Episode #275: Edwin Kwan: Popular WordPress Plugin Exposes over 600K to Attacks; Marcel Brown: This Day in Tech History; Katy Craig: EU AI Act; Shannon Lietz: The AI Act; Olimpiu Pop: To Regulate Or Not To Regulate AI in EU

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The stories we’re covering today.

Marcel Brown: November 17th, 1970. Douglas Engelbart receives a U. S. patent for his XY Position Indicator for a display system, more commonly known as the computer mouse. Engelbart called his device a mouse because the cord looked like a tail.

Edwin Kwan: A popular WordPress plugin has been discovered to be vulnerable to a high-severity vulnerability. There are currently more than 600,000 websites that are using the vulnerable version and are potentially exposed to the vulnerability.

Katy Craig: As the European Union considers the way ahead for the AI Act, a critical question arises. Should the EU establish a dedicated office to oversee and manage it? The establishment of a dedicated office for AI regulation must find a balance between oversight and innovation, efficiency and flexibility, and harmonization and autonomy.

Shannon Lietz: The win on the AI Act is the fact that the EU is going to put some capability behind it. It's such a powerful forward motion for us in terms of the future of what we need for humanity. We've really got to start to establish some of the playing rules for how this becomes beneficial to everyone.

Olimpiu Pop: while a delay in the AI Act's implementation may allow for more thorough consideration and balancing of various interests, it also runs the risk of leaving the EU unprepared to address the rapid advancements and potential risks associated with powerful AI technology.