And now, a message from Google. The spirit of innovation is deeply ingrained in America,

and Google is helping Americans innovate in ways both big and small. From automating threat detection

to protecting against fraud, American businesses and governments are strengthening their

cybersecurity with help from Google AI.

This is a new era of American Innovation.

Find out more at G.com slash American Innovation. Hey, everybody, it's Anna Palmer from The Daily Punch.

We're excited to share the latest installment of our custom product, AI innovation, in partnership with Google.

This project will focus on different areas where we had Punchable news are drilling down on how AI innovation is taking place in areas like health care, the economy, education, and more. I'll be joined each installment with Punchable News Special Projects reporter Shania Shelton to break down each segment and talk us through it all. This week's edition is focused on AI and cybersecurity. Shania, welcome to the show. Thanks so much. Excited to be here. All right, let's get started.

Set the stage for us, what is the state of play when it comes to AI and cybersecurity?

Well, AI is making the cybersecurity landscape more sophisticated and more complicated.

The world is becoming increasingly more digital and geopolitical threats are evolving.

So with the addition of AI, it's

both helping the government and businesses defend themselves against bad actors using new tools and

technologies, but that same technology can help hackers become more powerful and more dangerous

themselves. So policymakers are seeking the best ways to regulate AI and also protect the nation's information systems and infrastructure.

You write that AI and cybersecurity is a multifaceted issue. You kind of started to lay that out for us now.

But one thing you wrote caught my eye. It was a stat. 87% of business executives, academics, and government cybersecurity experts told the

world economic form that, quote, AI-related vulnerabilities are the fastest growing cyber

risk in 2025.

Talk a little bit about how this is a multifaceted issue.

It's a multifaceted issue because on one hand, AI can help on the defense side by

advancing capabilities that can respond to threats in a fraction of the time. But it's also a two-edged

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