This week, the European Parliament passed the Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA) -- sweeping legislation governing the deployment of A.I. models and systems in the European market. The AIA also applies to A.I. companies situated outside of the E.U. that deploy their services in a way that is accessible within the E.U. Some of the provisions will kick in as soon as 6 months from when the Act enters into force. India, meanwhile, pulled back from last week's statement suggesting a turn away from onerous regulatory requirements. Electoral integrity is front of mind around the world this year, and the E.U. Commission has sent information requests to a number of major tech companies (including Google, X and TikTok) for details on generative A.I. and deepfake risks. In the U.S., Biden set out his 2025 budget request, which includes $20 billion across the board for A.I. research agencies. Also in America, a Florida man was barred from practicing law for a year for submitting hallucinated case citations and apparently being entirely unrepentant. Are we surprised? Finally, Mercedes is trialing humanoid robots for mundane tasks in a slow shuffle towards a robotic future.

This week, a BBC Panorama investigation uncovered how troubling deepfake images of Trump surrounded by Black supporters found their way across the internet -- yet another example of why A.I. election disinformation regulation is a necessity in the US. In the courts, Microsoft filed a motion to dismiss part of the New York Times' case against it and OpenAI. The case alleges that ChatGPT imperils the very future of journalism. Microsoft compares The Times to Hollywood-types in the 1980s panicking about the doomsday device that was the VCR. Speaking of OpenAI, the company clapped back at Elon Musk's lawsuit by posting a bunch of Musk's emails on its blog which, frankly, leaves Elon looking kind of like a hypocrite. The company also signed an open letter pledging to build AI that will make for a better future for humanity. If those platitudes don't leave you feeling warm and fuzzy, don't worry. It isn't just you. Finally, India signalled a move towards active A.I. regulation with a much-criticised and extremely confusing advisory which requires companies (but apparently not startups!) to obtain government clearance before releasing new unreliable models (i.e., every single model) onto the Indian internet.