Will humans shape the future of artificial intelligence and the technology sector, or will AI ultimately shape us?

That's a question posed by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres as he nominated 40 experts from around the world to serve on an independent scientific AI panel.

The goal of the panel is to find common ground and bridge the AI knowledge gap so that all can ultimately benefit. The panellists still need to be approved by the UN General Assembly, but regardless, Mr Gutteres's question is more relevant than ever.

The big story

Technology sector turbulence

In brief | OpenAI chief Sam Altman, along with many executives at the centre of the AI sector, found themselves both on the offensive and on the defensive this week.

Paranoia about whether or not OpenAI is spending too much money without a clear revenue path is the source of the angst.

If the company's harshest critics ultimately prove correct, that will be bad news for Nvidia, Oracle and others, hence the many back and forth reactions from those respective companies.

Why it matters | There's no denying that the investment in AI is unprecedented by any objective standard.

What's debatable, however, are the potential ramifications of so many companies investing and depending on one another with the AI boom showing no sign of subsiding.

It's often said that a rising tide lifts all boats, but if the worst fears about revenue are true with respect to OpenAI, then expect a lot of boats, or in this case, companies to founder along with it.

All that said, many still insist the AI bubble fears are much ado about nothing.

Quoted | "I don't get where all this insanity is coming from..."

– OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman

Future in focus

• No more impunity | Joseph Gordon-Levitt makes an emotional plea on Big Tech

• Ample experience | How Japan and Gulf countries can enhance their technology partnerships

• Cyber hygiene | Did Trump's cyber director compromise US security by using ChatGPT?

• Taking a trip | Sheikh Hamdan launches self-driving taxi operations in Dubai

• Long-term storage | A biobank of cellular material aims to help safeguard the future of endangered animals

Predicting the future: Signal or noise?

French police on Tuesday carried out a search of the Paris offices of Elon Musk's social media platform X. The Paris prosecutor's office said that the search is related to an investigation that began last month, in collaboration with Europol and France's CyberGend, which is focused on “transnational forms of cyber crime”.

This is a signal: For several weeks, Grok, the AI tool embedded into the X platform, was the source of anger and controversy because it allowed for users to recreate images of people in a state of undress without the subjects' consent. Because X took so long to address the matter, regulators are taking the issue into their own hands and having a closer look at how X is potentially being used in other nefarious ways. The only surprise is that it took so long for governments to react.

In case you missed it

• Going underground: Can the Dubai Loop help solve traffic congestion?

• Scientists test precision treatment to boost pancreatic cancer survival rates

• AI-blockchain research platform launches new era of sharing scientific knowledge

• Abu Dhabi's G42 to build ‘agent factory’ to manage self-running AI systems

• Opinion: The AI question no one is asking loud enough: what do we do with all the humans?

The National produces a variety of newsletters across an array of subjects. You can sign up here. To receive The Editor's Briefing, our Editor-in-Chief's weekly newsletter that rounds up the top stories of the week – exclusive to registered readers – sign up here.