If there was ever a moment that best encapsulated Chapel Hill, it unfolded Wednesday morning: A protest of a few hundred demonstrators sandwiched between the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity house and a gathering of world leaders.
That was the scene as the G20 Innovation Ministerial met inside the Carolina Inn, bringing commerce officials from the Group of 20 nations and tech leaders, including Sam Altman of OpenAI, to the historic hotel that neighbors UNC-CH. The U.S. Department of Commerce, led by Secretary Howard Lutnick, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy cohosted the event.
The session sought to “identify policy principles that promote innovation in AI and other emerging technologies, accelerate scientific and technological advancement, promote economic growth and investment in manufacturing and supply chains, and strengthen public support for these technologies,” per a news release…