My retro writing machine collection just got a fun new entry: the Smith-Corona PWP 7000LT, which The New York Times has called “a reasonable alternative to portable computers for people who are not comfortable with more powerful machines.” Somewhat incredibly, it actually works.
Microsoft is still asking a judge in its AI copyright tussle to produce discovery on how New York Times reporters use chatbots, and it introduced an interesting 2023 Slack chat in a memorandum: apparently the Times product team told developers to avoid using other LLMs because it was rolling out its own. It’s not clear if this would become one of the tools the company has since announced.
Incoming FCC chair Brendan Carr is excited to start using the spectrum licensing system to punish broadcasters for airing criticism of his boss, and now he wants Disney CEO (and ABC owner) Bob Iger to know it. Nice TV network you’ve got there, Bob. Sure would be a shame if something happened to it.
The House is focused on averting a government shutdown, and there’s no sign of KOSA — a bill that, as my colleague Lauren Feiner recently wrote, has exhausted just about everyone:
“I personally am not going to feel bad if KOSA doesn’t pass this year,” [Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen] tells me on Monday. “And that’s because my expectations for what is possible in the United States anymore are really, really low.”
But they’re not passing anything yet, after Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) blocked Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) attempt at drone investigation legislation:
“The Biden administration keeps saying, well, it’s all normal stuff,” he said. “Why don’t we actually get to the truth of the matter of what actually exists and what the threat is before we propose legislation?”
With roughly one month until the “ban” phase of the US TikTok “divest or ban” law, TikTok’s making a last-ditch appeal to the Supreme Court:
The Supreme Court has an established record of upholding Americans’ right to free speech. Today, TikTok is asking the Court to do what it has traditionally done in free speech cases: apply the most rigorous scrutiny to speech bans and conclude that it violates the First Amendment.
[Newsroom | TikTok]
An extremely beige influencer’s allegations she was imitated by another, also extremely beige, influencer have cleared an early legal hurdle:
The judge apparently found plausible Gifford’s allegation that Sheil imitated her “outfits, poses, hairstyles, makeup, and voice” in a way that enabled Gifford’s followers to identify Gifford as the person whose identity was appropriated.
Be careful out there, beigefluencers.
[Technology & Marketing Law Blog]
The Onion’s parent company issues some rousing praise of a judge blocking its purchase of Infowars:
The experience was long and punishing for all involved, and the final outcome is inconclusive: The InfoWars assets remain in limbo. Everything is now in doubt and everyone is worse off than before.
In short, it is the kind of world we at Global Tetrahedron have always envisioned.
[The Onion]
