Argentina is reportedly promoting itself as an AI hub amid increased oversight of the technology.
Javier Milei, the country’s new, libertarian leader, has promised a less restrictive approach to artificial intelligence (AI) regulation, an advisor to the president told the Financial Times (FT) in an interview published Tuesday (June 11).
Demian Reidel, who heads Milei’s council of economic advisers and organized the president’s meetings with OpenAI, Google, Apple and Meta last month, said investing in Argentina would give companies a “hedge” against rising regulation in Europe and the U.S.
“Argentina has a president who is actually putting forth the ideas of freedom, low regulation, free enterprise, and he has captured the imagination of the tech world,” Reidel said. “All the stars have aligned for us to be perhaps the world’s fourth AI hub.”
The country could use a boost, battling a major economic crisis that has driven inflation to 289%. As the FT notes, Milei’s government hasn’t yet passed any laws to attract investment, but he has gotten the notice of tech moguls for his criticism of western leaders.
Last mother, Milei and Reidel held private meetings in California with CEOs including Sam Altman and Apple’s Tim Cook, as well as with a group of AI investors and experts. Mieli has also held two meetings with Elon Musk, the FT report adds.
“People don’t realize that if all these people want to meet with us . . . it’s not for a photo op,” Reidel said. “It’s a mutual interest, in terms of [investment] and what we will give them in terms of regulation and a business friendly place to operate.”
This is happening as the regulatory climate around AI is growing cooler in the U.S., with reports last week that the Justice Department (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had reached an agreement that lets them proceed with investigations into the dominant roles OpenAI, Microsoft and Nvidia play in the AI space.
The DOJ is apparently examining whether chipmaker Nvidia — now a $3 trillion company — has broken antitrust laws with its behavior, while the FTC will focus on OpenAI and Microsoft, having reportedly already subpoenaed the latter company in connection with its recent deal with AI firm Inflection AI.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department said last week it wanted comments from the public about AI use in financial services.
The department says it wants to learn how the technology is being used in that sector, the risks and opportunities it offers, and the obstacles hindering responsible AI use.
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Amazon continued its fight against counterfeit goods in 2024 by using artificial intelligence (AI) tools, seeing that counterfeiters are held liable and increasing brands’ use of its brand protection features.
The company’s AI tools that proactively block infringements stopped more than 99% of suspected infringements before a brand had to find and report them, Amazon told PYMNTS in an email sharing highlights from its fifth Brand Protection Report.
These tools have also enabled the company to reduce by 35% the number of valid notices of infringement submitted by brands, compared to 2020, even as the number of products available in its store has continued to grow.
To hold counterfeiters accountable, Amazon has worked with brands and law enforcement on civil litigation and criminal referrals to law enforcement organizations, according to the email. Since the launch of its Counterfeit Crimes Unit in 2020, Amazon has taken those actions against more than 24,000 bad actors.
In 2024, Amazon also identified, seized and disposed of more than 15 million counterfeit products.
The company has also seen increased use of its brand protection features, per the email. These includes its anti-counterfeiting tool called Project Zero, which has been used by 35,000 brands since its launch in 2019, and its Transparency program, which has enrolled more than 88,000 brands and verified as genuine more than 2.5 billion product units.
“Additionally, throughout 2024 Amazon helped brands and sellers protect their products globally with new AI-powered tools and a wide expansion of our brand protection programs to make it more difficult for bad actors to evade our detection systems, enabling us to scan our store with more nuance and understanding of context rather than just literal matches,” Amazon said in the email.
Amazon is not the only eCommerce marketplace cracking down on counterfeit products, PYMNTS reported in March 2024. A Michigan State University study released in 2023 found that nearly 7 in 10 consumers had unknowingly bought counterfeit items via eCommerce channels at least once in the previous year.
When Amazon launched its Counterfeit Crimes Unit in 2020, the company said it brought together former federal prosecutors, experienced investigators and data analysts in hopes of ensuring no counterfeit item makes it onto the eCommerce site in the first place.
The company introduced Project Zero in 2019 to detect counterfeit products by deploying advanced technology, machine learning and the knowledge brands have of their own intellectual property.
The civil litigation Amazon pursued in 2024 included a lawsuit against companies and individuals the company alleged obtained invalid trademarks or filed fake complaints to have Amazon remove their competitors from its store.
