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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York state government agencies will have to conduct reviews and publish reports that detail how they're using artificial intelligence software, under a new law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul. Hochul, a Democrat, signed the bill last week after it was passed by state lawmakers earlier this year. The law requires state agencies to perform assessments of any software that uses algorithms, computational models or AI techniques, and then submit those reviews to the governor and top legislative leaders along with posting them online. It also bars the use of AI in certain situations, such as an automated decision on whether someone receives unemployment benefits or child care assistance, unless the system is being consistently monitored by a human. State workers would also be shielded from having their hours or job duties limited because of AI under the law. State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, a Democrat who sponsored the bill, called the law an important step in setting up some guardrails in how the emerging technology is used in state government. The Associated Press
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — An online spat between factions of Donald Trump's supporters over immigration and the tech industry has thrown internal divisions in his political movement into public display, previewing the fissures and contradictory views his coalition could bring to the White House. The rift laid bare the tensions between the newest flank of Trump's movement — wealthy members of the tech world including billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and their call for more highly skilled workers in their industry — and people in Trump's Make America Great Again base who championed his hardline immigration policies. The debate touched off this week when Laura Loomer , a right-wing provocateur with a history of racist and conspiratorial comments, criticized Trump’s selection of Sriram Krishnan as an adviser on artificial intelligence policy in his coming administration. Krishnan favors the ability to bring more skilled immigrants into the U.S. Loomer declared the stance to be “not America First policy” and said the tech executives who have aligned themselves with Trump were doing so to enrich themselves. Much of the debate played out on the social media network X, which Musk owns. Loomer's comments sparked a back-and-forth with venture capitalist and former PayPal executive David Sacks , whom Trump has tapped to be the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar." Musk and Ramaswamy, whom Trump has tasked with finding ways to cut the federal government , weighed in, defending the tech industry's need to bring in foreign workers. It bloomed into a larger debate with more figures from the hard-right weighing in about the need to hire U.S. workers, whether values in American culture can produce the best engineers, free speech on the internet, the newfound influence tech figures have in Trump's world and what his political movement stands for. Trump has not yet weighed in on the rift. His presidential transition team did not respond to questions about positions on visas for highly skilled workers or the debate between his supporters online. Instead, his team instead sent a link to a post on X by longtime adviser and immigration hard-liner Stephen Miller that was a transcript of a speech Trump gave in 2020 at Mount Rushmore in which he praised figures and moments from American history. Musk, the world's richest man who has grown remarkably close to the president-elect , was a central figure in the debate, not only for his stature in Trump's movement but his stance on the tech industry's hiring of foreign workers. Technology companies say H-1B visas for skilled workers, used by software engineers and others in the tech industry, are critical for hard-to-fill positions. But critics have said they undercut U.S. citizens who could take those jobs. Some on the right have called for the program to be eliminated, not expanded. Born in South Africa, Musk was once on an a H-1B visa himself and defended the industry's need to bring in foreign workers. “There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent," he said in a post. “It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.” Trump's own positions over the years have reflected the divide in his movement. His tough immigration policies, including his pledge for a mass deportation, were central to his winning presidential campaign. He has focused on immigrants who come into the U.S. illegally but he has also sought curbs on legal immigration , including family-based visas. As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump called the H-1B visa program “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers. After he became president, Trump in 2017 issued a “Buy American and Hire American” executive order , which directed Cabinet members to suggest changes to ensure H-1B visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants to protect American workers. Trump's businesses, however, have hired foreign workers, including waiters and cooks at his Mar-a-Lago club , and his social media company behind his Truth Social app has used the the H-1B program for highly skilled workers. During his 2024 campaign for president, as he made immigration his signature issue, Trump said immigrants in the country illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country" and promised to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. But in a sharp departure from his usual alarmist message around immigration generally, Trump told a podcast this year that he wants to give automatic green cards to foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges. “I think you should get automatically, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country," he told the “All-In" podcast with people from the venture capital and technology world. Those comments came on the cusp of Trump's budding alliance with tech industry figures, but he did not make the idea a regular part of his campaign message or detail any plans to pursue such changes.In October, it emerged that an Irish politician had been recruited by Russian intelligence Stock image Russia’s shadow war in the West is being funded through underworld banking networks after a massive global money-laundering operation was exposed this week. Ransomware gangs, like those who hacked the HSE computer system, used the scheme to convert crypto currency – which they extorted from their victims – and convert it into cash. Money also found its way to Russian language media organisations after sanctions were announced against the firm which owned the Russia Today TV channel. It is estimated the Kremlin spends between €1.5bn to €2bn each year on disinformation and places huge value on any support it can get. In October, The Sunday Times broke the story that an Irish politician had been recruited by Russian intelligence. Russia’s alleged agent in Ireland — christened ‘Cobalt’ — was not identified, but several of his Oireachtas colleagues have called on the politician to show himself. It prompted Taoiseach Simon Harris to say: “It shouldn’t come as any surprise to any of us that Russia seeks to influence public opinion, distort facts, and is active in relation to that across the world — Ireland is not immune.” Sergey Prokopiev, a Russian spy, worked as a counsellor at his country’s embassy in Orwell Road, Dublin, from 2019 to 2022. He is reported to have headed up the intelligence operation that allegedly recruited the politician.
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Major European energy companies doubled down on oil and gas in 2024 to focus on near-term profits, slowing down – and at times reversing – climate commitments in a shift that they are likely to stick with in 2025. The retrenchment by oil majors comes after governments around the world slowed the rollout of clean energy policies and delayed targets as energy costs soared following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Big European energy companies that had invested heavily in the clean energy transition found their share performance lagging U.S. rivals Exxon (XOM.N), and Chevron (CVX.N), which had kept their focus on oil and gas. Against this backdrop, the likes of BP (BP.L), opens new tab and Shell (SHEL.L), opens new tab this year sharply slowed their plans to spend billions on wind and solar power projects and shifted spending to higher-margin oil and gas projects. BP, which had aimed for a 20-fold growth in renewable power this decade to 50 gigawatts, announced in December it would spin off, almost all its offshore wind projects into a joint venture with Japanese power generator JERA. Shell, which once pledged to become the world’s largest electricity company, largely stopped investments in new offshore wind projects, exited power markets in Europe and China and weakened carbon reduction targets. Norway’s state-controlled Equinor (EQNR.OL), also slowed spending on renewables. “Geopolitical disruptions like the invasion of Ukraine have weakened CEO incentives to prioritise the low-carbon transition amid high oil prices and evolving investor expectations,” Rohan Bowater, analyst at Accela Research, told Reuters. He said BP, Shell and Equinor reduced low-carbon spending by 8% in 2024. Shell told Reuters it remained committed to becoming a net zero emissions energy business by 2050 and continues to invest in the energy transition. Equinor said: “The offshore wind segment has been through demanding times in the last couple of years due to inflation, cost increase, bottlenecks in the supply chain, and Equinor will continue to be selective and disciplined in our approach.” BP did not respond to a request for comment. The oil companies’ retrenchment is bad news for efforts to mitigate climate change. Global heat-trapping carbon emissions are forecast to climb to a new high in 2024, which will be the warmest year on record. And 2025 is shaping up to be another tumultuous year for the $3 trillion energy sector, with climate-sceptic Donald Trump returning to the White House. China, the world’s biggest crude oil importer, is trying to revive its faltering economy, potentially boosting oil demand. Europe faces continued uncertainty over the war in Ukraine and political turmoil in Germany and France. All those tensions were laid bare at the annual United Nations climate conference in Baku in Azerbaijan in November, when the host country’s President Ilham Aliyev, hailed oil and gas as “a gift from God”. That summit yielded a global climate finance deal but disappointed climate advocates who had hoped governments would coalesce around a phase-out of oil, gas and coal. The energy companies will be watching to see if Trump follows through on promises to repeal President Joe Biden’s landmark green energy policies, which have spurred investments in renewables across the United States. Trump has vowed to remove the United States from global climate efforts, and has appointed another climate sceptic, oil executive Chris Wright, as his energy secretary. There are potential pitfalls in the energy majors’ renewed emphasis on oil and gas. Demand growth in China, which has driven global prices for two decades, is slowing, with growing signs that its gasoline and diesel consumption is plateauing. At the same time, OPEC and top oil producing allies have repeatedly delayed plans to unwind supply cuts as other countries, led by the United States, increase oil output. As a result, analysts expect oil companies to face tighter financial constraints next year. Net debt for the top five western oil giants is expected to rise to $148 billion in 2024 from $92 billion in 2022, based on LSEG estimates. Source: Reuters (Editing by Catherine Evans)