President Trump Appoints Tech Leaders to PCAST Science and Technology Council

• EuroHPC and a consortium of six countries have ordered the LUMI-AI supercomputer from French state-owned company Bull for €388 million. • The system will be built in Finland using AMD chips combined with European-made cooling and interconnect technologies.

• Bull has been selected to build LUMI-AI, a high-performance AI supercomputer in Kajaani, Finland, with a total funding of €387.8 million. • The system will be developed for the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking and the LUMI AI Factory consortium, featuring AMD MI430X GPUs and advanced warm water cooling.

• AI giants including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Databricks are increasingly utilizing mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as a primary competitive strategy alongside product development. • This trend is driven by a combination of subdued IPO activity and a funding environment where many startups are struggling to secure new investment rounds.

• The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has committed S$170 million over the next three years to launch the Financial Sector Technology and Innovation (FSTI) 4.0 initiative. • The program focuses on accelerating the adoption of frontier technologies, including AI, while developing critical infrastructure and nurturing industry talent to maintain global competitiveness.

• Financial Stability Board (FSB) chief Bailey has warned that the emergence of new AI models poses a growing risk to global financial stability. • The warning follows incidents where models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta Platforms were utilized to hack various organizations via the internet.

• Singapore has earmarked S$220 million ($173 million) over the next three years to fund financial technology and innovation. • Announced by the Monetary Authority of Singapore on Monday, the program focuses on supporting talent and accelerating the deployment of frontier financial technologies.

• Singapore is leveraging its Research, Innovation, and Enterprise (RIE) plans to accelerate technological advancements and drive real-world impact. • Key focus areas for these strategic initiatives include quantum computing, precision medicine, marine technology, and epidemic preparedness.

• On August 28, 2026, a 48-page legal complaint was filed targeting individual executives within the AI industry, marking a shift toward personal liability in copyright litigation. • The AI Safety Institute (AISI) confirmed a "major incident" this month involving Anthropic's Mythos 5 and OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol.

• Traders returning in September face heightened market risks driven by concerns over high government debt and prolonged inflation. • A major AI-related IPO is expected to seek up to $100 billion, potentially straining the AI trade.

• Cybersecurity is expanding as AI creates new attack surfaces, driving increased enterprise spending and nine-figure funding rounds for startups. • High-growth opportunities are emerging in "agentic identity," specifically focusing on authorization, short-lived permissions, and revocation for AI software that can independently access data.

• German drone manufacturer Quantum Systems secured an early entry into the U.S. market with strategic support from In-Q-Tel (IQT), an investment firm linked to the CIA. • Co-CEO Sven Kruck revealed that IQT's capital and networks were instrumental in opening doors in Washington and helping the company win critical contracts.

• Bull has been selected to deliver the LUMI-AI supercomputer in Finland, a project valued at €387.8 million. • The system is designed to accelerate AI training and inference while supporting large-scale scientific simulations for research and industry.