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Last week, two United States senators unveiled a bipartisan blueprint for artificial intelligence (AI) legislation. The framework put forward by Senators Richard Blumenthal and Josh Hawley advocates for mandatory licensing for AI firms and makes it clear that technology liability protections will not shield these companies from legal action.

The framework proposes creating a licensing system overseen by an independent regulatory body. It mandates that AI model developers register with this oversight entity, which would possess the authority to conduct audits of these licensing applicants. It also suggests that Congress should make it explicit that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides legal protections to tech firms for third-party content, does not extend to AI applications.

Blumenthal and Hawley, who lead the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and Law, have also revealed plans for a hearing. This hearing will include testimony from prominent figures, such as Brad Smith, vice chairman and president of Microsoft; William Dally, chief scientist and senior vice president of research at Nvidia; and Woodrow Hartzog, professor at Boston University School of Law.

A previous attempt to start the regulatory dialogue on AI was made by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who also introduced an AI framework in June. His framework outlined an extensive range of fundamental principles, as opposed to the more detailed measures proposed by Hawley and Blumenthal.

Australian lawmakers reject crypto bill

Australia’s Senate Committee on Economics Legislation has provided feedback on the cryptocurrency bill introduced by Senator Andrew Bragg. It recommended that the Senate not pass the bill and that the government continue to research the topic instead. Senator Bragg introduced the Digital Assets (Market Regulation) Bill 2023 in March, aiming to “protect consumers and promote investors.” The draft bill provides regulatory recommendations for stablecoins, licensing of exchanges, and custody requirements.

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China shut down 80 crypto influencers’ accounts

Sina Weibo, one of the most popular Chinese social media apps with over 258 million daily active users, has removed 80 influencer accounts promoting cryptocurrency activities. The accounts with over 8 million total followers were accused of breaching eight regulations related to telecommunications, finance, banking, online marketing, securities, exchanges and internet safety for their role in promoting cryptocurrencies. Starting this year, China has been cracking down on private crypto-related activities due to a combination of capital flight, money laundering and the need to preserve its state-run crypto efforts.

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Taiwan will restrict unregistered foreign crypto exchanges

Taiwan is reportedly planning to put restrictions on unregistered overseas crypto exchanges operating within its jurisdiction as part of its incoming guidance for virtual asset service providers (VASPs). The draft guidelines include enhancing information disclosure and require operators to set standards for reviewing listings and delistings. In addition, they also require separate custody of customer and platform assets and specify that VASPs should implement ways to prevent money laundering.

Among the 10 principles set by the FSC is a rule prohibiting foreign VASPs from illegally soliciting business in Taiwan. The FSC proposed that overseas crypto platforms that do not have a company registration in Taiwan and do not comply with its Anti-Money Laundering laws should not solicit business in Taiwan or from its citizens.

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Crypto’s path to legitimacy runs through the CARF regulation

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Crypto’s path to legitimacy runs through the CARF regulation

Crypto’s path to legitimacy runs through the CARF regulation

The CARF regulation, which brings crypto under global tax reporting standards akin to traditional finance, marks a crucial turning point.

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Tokenized equity still in regulatory grey zone — Attorneys

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Tokenized equity still in regulatory grey zone — Attorneys

Tokenized equity still in regulatory grey zone — Attorneys

The nascent real-world tokenized assets track prices but do not provide investors the same legal rights as holding the underlying instruments.

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Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

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Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

Rachel Reeves has hinted that taxes are likely to be raised this autumn after a major U-turn on the government’s controversial welfare bill.

Sir Keir Starmer’s Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill passed through the House of Commons on Tuesday after multiple concessions and threats of a major rebellion.

MPs ended up voting for only one part of the plan: a cut to universal credit (UC) sickness benefits for new claimants from £97 a week to £50 from 2026/7.

Initially aimed at saving £5.5bn, it now leaves the government with an estimated £5.5bn black hole – close to breaching Ms Reeves’s fiscal rules set out last year.

Read more:
Yet another fiscal ‘black hole’? Here’s why this one matters

Success or failure: One year of Keir in nine charts

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Rachel Reeves’s fiscal dilemma

In an interview with The Guardian, the chancellor did not rule out tax rises later in the year, saying there were “costs” to watering down the welfare bill.

“I’m not going to [rule out tax rises], because it would be irresponsible for a chancellor to do that,” Ms Reeves told the outlet.

More on Rachel Reeves

“We took the decisions last year to draw a line under unfunded commitments and economic mismanagement.

“So we’ll never have to do something like that again. But there are costs to what happened.”

Meanwhile, The Times reported that, ahead of the Commons vote on the welfare bill, Ms Reeves told cabinet ministers the decision to offer concessions would mean taxes would have to be raised.

The outlet reported that the chancellor said the tax rises would be smaller than those announced in the 2024 budget, but that she is expected to have to raise tens of billions more.

It comes after Ms Reeves said she was “totally” up to continuing as chancellor after appearing tearful at Prime Minister’s Questions.

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Why was the chancellor crying at PMQs?

Criticising Sir Keir for the U-turns on benefit reform during PMQs, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the chancellor looked “absolutely miserable”, and questioned whether she would remain in post until the next election.

Sir Keir did not explicitly say that she would, and Ms Badenoch interjected to say: “How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.”

In her first comments after the incident, Ms Reeves said she was having a “tough day” before adding: “People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday.

“Today’s a new day and I’m just cracking on with the job.”

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Reeves is ‘totally’ up for the job

Sir Keir also told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby on Thursday that he “didn’t appreciate” that Ms Reeves was crying in the Commons.

“In PMQs, it is bang, bang, bang,” he said. “That’s what it was yesterday.

“And therefore, I was probably the last to appreciate anything else going on in the chamber, and that’s just a straightforward human explanation, common sense explanation.”

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