AI News on December 19th
1. U.S. Congress Holds Hearing on "AI and the Future of Democracy"
#USA #Congress #Democracy #Policy
A congressional committee held a high-profile hearing examining the impact of artificial intelligence on democratic processes, including elections, misinformation, and civic discourse. Lawmakers heard testimony from technology experts, ethicists, and civil society leaders on potential regulatory frameworks.
2. EU Launches Consultation on AI Act Technical Standards
#EU #AIAct #Standards #Compliance
The European Commission opened a public consultation on the draft technical standards for implementing the EU's Artificial Intelligence Act. The standards cover conformity assessment procedures, transparency requirements, and risk management systems for high-risk AI applications.
3. OpenAI Releases GPT-5.3 with Enhanced Multimodal Capabilities
#OpenAI #GPT5.3 #Multimodal #Update
OpenAI unveiled GPT-5.3, featuring significantly improved multimodal understanding and generation capabilities across text, images, and audio. The update includes better contextual reasoning and more sophisticated problem-solving abilities for complex professional tasks.
4. UK Government Announces £500 Million AI Safety Research Fund
#UK #Safety #Research #Funding
The UK government launched a new £500 million fund dedicated to AI safety research, with grants available to academic institutions, research organizations, and private companies working on alignment, robustness, and governance of advanced AI systems.
5. Google Introduces "Project Astra" for Real-Time AI Assistance
#Google #Astra #Realtime #Assistant
Google announced "Project Astra," an experimental AI system designed to provide real-time assistance through continuous audio and video processing. The project aims to create AI assistants that can understand and respond to dynamic environments with human-like perception.
6. Meta Opens Source Code for Llama 4 Foundation Model
#Meta #Llama4 #OpenSource #Models
Meta released the source code and model weights for its Llama 4 foundation model under a permissive open-source license. The release includes models ranging from 7 billion to 405 billion parameters, with enhanced capabilities in reasoning and multilingual understanding.
7. European AI Startups Secure €2.1 Billion in Q4 Funding
#Europe #Startups #Funding #VentureCapital
European AI startups raised €2.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, bringing the annual total to €8.7 billion. The investments were concentrated in healthcare AI, climate technology, and enterprise automation solutions across major European tech hubs.
8. US and EU Establish Joint AI Standards Working Group
#US #EU #Standards #Cooperation
The United States and European Union announced the formation of a joint working group to develop harmonized AI standards and certification processes. The collaboration aims to create consistent regulatory approaches while promoting innovation and transatlantic AI development.
9. Amazon Expands European AI Infrastructure with New Data Centers
#Amazon #AWS #Europe #Infrastructure
Amazon Web Services announced significant expansion of its European AI infrastructure, including new data centers in Spain and Italy. The expansion will support growing demand for AI services across Southern Europe and enhance regional computing capacity.
10. French-German Consortium Launches European AI Supercomputing Initiative
#France #Germany #Supercomputing #Europe
A French-German consortium launched a €4 billion European AI supercomputing initiative to build shared computing resources and data facilities. The project aims to create Europe's largest AI research cloud, accessible to academic institutions and startups across both countries.