By Cat Zakrzewski, washingtonpost.com, 8-14-23 The Biden administration on Aug. 14 told the Supreme Court it should overturn the 5th Circuit Court’s decision to uphold a controversial Texas social media law, calling on the High Court to take up a pair of cases that could have broad implications for the future of online speech. [...]
By Gerrit De Vynck, washingtonpost.com, 8-4-23 A federal judge said the Department of Justice’s landmark case alleging Google’s dominance over the online search business is anti-competitive can go ahead, throwing out some of the government’s claims but ruling that a trial is still necessary. Google had asked for the judge to make a ruling [...]
By Cat Zakrzewski, washingtonpost.com, 7-26-23 Leading artificial intelligence companies on July 26 unveiled plans to launch an industry-led body to develop safety standards for rapidly advancing technology, outpacing Washington policymakers who are still debating whether the U.S. government needs its own AI regulator. Google, ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, Microsoft, and Anthropic introduced the Frontier Model Forum, [...]
By Cat Zakrzewski, washingtonpost.com, 7-21-23 During President Biden’s 50-year Washington political career, he has witnessed a slew of innovations, including the invention of the cellphone, the first Mac computer, the World Wide Web, and social media. But rapid advances in artificial intelligence, highlighted by the recent release of ChatGPT, have stunned the seasoned president…. [...]
By Gerrit De Vynck, Elahe Izadi, and Paul Farhi, washingtonpost.com, 7-20-23 Google is in discussions with news publishers about building and selling artificial intelligence tools that could help reporters and editors produce written journalism, a potential major acceleration of the practice of using automated tools to produce news content. Google has been presenting the [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable, 7-19-23 The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission are proposing tightening their merger review guidelines, citing what Attorney General Merrick Garland calls “unchecked consolidation” that “threatens the free and fair markets upon which our economy is based.” Garland said the guidelines reflect modern market realities. One of those [...]
By Cat Zakrzewski, washingtonpost.com, 7-14-23 The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on July 14 granted a temporary stay of a July 4 order putting sweeping limitations on the Biden Administration’s communications with social media companies. The stay was granted by a panel of 5th Circuit judges, which includes Clinton appointee Carl E. Stewart, Obama [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 7-13-23 Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) have reintroduced a bill to boost online content moderation transparency and prevent algorithmic discrimination. The bill was originally introduced in 2021. It failed to gain traction, but the D.C. heat on Big Tech has only ramped up since then. [...]
By Drew Harwell, washingtonpost.com, 7-13-23 A group of college professors is suing Texas for banning TikTok on public-university computers and phones, saying it has undermined their ability to teach students and to research one of the world’s most popular apps. Texas last year joined more than two dozen other states in banning the app [...]
By Cat Zakrzewski, washingtonpost.com, 7-13-23 The Federal Trade Commission has opened an expansive investigation into OpenAI, probing whether the maker of the popular ChatGPT bot has run afoul of consumer protection laws by putting personal reputations and data at risk. The agency this week sent the San Francisco company a 20-page demand for records [...]