US President Joe Biden is reportedly skipping out on COP28, the New YorkTimes reports, citing an unnamed White House official. The White House has not made an official announcement confirming whether he will attend or miss the summit, but top climate advisers John Kerry and John Podesta, are expected to be present.

War precedes climate action: Biden’s decision to forego this year’s iteration of the climate summit comes as “the war between Israel and Hamas had consumed the president in recent weeks and days,” the Gray Lady says. Despite prioritizing climate change on his domestic and international agendas, the president is dedicating his attention to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, Kerry said, in addition to domestic priorities such as his upcoming re-election campaign.

Missing COP might not be the best move for the polls: Biden’s decision not to attend may impact his popularity among young voters who see climate change as a crucial issue. Recent polls have shown Biden trailing behind his predecessor Donald Trump, particularly among younger and non-white voters, due to concerns about the economy and the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

After potentially foregoing USD 75 mn in advertising revenue over an “antisemitic” tweet, Elon Musk is in Israel to pour oil on troubled waters, with plans to meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and the families of hostages held by Hamas, according to Bloomberg. Several major brands, including Disney, Apple, and IBM have paused their marketing campaigns on X following his tweet.

He has more than just Israel to appease in this case: Musk got called out by US media watchdog MediaMatters because ads from these major brands were showing up alongside Musk’s tweets, suggesting that they could be associated with hate speech. Musk has threatened to file a “thermonuclear lawsuit” against MediaMatters, CNBC reported.

Musk also backtracked on using Starlink to help restore communications to Gaza: The b’naire reached an agreement “in principle” with Tel Aviv on Starlink, with the two sides agreeing that “Starlink satellite units can only be operated in Israel with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of Communications, including the Gaza Strip,” reports Reuters. Musk had proposed using the satellite network in Gaza to aid communications in the strip after Palestinian telecom networks began to falter as companies ran out of fuel required to operate electricity generators.

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Meta could be slammed with USD “hundreds of mns” in civil penalties as it faces a fresh lawsuit alleging violations of US federal children’s privacy law, reports the New York Times. US attorney generals from 33 states have filed a legal complaint against Meta after receiving over 1.1 mn reports of underage users on its Instagram platform since 2019, amounting to a breach of their privacy, according to the New York Times.

This isn’t the first we’re hearing of this: This is part of a larger lawsuit made by several states last month which accuses the company of unfairly targeting young people on Instagram and Facebook. Meta has previously faced allegations of privacy violations and paid a USD 5 bn settlement in 2019 to alter its data practices.

Eighteen countries, including the US and Britain, inked the first detailed international agreement on how to keep AI safe and “secure by design,” says Reuters. The 20-page document, although non-binding, outlines how these nations can monitor AI systems for abuse, and protect data from infiltrators.

It’s a good start in pushing for safety in a system that is notoriously under-regulated. The director of US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Jen Easterly, called this the first time a stance was taken on security rather than “cool features and how quickly we can get them to market or how we can compete to drive down costs.”

There’s a worldwide movement by governments to address AI development, an industry they’re trailing behind as opposed to private entities who are on its heels.

Does it really make a difference? The agreement lacked any recommendations on appropriate usage of AI or how the data is fed to develop its models.Even in our own usage, we’re already seeing the consequences, such as biases coming through in chatbot outputs or racial discrimination through facial recognition due to a lack of regulation.

If Sam Altman’s ouster taught us anything, it’s that the industry doesn’t necessarily want to see unchecked growth for AI. Altman and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman were facing friction with the company’s board because the speed at which they were pushing for AI growth alarmed the board.

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