Democracy's Digital Frontline: AI, Disinformation, and Lessons from Lithuania

Description

Democracy's Digital Frontline: AI, Disinformation, and Lessons from Lithuania 

The Los Angeles World Affairs Council invites members and guests to join Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Taurimas Valys of the Republic of Lithuania for an intimate breakfast conversation as part of a year-long series examining the Baltic states as a critical front in global geopolitics, which includes a Council delegation to the Baltic region this fall and a program next month with the Ambassador of Estonia to the United States. 

Lithuania, a nation of three million, has become one of Europe's most consequential voices on democratic resilience in the digital age, bringing hard-won experience confronting Russian hybrid warfare and helping shape the EU AI Act to one of the defining questions of our time: how democracies can harness artificial intelligence while defending against its misuse. Vice Minister Valys, who previously served as Chief Adviser to the Lithuanian Prime Minister on economic diplomacy, will join Council members for a candid discussion on what the transatlantic alliance can learn from Lithuania's frontline experience at the intersection of AI, national security, and democratic governance. 

This program will be exclusively in-person as this conversation will be off-the-record and not recorded or livestreamed.

Speaker Bio:

Taurimas Valys

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Lithuania

Taurimas Valys serves as Vice‑Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania, where he leads economic diplomacy, foreign trade and investment promotion, economic security policy, defense industry development, and diaspora engagement. He also holds key international roles as Chairman of the Steering Committee of the NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence and as a Governor and Board Member of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Born in Šiauliai, Lithuania, in 1982, Vice‑Minister Valys holds advanced degrees in international relations, law, and business administration and is currently pursuing doctoral studies in economics. His career spans senior government advisory roles, leadership in international chambers of commerce, academia at Vilnius University, and extensive global experience in commerce, finance, and investment across six continents.