Artificial intelligence
AI enhances innovation, reduces job satisfaction
A new paper from MIT has found clear evidence of the potential of AI-augmented research. The paper studied the impact of artificial intelligence on innovation in new materials discovery technology among 1,018 scientists in the research and development lab of a large US firm. Author Aidan Toner-Rodgers found that that AI-assisted researchers discovered 44 per cent more materials, resulting in a 39 per cent increase in patent filings and a 17 per cent rise in downstream product innovation. AI was found to automate 57 per cent of ‘idea-generation’ tasks, reallocating researchers to the new task of evaluating model-produced candidate materials. However, the research suggested that the technology has strikingly disparate effects across productivity distribution: the bottom third of scientists sees little benefit, but the output of top researchers nearly doubles. While top scientists exploited their domain knowledge to prioritise promising AI suggestions, others wasted significant resources testing false positives. The paper concludes that these gains come at a cost: 82 per cent of scientists reported reduced satisfaction with their work due to decreased creativity and skill underutilisation. The full paper can be downloaded here.
‘US must avoid EU’s regulatory mistakes over AI’
AI could turbocharge productivity growth with the right regulation, but ‘heavy-handed’ EU rules have stifled AI innovation in Europe and the US mustn’t do the same. This is the view of Jason Furman, economic policy professor at Harvard, who argues that the demand for perfect safety has dangers of its own. His ‘six principles for regulators’ include balancing benefits and risks without ‘a superabundance of caution’, comparing AI with ‘humans, not the almighty’, addressing existing regulations and recognising that ‘not every problem caused by AI can be solved by regulation’. He suggests that new regulation should be overseen by existing domain-specific regulators and warns against allowing regulation to become a ‘moat’ protecting incumbents. Professor Furman’s op-ed, published in the WSJ, can be read here.
Sustainability
Platforms going nuclear
Google has signed a deal to use small nuclear reactors to provide energy for its AI datacentres. The agreement with California-based company Kairos Power aims to see the first reactor online by the end of the decade, with further to follow by 2035. ‘The grid needs new electricity sources to support AI technologies,’ said Michael Terrell, senior director for energy and climate at Google. The move follows the announcement by Microsoft that it had agreed a deal to reopen a reactor at Three Mile Island in New York state. Meanwhile, Meta has issued a request for proposals for the supply of 1 to 4 gigawatts of new nuclear generation capacity in the US. In a post on its atmeta website, the company said that AI innovation ‘requires electric grids to expand’ and that ‘nuclear energy can help provide firm, baseload power to support the growth needs of the electric grids that power…our data centers’.
Connectivity
Senegal launches its first satellite
Senegal became the latest African country to develop and launch its own satellite which it launched aboard a SpaceX rocket in August. The small CubeSat (slightly bigger than a Rubik’s Cube) called GaindeSat-1A will provide earth observation and telecommunications services in a move described by Senegal’s president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, as a big step towards ‘technological sovereignty’. 17 African countries have now put over 60 satellites into orbit. Djibouti and Zimbabwe have both made their first satellites operational this year as launch costs continue to fall. However, the continent currently has no launch facilities of its own.
China’s SpaceSail to launch in South America
Low earth orbit satellite firm SpaceSail has signed an agreement with Brazilian state telecoms company Telebrás to provide broadband satellite services. The Chinese company reached the deal during president Xi Jinping’s state visit to Brazil following the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro. It is SpaceSail’s first international venture and will be powered by the Thousand Sails Constellation to provide connectivity in remote and rural areas, in direct competition to Starlink. Brazil’s government is aiming to diversify satellite services after recent disputes involving Starlink and Elon Musk’s X platform. SpaceSail currently has just over 1,000 satellites to Starlink’s 6,000.
Online safety
Social media firms urge Australian government to delay imposition of age limit
Industry groups in Australia are opposing the introduction of age limits on social media use until an evaluation of age assurance technologies has been completed. The Australian parliament is shortly expected to pass a bill which will permit use of social media only by people aged 16 or over, with the legislation coming into force one year thereafter. In a senate hearing, an industry spokesperson suggested that parliament was being asked to approve a bill ‘without knowing how it will work’. She suggested that a ban on younger users could result in them being driven to ‘darker, less safe online spaces’.
Competition
Meta fined by EU over Facebook Marketplace practices
The European Commission has imposed a fine of 798 million euros on Meta over a breach of antitrust rules. The Commission found that the company had tied its Facebook Marketplace ads service to its Facebook social media platform and imposed ‘unfair trading conditions on other online classified ads service providers’. The European Commission has been investigating Facebook’s bundling practices for over three years. Meta said that the EU had failed to find any evidence of harm to competitors and that it will appeal the decision, but take action to comply with the ruling in the meantime.
EU to crackdown on Asian online retailers
Temu and Shein are two of the sites in the EU’s sights as concerns over the evasion of customs duties and checks mount. The European Commission says that about 4 billion lower value parcels will be flown into the EU this year, triple the number in 2022. Because they are valued at under 150 Euros, most are not checked. The EU is worried about the undercutting of European competitors. Options under consideration include a tax on ecommerce platforms’ revenue and an administrative charge per item, which would be added to any online retailer shipping to customers directly from outside the EU. However, the actions would be complicated to implement under international law and WTO rules.
Cybersecurity
FCC proposes annual certification in response to telecoms cyber attack
US Federal Communications Commission chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is proposing that communications service providers be required to certify annually that they have a plan in place to protect against cyber attacks. The proposal comes after a group of hackers called ‘Salt Typhoon’, thought to be sponsored by Beijing, stole data about US calls from ‘at least’ eight US telecoms service and infrastructure firms. The activities of Salt Typhoon have raised increasing concerns in Washington, DC and US senators have received a classified briefing on the hack. The proposal has been circulated to other FCC commissioners for consideration. Separately, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and National Security Agency (NSA) have urged telecoms providers to upgrade their security and published a guide to recommended practices.
TikTok set for US ban
The appeals court in Washington, DC has upheld a law requiring TikTok’s owner to sell the social media platform or face a ban. The law, signed by president Joe Biden earlier this year, requires that TikTok be divested from its owner, Chinese company ByteDance, by 19 January 2025, one day before Donald Trump is inaugurated as president. Otherwise, the app will be banned from web-hosting services and removed from app stores. The law was enacted on security grounds. However, TikTok is seeking to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court based on a right to free speech. It’s unclear whether the new administration would uphold the ban. Incoming US national security adviser Mike Waltz said that Trump ‘wants to save TikTok’ but ‘we have to protect our data as well’.
Dates for your diary: IIC events
11-12 February 2025
Annual Asia Digital Communications and Media Forum, Seoul
18-19 March 2025
Europe Digital Communications and Media Forum, Brussels
27-28 March 2025
IIC Caribbean Chapter Meeting, St Lucia
2 April 2025
IIC Singapore Chapter Meeting, Singapore
May 2025
Latin America & Caribbean Digital Communications and Media Forum, Panama City
September 2025
India Digital Communications and Media Forum, New Delhi
20-23 October 2025
IIC Communications Policy and Regulation Week, Bogota
The International Regulators Forum, 20-21 October, hosted by the Communications Regulation Commission, Colombia
IIC Annual Conference, 22-23 October
December 2025
North America Forum, Washington DC
Details of all IIC events can be found here.
In brief
The IIC has announced the appointment of three directors to its board. They are: Professor Kostantinos Masselos of Greek regulator EETT, Dr Aminu Maida of Nigerian regulator NCC and Will Johnson of Verizon.
The new European Commission began on 1 December under president Ursula von der Leyen. She has appointed Henna Virkkunen as executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy. A long-term member of the European Parliament, Henna Virkkunen is thought to be in favour of telecoms consolidation in Europe.
Telecoms companies in Nigeria have expressed strong opposition to government plans to impose a five per cent excise duty on the telecommunications sector. The tax was originally suspended in 2023 over concerns that it was placing financial pressure on the sector. An industry spokesman said that the government should provide more support for the telecoms sector, regarded as central to the Nigerian economy.
Meta is reintroducing facial recognition technology on its Facebook platform, three years after it removed it. The company says it will recruit 50,000 public figures as part of a crackdown on ‘celeb bait’ scams. The trial involves comparing their Facebook profile photos with images used in suspected scam advertisements. Where they match and Meta believes them to be scams, they will be blocked. The celebrities will be notified of their involvement and can opt out if they wish.
The Italian government will introduce measures to ensure that big tech firms share the cost of developing telecoms infrastructure in the country. Industry minister Adolfo Urso, said plans were in place and that it ‘makes good sense for big tech to contribute to the workload that is then entrusted to the large telecommunications networks’. Telecoms companies have long argued that tech platforms should bear some the costs of high-speed network rollout.
Antitrust lawyers in the United States have proposed that Google should be forced to sell its Chrome browser in order to reduce the company’s power. It’s part of a recommendation made by the Department of Justice to the US District Court of Columbia judge, Amit Mehta, who is set to impose steps to address Google’s search market dominance next year.
Sources: The Financial Times, Reuters, APNews, Euronews, Euractiv, US News, CNN, TechCrunch, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, Bloomberg, Economic Times, BBC, Politico, Telecoms.com
