Big tech companies tend to make a lot of enemies — but there are none more powerful than the US government. Apple, Google, Amazon, and Meta are regularly called in front of Congress to fend off monopoly accusations — and lawmakers bring up bills to rein in the companies just as often. The Federal Trade Commission has taken a particularly central role, leading a lawsuit to sever Facebook and Instagram while blocking new acquisitions for Oculus and the company’s virtual reality wing. Like it or not, these regulatory fights will play a huge role in deciding the future of tech — and neither side is playing nice.
As Russia bans Roblox for spreading “LGBT propaganda” — now along with Snapchat and FaceTime too — it leaves homophobes with yet another thing to avoid, just in case.
sam flynn:
Fellas is it gay to play Roblox?
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Alex Karp — the CEO of Palantir, the not-a-surveillance company put forward by Elon Musk’s DOGE to supply the US government with software that allows ICE to track immigrants — is very offended that anyone would suggest he is running a surveillance company.
Also, please “speak up” because “everyone” who thinks he’s a fascist is speaking up, said Karp, who famously wrote a dissertation on the rhetoric of fascism. I wonder why he’s so sensitive!
The Verge’s Hayden Field joins Decoder to discuss the politically fraught climate around AI safety.
UK regulator Ofcom announced it’s fined a porn provider £1 million (around $1.3 million) under the Online Safety Act because while it has age verification measures, they aren’t “highly effective.” That’s just a little more bite than the £20,000 ($27,000) fine it handed 4Chan earlier in the year.
The brief panic caused by an attempt to shoehorn AI preemption into a must-pass defense bill is over. But this won’t be the last you hear of this. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) told reporters “we’re still looking at other places” to work it in, saying there’s still interest.
President Trump is expected to announce a major rollback of Biden-era standards on Wednesday for 2022-2031 model-year vehicles, Reuters reports. Since stepping into office, his administration has worked to dismantle efficiency regulations meant to cut down pollution and save consumers money.
Along with pro-AI, pro-pollution, and pro-surveillance plans, the spending bill signed in July introduced investment accounts for children with $1,000 contributed for US citizens born from 2025 through 2028. Today, Michael and Susan Dell announced they would also contribute:
Through our charitable funds, we are thrilled to be contributing $6.25 billion to seed 25 million additional accounts with $250 each. These deposits will reach the accounts of most children age 10 and under who were born prior to the qualifying date for the federal newborn contribution. Children older than 10 may benefit, too, if funds remain available after initial sign-ups.
The coordinated support of David Sacks after a New York Times report is only drawing more attention to the story.
Some Democrats on the panel and one witness warn that a politicized and weakened Federal Trade Commission could undermine enforcement of any laws passed. Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) recalls an earlier hearing derailed by the president’s firing of two Democratic commissioners — the subject of a Supreme Court hearing Monday.
Ahead of the hearing, global head of privacy Hilary Ware shared Apple’s guiding principles for any app store-based age assurance laws with subcommittee leaders. The company may see the writing on the wall as such laws that have swept states are now getting a shot in Congress.
That’s the message from E&C Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY), defending the gutting of the duty of care in KOSA. It’s also one of the central tensions playing out in today’s hearing: Could KOSA withstand judicial scrutiny with the duty of care? And can a version without it protect kids?
I’m in the hearing room where House lawmakers are discussing 19 bills they say will make kids safer online. Subcommittee Chair Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) begins by defending the massive rework of KOSA. “Don’t mistake durability for weakness,” he says. I’ll share more updates in the stream below.
A Department of Corrections officer at the Pennsylvania prison where Mangione was held after his arrest told the court that he and Mangione discussed how traditional media and social media was reacting to the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The corrections officer told Mangione that from his perspective, mainstream media focused on the crime, whereas social media users discussed the wrongdoings of the healthcare industry.
The state has called two witnesses today: the deputy commissioner of public information at the NYPD and an employee at a surveillance system company in Pennsylvania. It’s part of the vast surveillance network that led to Mangione’s arrest: NYPD releasing several photos and videos of the shooting suspect which were then published by countless news outlets, as well as the video surveillance system in the Pennsylvania McDonald’s where Mangione was arrested.
We’re more than an hour and a half behind the scheduled start time for the hearing in New York. Mangione was allowed to wear street clothes today, which elicited wall-to-wall news coverage last month. He’s wearing a gray suit and light dress shirt.
Pinterest announced its endorsement of the federal version of a model that’s already passed in some states.
The Supreme Court decided that Shira Perlmutter can keep her job while it considers two other cases involving FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter and Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook, both of whom Trump also tried to fire. It’s important that the Copyright Office falls under the Library of Congress, which is historically run by, well, Congress, not the White House. Presumably, the line is drawn somewhere about who the president has the power to fire.
Should states write their own AI laws, or should David Sacks?
A group of 280 state lawmakers expressed “strong opposition” to plans to preempt state AI laws in a must-pass bill. “Freezing state action now would stifle needed innovation in policy design at a moment when it is most needed,” they wrote. You can find a running list of opponents here.
[Americans for Responsible Innovation]
This Associated Press report explains that after getting authorization for a domestic license plate reader in 2017, the readers “have become a major — and in some places permanent — fixture of the border region.”
Readers are operated by the DEA, local law enforcement paid via federal grants, and at least three companies: Rekor, Vigilant Solutions, and Flock Safety.
The White House drafted an executive order to preempt state AI laws, according to a copy obtained by The Verge, but some Trump allies worry it won’t work. “I don’t think the executive branch has the authority to enforce preemption on the states,” Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA) told Punchbowl News.
[Punchbowl News]
Is the promise of jobs worth all the water and chemicals it takes to manufacture chips in the Arizona desert?
