The Morning Risk Report: Can AI Serve on Boards?

The Morning Risk Report: Can AI Serve on Boards? By David Smagalla | Dow Jones Risk JournalGood morning. Automating jobs with artificial intelligence? Why not start with the boardroom ? (free link)Many corporations have turned to the exploding AI sector to automate-or at least try to automate-some work. But a select few have also turned to AI as they seek to lighten the workload associated with more complex tasks, such as serving on corporate boards, reports Risk Journal's Richard Vanderford.New tools emerging: Diligent, which provides compliance and governance tools, earlier this year launched an "AI board member," meant to aid organizations small and large. "It can listen into your board conversations," said Brian Stafford, Diligent's chief executive. "It can comment, it can ask questions, it can offer feedback, can offer advice. Many of our clients are testing different versions of it.AI use not new: Many board directors already use generative AI in some capacity. Research from Corporate Board Member, a peer network, shows 82% have used generative AI in board work over the past six months, up from 66% as of September.Caution noted: An AI platform, regardless of how sophisticated it is, can't be held accountable if, for example, regulators come with questions, said Janet Hale, a senior managing director at consulting group FTI. "The old adage hasn't changed," she said. "You cannot delegate accountability, and in today's environment, I would say you definitely cannot delegate accountability to an AI agent."In case you missed it: The latest Risk Journal Podcast features a discussion on OpenAI's testing going horribly wrong and more on the conflict in Iran. You can listen to new episodes on Apple Podcasts , Spotifyand Amazon .ComplianceEU targets third countries in Russia sanctions package.The European Union's latest Russia sanctions package -its 21st-agreed to by member states Thursday includes a prohibition on transactions between EU citizens and crypto platforms based in so-called third countries, reports Archie Monk for Risk Journal (free link).What does the EU consider a third country? Third countries are defined by the EU as nations that are used as financial and export intermediaries in order to bypass Western restrictive measures, often found in Central Asia.Focus on crypto: The rule would ban any transaction with crypto platforms based in countries that have failed to prevent the provision of crypto-asset services to Russia, which the EU says is a sanctions evasion risk. The EU hasn't yet published its list of third countries.Paramount agrees to pause its Warner Bros. merger.Paramount said Friday it will not move forwardwith its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery until legal challenges to the deal are resolved or June 1, 2027, whichever comes first.What prompted this? Paramount's decision came after a California federal court had granted a temporary restraining order stopping the deal from closing in 28 days. A hearing on a preliminary injunction that would have barred Paramount from closing the merger while the states' antitrust lawsuit proceeds has been canceled.Beijing's purge of Communist Party officials now threatens a former star securities regulator -nearly two years after he retired.The U.S. Treasury on Thursday sanctioned 50 Mexican individualsand entities allegedly linked to Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, Risk Journal reports, marking its largest action to date against the group (free link).TikTok may be in breachof the European Union's digital content rulebook, according to the EU's executive arm, which said it provisionally found that the company's rules for minors' accounts don't meet the bloc's safety standards.The International Criminal Court ousted Chief Prosecutor Karim Khanon Friday over sexual assault allegations, ICC officials said, thrusting the court into a new period of uncertainty as the institution faces a multifront attack by the Trump administration.China is implementing new rulesand laws to tighten control over how its superrich citizens invest overseas and bypass capital controls.China responded to the addition of 14 China- and Hong Kong-based companies to the European Union's sanctions list by adding the same numberof European technology and semiconductor manufacturers to its own export control list.U.S. regulators denied an applicationby fintech company Wise Group for a national trust bank license, citing deficiencies in its program to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.The U.S. Treasury on Thursday removedMiami-based steel producer Bel-Kap-Steel from its sanctions list, Risk Journal reports (free link).The Food and Drug Administration's Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee voted in favor of easing restrictionson six of seven peptides up for consideration, following strong warnings from the agency's scientists.U.S. authorities are examining private-credit dealsinvolving Mark Walter's insurance firms to determine whether fraud occurred. The federal probe into the Dodger owner's financial empire was sparked by an internal whistleblower complaint. EventsJoin senior leaders at Dow Jones Global Horizons , September 14-16 at Christ Church, Oxford. Dine in the historic Great Hall, participate in timely expert-led breakouts and connect with global decision-makers in one of the world's most iconic academic settings. Our discounted pricing has been extended until July 24. Request your invitationnow and save GBP400. Requests are subject to approval.RiskWhat Trump's latest tariffs mean for the American economy.The White House's tariff revamp this past week represents yet another bend in President Trump's continuing tariff saga . Beneath the headlines, the move likely means more of what businesses and shoppers have already learned to live with: sudden policy shifts, scrambled supply chains and higher prices on imported goods.Impact of trade war. Eighteen months into Trump's second-term trade war, tariffs have shown up mainly in higher prices, with goods inflation running well above its prepandemic pace. The new levies have neither dragged down the $30 trillion U.S. economy nor delivered what Trump promised they would do: cut the trade deficit and boost domestic manufacturing.Trump Threatens New Tariffs on EU Over Tech FinesU.S. to Resume Cattle Imports From Mexico After Screwworm BanSmall Businesses Sue Trump Administration Over New 'Forced Labor' TariffsSwitzerland Rejects Forced Labor Accusations After U.S. Imposes New TariffsTrump pauses Iran strikes as officials weigh dwindling air defense stocksPresident Trump has put off a major escalation of his military campaign against Iran amid efforts to revive diplomacy to open the Strait of Hormuz and a debate over the impact of declining munitions stocks, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter.Why the delay? The U.S. military had been poised Friday to launch an intensive series of strikes against Iran, which could have lasted up to two weeks, the officials said. But the operation was delayed so diplomacy could proceed and as officials discussed the effect a major attack could have on the U.S.'s shrinking stocks of Patriot and other air defense interceptors. The president could still order an attack, officials said, noting that the situation remains fluid.The U.S. and Iran Are Stuck in a Cycle of Military EscalationA Truce in Yemen Unravels, Threatening to Widen Mideast WarSaudi Arabia's Vast Oil Supplies Now Increasingly Depend on a Single ExitBahrain, Kuwait Warplanes Struck Iran in Rare Gulf RetaliationSurging electricity demand and equipment backlogs have pushed up construction costs for U.S. power plants more than 10%since last year.After OpenAI enhanced the brain power of its chatbot last summer, hundreds of users worldwide began asking it how to make and deploy biological weapons and poisons. OpenAI banned these and other user accounts that asked about how to make poisons and biological weapons, but it didn't alert law-enforcement officials .China is executing a state-backed campaign to develop domestic AI chips to rival leading U.S. chips.Apple is lobbying the Trump administration to let it use Chinese memory chips , while U.S. supplier Micron Technology is pushing to block the move.Chevron Chief Executive Mike Wirth spoke with Trump administration officials about a pressing matter: how to keep the U.S. oil giant's massive operations in Kazakhstan from becoming collateral damagein the Ukraine-Russia war.Firefighters were struggling Sunday to contain wildfirespushing dangerously close to the city of Bordeaux in southwestern France, leading authorities to evacuate tens of thousands of people from the surrounding region.Representatives for produce giant Taylor Farms contacted the White House with an urgent plea: the company wanted to delayannouncing a recall tied to one of the largest foodborne illness outbreaks in U.S. history.Brazil denied visasto two senior Trump administration officials amid concerns they would undermine confidence in its election. What Else Matters For months, major employers treated hiring as an expensive last resort. Now, a shift is emergingacross industries. Companies ranging from railroad giant CSX to Google parent Alphabet have told investors in recent days that they plan to hire to meet growth goals or to seize on emerging technologies.Nvidia is in talks to provide a roughly $250 billion backstopfor OpenAI as part of a massive data-center project, one of the most ambitious financial transactions yet in America's artificial-intelligence boom.Police arrested a suspect after three people were killedand at least four others were wounded Sunday in a shooting at a Seattle food festival, authorities said.In Austin, Texas, Waymo's robotaxis have struggled to follow parking rules . Since the company came to town in 2024, its vehicles have been fined $9,325 in parking tickets, according to documents The Wall Street Journal obtained through an open-records request.The Gordie Howe International Bridge linking Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, is scheduled to openMonday amid high U.S.-Canada trade tensions.They were like high-school students trying to hack into the textbook company to cheat on their final exam. Only these hackers weren't human . About UsFollow us on LinkedIn . Send tips to our reporters Max Fillion at [[email protected]], Clara Hudson at [[email protected]], Yusuf Khan at [[email protected]] and Richard Vanderford at [[email protected]].You can also reach us by replying to any newsletter, or by emailing our editors Perry Cleveland-Peck at and David Smagalla at [[email protected]].This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.