-performance computing infrastructure, data centers, and a focus on developing skilled personnel and startups.

Public and private sectors are investing around 1 billion baht to develop a workforce of 30,000 AI-skilled individuals within three years. Thailand currently hosts 300 AI startups with 1,000 professionals, and significant investments in AI research, including the development of the Thai Large Language Model. Thailand's AI ecosystem is set for significant growth, with plans to increase AI-skilled workers to 50,000 within five years. Nectec and other organizations are spearheading initiatives to harness AI for economic growth and sustainability.

Nectec, AIAT, AIEAT and SCBX will jointly hold the second AI Thailand Forum 2024 this year under theme "Sustainable Growth with AI" on Oct 25-26 at Samyan Mitrtown, Bangkok, Thailand.

Read more at www.bangkokpost.com

?? NIST Re-Releases Dioptra to Combat AI Model Attacks and Enhance System Safety

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has re-released Dioptra, a modular, open-source tool designed to evaluate how malicious attacks, especially those poisoning AI model training data, affect AI system performance. Originally launched in 2022, Dioptra aims to assist in assessing, analyzing, and tracking AI risks, offering a common platform for testing models against simulated threats.

Dioptra is intended to benchmark and research AI models by simulating adversarial attacks in a controlled environment. This tool, available for free, supports government agencies and businesses in evaluating AI systems' claims about performance. It follows recent initiatives like the U.K.’s Inspect tool and aligns with President Biden’s executive order on AI, which mandates AI system testing standards and safety evaluations. However, Dioptra currently only works with locally downloadable models, excluding those accessed via APIs.

While Dioptra does not eliminate all risks, it provides valuable insights into the impact of adversarial attacks on AI systems. It represents a significant step towards improving AI safety and performance evaluation, addressing some of the challenges in assessing AI models’ real-world effectiveness.

Read more at www.techcrunch.com

?? KBTG Techtopia 2024: Thailand's Premier Tech Event Highlights AI Innovations and Global Collaboration

The second KBTG Techtopia saw over 70 global speakers and 2,500 attendees, solidifying its status as Thailand's premier platform for tech enthusiasts. Organized by Kasikorn Business-Technology Group (KBTG), the event sparked discussions on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies.

KBTG chairman Ruangroj Poonpol highlighted that AI would enhance human roles rather than replace them. The event featured keynotes from industry leaders, including Dr. Andrew Ng, who discussed AI's potential in Thailand's tourism, healthcare, and agriculture sectors. The conference also unveiled new AI partnerships and initiatives aimed at fostering AI education and literacy in Thailand.

KBTG Techtopia offered diverse topics beyond AI, covering blockchain, Web3, quantum computing, and more. Proceeds from ticket sales will support the development of OpenThaiGPT, reinforcing KBTG's commitment to AI literacy and development. The event underscored KBTG's role as a tech leader in Southeast Asia.

Read more at www.nationthailand.com

Stay tuned as these developments shape the future of technology and beyond ??

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