The State Department approved a potential military sale to Taiwan worth $75 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Feb. 21. The sale includes “Advanced Tactical Data Link System Upgrade Planning” and related equipment, and the principal contractor hasn’t yet been determined.

The State Department is offering rewards of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of people with ties to ransomware attacks carried out by LockBit and the group’s key leaders, the agency said this week. The announcement was made alongside new Treasury Department sanctions that designated two Russian nationals for their ties to the Russia-based ransomware group and its cyberattacks (see 2402200033). Since 2020, LockBit has carried out over 2,000 attacks, costing more than $144 million in ransom payments, the State Department said.

More than 100 government officials from over 25 countries met in Mexico City last week as part of the fourth meeting of the Semiconductor Informal Exchange Network (SIEN), discussing efforts to expand the semiconductor supply chain, the State Department said Feb. 21. Industry officials and academic leaders also used the meetings to speak about “challenges and opportunities” in the semiconductor sector, the agency said. The State Department said the countries involved in SIEN will hold a tabletop exercise later this year to “increase policymakers’ ability to address disruptions in the global semiconductor ecosystem.”

The Commerce Department will soon request public comments on the risks, benefits and potential policy actions it should take to address advanced artificial intelligence models with widely available model weights, including how they may affect U.S. national security. The agency said “open-weight models” could make AI tools more available to small companies, researchers, nonprofits and others, which would “accelerate the diffusion of AI’s benefits” but also “increase the scale and likelihood of harms from advanced models.”

Maersk violated the Shipping Act by failing to keep its "automated tariff system" open for public inspection, shipper OL USA said in a complaint filed with the Federal Maritime Commission on Feb. 14. The shipper accused Maersk of being "deceptive" and its tariff platform of lacking "functionality," adding that it was "unable to verify Maersk’s representations regarding the substance of its tariffs."

The State Department approved the possible foreign military sale of "AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles" and related equipment to Italy for $69.3 million, the agency announced Feb. 15. The principal contractor will be RTX Corp.

The Federal Maritime Commission approved a confidential settlement between U.S. carrier Network Shipping and several produce importers and exporters, the agency said Feb. 20. The importers and exporters -- including Coast Citrus Distributors, which does business as Olympic Fruit & Vegetable; Amazon Produce Network; Refin Tropicals; JW Fresh; Sembríos De Exportación Sembriexport; and Bresson -- accused the carrier in August of failing to provide chassis for certain shipments, causing $2 million in damages and costs (see 2308070050).

The State Department has approved the possible foreign military sale of the small diameter bomb II and related equipment to Italy for $150 million, the department announced on Feb. 15. The principal contractor will be RTX Corporation.

The Treasury Department this week released its list of countries that require or may require participation in, or cooperation with, an international boycott. Listed are Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen. The list is unchanged from the previous version (see 2308220067).

The Biden administration “strongly opposes” a House bill designed to counter its recent pause in pending decisions on liquefied natural gas exports, the White House said in a statement on Feb. 13. The statement came the same day the House Rules Committee voted to send the bill to the full House for its consideration.