Just hours after the inauguration, President Donald Trump rescinded an executive order issued by former President Joe Biden on advancing safe and secure artificial intelligence development and usage along with almost 80 of the previous administration's EOs, reports SC Media.
Repealing the EO — which sought to bolster defenses against AI misuse — would pause ensuring compliance among dual-use foundation model developers and monitoring other AI safety requirements, SC Media reported.
"Without a robust framework for governance, we risk the misuse of AI, from weaponized deepfakes to systemic biases that amplify inequalities. AI can be a tool for incredible progress, but only if we set clear guardrails that prioritize ethical development, security, and accountability," said Gabrielle Hempel, customer solutions engineer.
Trump's nixing of the AI order was part of last year's Republican platform that claimed the order violated free speech in the tech's development. Better bolster those defenses.
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Grab your coffee. Here's what you need to know today.
Today’s Tech, Channel and MSP News
1. Render lands $80M Series C: Cloud application platform Render this week landed $80 million in Series C funding led by Georgian, with participation from 01A, Avra Capital, and others. Render's platform is drawing user conversion from other clouds, including AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Heroku. Render has seen 900% annual growth in developer signups and 400% increase in revenue. This new funding will expand the platform’s enterprise-focused capabilities, scale, and global footprint, the company said.
2. DryRun Security lands $8.7 million seed funding: AI AppSec startup DryRun Security announced its $8.7 million seed funding round from LiveOak Ventures and Work-Bench and participation from Cannage Capital. The company is also introducing Natural Language Code Policies (NLCP), a feature that frees AppSec teams from building and maintaining scripted policy rules. By allowing them to define their security policy in an intuitive, domain-focused way, NLCP cuts the overhead of custom rule writing and helps teams get coverage across all of their code bases without worrying about the language or framework.
3. ConnectWise names new CRO, SVP of GTM: ConnectWise made some key leadership appointments this week, naming Joe Mercurio as Chief Revenue Officer, where he will lead ConnectWise’s global sales and revenue operations and Robert Reid as Senior Vice President of Go-To-Market Operations. We're thinking this is a strategic attempt to gain back the RMM heavyweight's marketshare loss to rival Kaseya and upstarts NinjaOne and HaloPSA, as ChannelE2E reported in December. We'll keep an eye on how Mercurio and Reid tackle their new roles! Congratulations to both!
4. ServiceNow expands partner program: ServiceNow this week announced a major expansion of its global partner program, including quadrupling its investment in new incentives and specializations to help partners deliver ServiceNow AI solutions. The news was announced at ServiceNow’s annual Partner Kickoff event.
5. Guardz unveils 'Ultimate Plan': MDR security firm Guardz this week unveiled the details of its 'Ultimate Plan.' This premium offering gives MSPs and IT pros access to the AI-native Guardz unified detection and response platform enhanced with SentinelOne’s advanced endpoint protection. The offering helps MSPs better manage multiple point solutions and minimize manual intervention, reduce complexity, and swiftly resolve threats for SMB customers.
In-Person MSP and Channel Partner Events
- Right of Boom, February 19-21, MGM Grand Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Evergreen Elevate 2025, March 3-4, Archer Hotel, Austin, Texas
- GTIA Communities & Councils Forum, March 10-12, Chicago
- Channel Partners Conference & Expo and MSP Summit, March 10-12, The Venetian, Las Vegas, Nevada
- N-able Empower, week of April 5, Berlin, InterContinental Hotel
- NerdioCon, April 7-9, La Quinta Resort and Club, Palm Springs, California
- Kaseya Connect, April 28-May 1, MGM Grand Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada
