Your round-up of the latest, greatest data stories

Hello ODI Supporter,

The AI Action Summit took place in Paris this week with tech experts, academics, civil society representatives and global leaders descending on the French capital. Well, most of them anyway. Ahead of the meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a €109 billion investment package for AI projects in France, equivalent (factored against relative population size) to the US Stargate announcement a few weeks ago. The summit was marked by the signing of an international declaration pleading to develop ‘open’, ‘inclusive’ and ‘ethical’ AI, with more than 60 signatories from France, India and China. But notably not the US or the UK. Vice President Vance, on his first trip abroad (as VP…in case you were wondering) addressed the summit by stating the EU’s excessive regulatory approach could kill innovation in the AI sector, and warned against partnering with authoritarian regimes. He didn't name any countries in particular so it’s not clear if he was referring to his own or somebody else’s. Meanwhile, the AI Fringe took place at the British Library in London and we were delighted to participate in three panels across the two days. We’ll post the videos of those when they’re available next week. 

Over in the US, Elon Musk (fresh from making a $97.4bn takeover bid for OpenAI) appeared to have gotten his days confused as Take Your Child to Work Day isn’t until April. Still, speaking in the Oval Office of the White House, he claimed his ‘department of government efficiency’ was providing maximum transparency, while also providing zero evidence to substantiate his claims that USAid officials have taken ‘kickbacks’ and pocketed tens of millions of dollars. However, researchers continued to raise red flags over the apparent deletion of data from government web pages, this time targeting information on marginalised communities and climate data. It’s feared the deletions are a result of President Trump's series of executive orders targeting what his administration refers to as “gender ideology extremism” as well as environmental policies. 

This week at the ODI, we updated our data for AI taxonomy. Often, the data used to train AI models is thought of as a singular mass. In reality, many different types of data are needed to build, use and monitor AI systems safely. Originally published last October, we’ve updated the taxonomy based on feedback from the wider community, so take a look. And we were delighted to hear the news this week that our Director of Research Prof. Elena Simperl has been named a Distinguished Member of the Association for Computing Machinery for contributions to knowledge engineering, knowledge graphs, and the semantic web. Congratulations Elena!

And finally, if you hadn’t already guessed from the pile of envelopes on your doormat (checks doormat…sighs…) today is Valentine’s Day. And according to research by McAfee, almost one in five people say that somebody they know (and definitely not them obvs) has been approached by an AI chatbot on a dating app or via social media. The survey also found that almost half of Brits surveyed believe it’s possible to fall for an AI chatbot. To combat the rise of AI romance scams, users are warned to be aware of people avoiding video calls, swiftly sliding into your DMs, or very early declarations of love. (Sighs again).

Until next time.

❤️

From the outside world

AI Action Summit

On 10 and 11 February 2025, France will host the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit, gathering at the Grand Palais, Heads of State and Government, leaders of international organizations, CEOs of small and large companies, representatives of academia, non-governmental organizations, artists and members of civil society.

Keir Starmer opts not to attend international AI summit in Paris

The Guardian

Exclusive: PM risks upsetting host Emmanuel Macron and missing chance to speak to JD Vance and Elon Musk.

Macron announces €100 billion investment in AI with deepfake video blitz

France 24

France will see €109 billion ($113 billion) invested in AI projects, President Emmanuel Macron announced Sunday, calling it a game-changer ahead of a global AI summit in Paris. To promote the event, he posted AI-generated fake videos of himself in various roles, showcasing the technology's potential.

US and UK refuse to sign Paris summit declaration on ‘inclusive’ AI

The Guardian

Confirmation of snub comes after JD Vance criticises Europe’s ‘excessive regulation’ of technology.

Musk v Altman: The battle to become king of AI

Sky news

In 2015, Elon Musk and Sam Altman founded OpenAI to ensure "artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity". A decade later, the pair are battling it out over AI.

Reporter on what Elon Musk is trying to project with his son by his side

CNN

Global editorial director at WIRED Katie Drummond joins CNN’s Erin Burnett to discuss the White House photo released of President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Musk's son in the Oval Office.

Elon Musk appears with Trump and tries to claim ‘Doge’ team is transparent

The Guardian

Key presidential ally, whose agency has operated in secrecy, also makes claim – without evidence – of fraud at USAid.

As Trump hits delete, the race is on to save LGBTQ and climate data

NBC News

Thousands of government web pages are being altered or deleted following executive orders targeting “gender ideology extremism” and environmental policies.

Renowned Computing Society Announces New Class of Distinguished Members

Association for Computing Machinery

56 Professionals Celebrated for Innovation and Service.

Don’t fall for these AI chatbot scams this Valentine’s Day – here’s how they could play with your heart strings

Techradar

One in two people believe chatbots could steal their heart.

From the ODI

The Week in Data

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