Tech Diplomacy News: new policies, power shifts, and global partnerships
| News Roundup |
Global At COP30 in Brazil, AI emerged as an essential tool for climate action and a source of deep concern among environmental advocates, with delegates highlighting AI’s capacity to improve grid efficiency, strengthen climate modeling, and support conservation efforts. However, civil society groups warn that energy-intensive data centers could undermine global emissions targets. Despite diverging views, participants agreed that AI will have a lasting presence in international climate policy. COP30 discussions also highlighted a major geopolitical shift as emerging economies adopt renewable energy at an unprecedented speed, driven largely by a flood of inexpensive Chinese solar, wind, and battery technologies. While the U.S. retreats from climate leadership and Europe struggles to meet its own targets, countries like Brazil, India, Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Nigeria are accelerating clean-energy transitions for reasons of cost, energy security, and industrial strategy. This surge in affordable green tech that is reshaping global climate politics by positioning developing nations as central actors in the world’s renewable energy expansion, Somini Sengupta and Brad Plumer report for The New York Times. Read the October global roundup of tech policy updates from Tech Policy Press here. North America Canada is leading a new G7 Critical Minerals Production Alliance intended to reduce the group’s reliance on China for materials that support AI, clean energy technologies, and defense systems. The initiative seeks to build alternative supply chains through coordinated investment, long-term supply agreements, and expanded processing capacity, with Canadian officials arguing China’s restrictive export policies create strategic vulnerabilities for the G7 and urging a collective response to maintain industrial and national security stability. Chinese state-owned banks have quietly provided over 200 billion USD in financing to U.S. tech and infrastructure projects, including data centers, energy networks, and major corporate credit lines, far more than previously thought. New research shows this lending also helped Chinese firms acquire American companies in AI, chips, robotics, and biotech, deepening Beijing’s strategic position even as Washington warns other nations about Chinese debt exposure, Christian Shepherd reports for The Washington Post. California’s expanding slate of AI laws is influencing efforts in other jurisdictions, with measures like SB 53 introducing safety requirements and whistleblower protections for advanced AI systems becoming models for emerging legislation in states like New York, Colorado, and Texas. A 500 billion USD restructuring has finally given OpenAI room to raise capital and strike dealsoutside of Microsoft’s authority after 15 months of talks with regulators and investors – negotiators describe the overhaul as “the most complicated deal” they have ever handled, Krystal Hu reports for Reuters. U.S. President Trump called for a single federal standard on AI this week, arguing that fragmented state-level rules slow innovation and weaken U.S. competitiveness against China. The president urged Congress to place a federal AI framework either in standalone legislation or within the National Defense Authorization Act, framing national uniformity as essential to maintaining leadership in AI. The Trump administration is racing to rebuild a domestic rare-earth industry after decades of dependence on Chinese processing, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently highlighting the first U.S.-produced rare-earth magnet in 25 years as symbolic progress. However, China still controls the overwhelming share of global mining and refining capacity, leaving the U.S. far from independence, Edward Helmore writes for The Guardian. The Canadian government’s 2025 budget will accelerate nationwide adoption of AI and digital technologies, introducing an Office of Digital Transformation, significant investments in sovereign AI infrastructure, and new regulatory measures for stablecoins. These initiatives aim to boost productivity and competitiveness, although gaps remain in public digital literacy and responsible AI education. Political strategist Bradley Tusk is intensifying a multimillion-dollar push to bring mobile voting into U.S. elections, introducing a new protocol meant to legitimize the technology. Despite his push, election security specialists warn that internet voting cannot guarantee integrity, since every compromised phone becomes a potential attack vector and recounts become virtually impossible. Surrounding debate indicates a widening divide between advocates focused on accessibility and turnout, and critics who see digital voting as fundamentally incompatible with secure democratic processes, Steven Levy reports for WIRED. Africa Google.org and Data Commons are mounting a 2.25 million USD effort to modernize Africa’s public data infrastructure and strengthen the continent’s AI readiness, supporting the creation of a regional Data Commons for Africa, establishing ethical data-sharing standards, and training national statistical offices to use AI effectively. According to Google, these efforts aim to transform fragmented development data into an AI-ready foundation that will improve policymaking and accelerate economic and social outcomes across the continent. The recently published Cotonou Declaration outlines a unified commitment by Ministers of Digital Economy from West and Central Africa to accelerate regional digital transformation and ethical AI adoption by 2030, setting goals like universal connectivity, expanded digital skills, strengthened data governance, and large-scale job creation to ensure digitalization drives inclusive growth and competitiveness. Civil society organizations are urging African governments to adopt stronger and human rights-centered AI regulation, with panelists at a recent event leading up to the 85th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights highlighting gaps in national AI legislation and risks like algorithmic manipulation and data sovereignty. Nigeria’s new National Digital Economy and E-Governance Bill establishes the country’s first comprehensive legal foundation for digital signatures, electronic records, and interoperable government systems, marking a decisive shift toward paperless governance. While the reform promises faster services, reduced fraud, and modernized administration, its success will depend on Nigeria’s ability to address infrastructure gaps, strengthen cybersecurity, and build a unified national trust framework, Frank Eleanya reports for TechCabal. Kenya has launched a national Digital and AI Skilling Program aimed at equipping public servants with foundational and advanced competencies in digital tools. Supported by UNDP Kenya, Microsoft, and the Kenya School of Government, the initiative seeks to build a more technologically capable public sector and strengthen institutional readiness for digital transformation, positioning civil servants as leaders in Kenya’s broader shift toward data-driven governance and AI-enabled public service delivery. Speaking of Kenya, the nation’s startup ecosystem is accelerating as firms in fintech, agritech, and AI increasingly scale across the continent. Government initiatives such as the Digital Superhighway and growing partnerships with global tech companies are positioning Kenya as a leading exporter of digital services, but uneven regulatory environments, limited financing, and infrastructure gaps still pose significant challenges to startups seeking long-term growth. The second AI in Health Africa Conference saw Ugandan government officials call for a shift from reliance on imported technologies toward developing indigenous AI solutions for healthcare, rooted in local innovation and strengthened through strategic partnerships. Asia At COP30, activists staged a protest targeting Japan’s continued financing of coal and natural gas projects across Southeast Asia, using Pikachu costumes to draw attention to what they call a major gap in Japan’s climate commitments. Campaigners argue Japan’s public lending is slowing the region’s transition away from fossil fuels, despite Tokyo’s broader messaging on decarbonization, and that expanded fossil investments risk undercutting global efforts agreed to at previous U.N. climate summits. Recent analysis from CSIS looks at President Trump’s push to build bilateral critical minerals partnerships across Asia to secure the minerals needed for batteries, advanced electronics, clean energy systems, and defense manufacturing while countering Chinese dominance in the sector. North Korea’s cybercrime machine is expanding in scale and technical sophistication, having stolen more than 3 billion USD in three years, according to the U.S. Treasury. Analysts say North Korea is deploying increasingly advanced malware and consolidating its intelligence services to strengthen its offensive capabilities – Mathew Ha and Sophie McDowall argue why stronger sanctions, better information-sharing, and coordinated diplomacy are essential for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. In this clip, India’s Minister for Railways, Information and Broadcasting, and Electronics and IT speaks with Erik Schatzker at the 2025 Bloomberg New Economy Forum about India’s drive to compete with the U.S. and China in tech, develop its semiconductor sector, and boost entrepreneurial growth. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew intensified outreach to Saudi Arabia and the UAE in 2024 as ByteDance prepared for the possibility of losing access to the U.S. market, an excerpt from the new book Every Screen on the Planet: The War Over TikTok by Emily Baker-White reveals. Despite deadly bombings and displacement, startup accelerator Gaza Sky Geeks continues training, mentoring, and creating remote work opportunities for Gaza’s tech talent, seeing them as key to future reconstruction efforts: “even under unimaginable pressure, our community finds ways to adapt and keep moving forward,” says GSG director Alan El-Kadhi. The U.S. and ASEAN should move away from high-level AI “principles” to developing joint projects, infrastructure, and standards to compete with China, Nigel Cory argues for the National Bureau of Asian Research. Cory highlights key obstacles and proposes a new U.S.-ASEAN AI agenda focused on trusted U.S. tech, shared governance, and helping ASEAN countries become co-developers in the global AI value chain instead of passive users. Kazakhstan’s newly adopted AI law marks Central Asia’s first comprehensive regulatory framework, setting strict rules on transparency, data protection, and the prohibition of manipulative or high-risk AI practices. In a display of “defense tech diplomacy,” South Korea used last month’s Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition 2025 to highlight major advances in AI-enabled weapons systems, autonomous drones, and digital command technologies, and to sign cooperation agreements to deepen industrial, training, and technology partnerships across the Indo-Pacific, Europe, and the Americas. Europe France is intensifying efforts against foreign disinformation at a moment when the U.S. is scaling back similar programs, as French officials argue governments can identify malign influence campaigns without restricting legitimate speech, Julian E. Barnes reports for The New York Times. French officials are taking action against this threat to “national security sovereignty,” but are facing pushback from domestic political groups claiming such measures risk silencing dissent. A leaked European Commission document indicates a significant rewrite of EU data protection rules, narrowing what counts as personal data, expanding the circumstances under which companies can process information for AI development, and effectively ending consent-based cookie systems. Privacy advocates warn the package would weaken long-standing safeguards by allowing more data collection without explicit permission and by reducing protections for inferred sensitive information, while Brussels argues the changes are needed to cut compliance costs and bolster European competitiveness, particularly as firms push for more flexibility to integrate AI tools. Critics are warning that changes to GDPR and AI regulations could heighten privacy and discrimination risks without meaningfully improving Europe’s digital competitiveness, especially given persistent structural barriers such as skills shortages and fragmented markets. After all, deregulation of this kind can strengthen dominant foreign tech firms rather than supporting Europe’s own digital resilience, Mario Mariniello writes for Bruegel. Ireland’s media regulator has opened a new inquiry into whether X is meeting its obligationsunder the EU’s Digital Services Act, focusing on the platform’s internal complaint-handling system. Regulators say they are concerned the platform may be failing key transparency and accountability requirements, issues that could carry penalties of up to 6% of global turnover if confirmed. This is the latest in a series of probes examining the platform’s handling of harmful content, reporting tools, and user protections, as EU officials have previously warned X about gaps in its approach to advertising transparency, data access for researchers, and interface design choices, EuroNews reports. Denmark has announced plans for a nationwide prohibition on social media use for anyone under 15, the toughest proposal in Europe yet that has been backed by a cross-party majority. Officials say the goal is to curb exposure to algorithmic risks, harmful content like that pertaining to self-harm and violence, and exploitative commercial interests, acknowledging enforcement will be a core challenge but underscoring belief in the effort’s importance: “the amount of time they spend online — the amount of violence, self-harm that they are exposed to online — is simply too great a risk for our children,” said Caroline Stage, Denmark’s Minister for Digital Affairs. New research from the European Centre for International Political Economy finds that Europe’s digital trade potential is constrained by its own regulatory environment, particularly GDPR data transfer rules that may have reduced digital services trade by 10 to 12%. The analysis argues that targeted reforms, like expanding adequacy agreements and aligning GDPR with emerging AI regulations, could help the EU keep pace with faster-growing digital markets abroad. The U.K.’s long-delayed Cyber Security and Resilience Bill was finally introduced this month, with stricter obligations for critical infrastructure, managed service providers, and digital infrastructure firms. The legislation aims to reconcile economic growth with national security by tightening oversight of high-risk supply-chain entities and expanding regulators’ enforcement powers. “As a nation, we must act at pace to improve our digital defences and resilience, and the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill represents a crucial step in better protecting our most critical service,” according to National Cyber Security Centre chief executive Richard Horne. EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said the bloc is seeking a diplomatic resolution with Dutch chipmaker Nexperia as China blocks its products from leaving the country, intensifying a global semiconductor supply squeeze. Brussels has now brought the company into the EU Chips Act Task Force, underscoring the EU’s push to strengthen supply-chain resilience through diversification, stockpiling, and tighter oversight. Latin America Despite rapid increases in AI adoption, deep structural gaps in talent, investment, and governance mean progress remains concentrated in a small group of pioneer countries, a new report from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and Chile’s National Center for Artificial Intelligence shows. Despite rising demand for AI tools, the region still attracts only a fraction of global AI investment and lacks the financing and institutional capacity needed to turn national AI strategies into scalable innovation, underscoring the need for greater interest and urgency from Latin American and Caribbean nations. The 2025 LATAM Crypto Regulation Report shows governments across the region are shifting from fragmented experimentation to coherent regulatory systems, with countries like Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, and Colombia establishing clearer rules for stablecoins, exchange licensing, and cross-border settlement, positioning the region as an early model for supervised crypto integration. Communities in Latin American countries like Uruguay and Chile are pushing back against the rapid expansion of AI data centers, raising concerns about their heavy demand for water, energy, and transparency in some of the region’s driest areas. As governments court massive foreign investment, secrecy around environmental assessments has fueled public anger and forced activists to go to court to obtain basic information about local impacts, reflecting broader tensions between national development strategies and communities’ rights to environmental protection and public accountability, Blake Montgomery writes for The Guardian. International IDEA’s latest episode of the Democracy IDEAs podcast explores how rapidly evolving AI governance in Latin America is colliding with rising AI-enabled disinformation and electoral polarization. Colombia’s leadership in people-centered urban innovation is underscored by the selection of Bogotá as the global host city for World Cities Day 2025, which took place on October 31st. The city’s approaches to data-driven governance, AI-enabled public services, and sustainable mobility demonstrate how digital transformation can reinforce equity and public trust, and ultimately advance inclusive and sustainable urban development, Ana Carmo writes for UN News. Oceania Australia’s sweeping under-16 social media ban will move ahead in December, and major platforms Meta and TikTok say they will comply despite concerns regarding whether the law can be executed effectively. The enforcement model relies on platforms taking “reasonable steps,” rather than imposing mandatory age-verification tools, and violations could trigger penalties approaching ~50 million AUD. Executives from the social media platforms told lawmakers the rules pose serious engineering and operational hurdles, but supporters contend that stronger regulation is far overdue. The Australian government is moving ahead with plans to impose a legal duty of care on major online platforms like Google, Meta, TikTok, and X under the Online Safety Act to proactively prevent online harms rather than relying on user reporting. The government has opened public consultation after delaying the reforms earlier this year, positioning the duty of care as the next major step in its online safety agenda following the under-16 social media ban. Industry and civil society seem to be in support but are waiting for more details, such as decisions on penalties for serious breaches. A new effort by the Australian government will set a global precedent in requiring all 220k public servants to complete foundational AI training and integrate the government’s sovereign GovAI Chat platform into daily operations. The plan mandates the appointment of Chief AI Officers across all agencies by mid-2026, creating a unified governance structure to standardize capability, reduce administrative burdens, and accelerate service delivery. New Zealand is also looking to modernize its public sector, with cloud migration identified as the essential foundation for scaling AI, strengthening cybersecurity, and improving government productivity. New research shows most agencies still rely on outdated systems, limiting efficiency and increasing risk, while accelerating cloud adoption could unlock billions in savings and major service improvements: “accelerating Cloud First is a generational opportunity to create significant benefits for all New Zealanders, for years to come,” Vanessa Sorenson, Managing Director at Microsoft New Zealand, writes for ITBrief New Zealand. Papua New Guinea is using new digital tools to help Indigenous small businesses grow and trade globally, upgrading customs and biosecurity systems with modern digital processing to ease exporting and investing in digital trade training, e-commerce skills, and technology that helps Indigenous entrepreneurs reach international buyers. Samoa just launched a new One-Government Digital Portal that brings all public services, information, and documents into one online platform, designed to make interaction with government entities easier and support government workers with access to training tools, cybersecurity modules, and digital resources. The next phase will integrate full online transactions so users can submit applications, verify documents, and receive services from different agencies, all part of the nation’s wider digital governance strategy. |
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