Tech Policy & Government | TechCrunch

Las Vegas sheriff tells a16z partners what’s next on his wish list: AI for bodycams

Sean O'Kane, Margaux MacColl — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 18:35:28 +0000

Vegas police received funding for tech like drones and license plate readers from Ben Horowitz. Now it wants AI to go through police footage.

UK competition regulator clears Alphabet’s investment in Anthropic

Paul Sawers — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 12:32:54 +0000

The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has okayed Alphabet’s partnership and investment in AI rival Anthropic, concluding that it doesn’t qualify for investigation under current merger rules. The announcement comes a month after the CMA revealed it was launching a formal “stage 1” probe into Alphabet’s various investments in Anthropic, a 3-year-old San Francisco-based […]

Indian news agency sues OpenAI alleging copyright infringement

Manish Singh — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 07:56:51 +0000

One of India's largest news agencies has sued OpenAI in a case that could set a precedent for how AI companies use copyrighted news content.

Justice Department reportedly pushing Google to spin off Chrome

Kyle Wiggers — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 23:41:46 +0000

The Department of Justice is reportedly pushing to force Google to spin off its Chrome browser business. That’s according to Bloomberg, which reports that the Justice Department is also planning to recommend to a federal judge that Google face antitrust requirements related to AI and its Android mobile operating system. The enforcement actions are the […]

Trump’s FCC pick has said he wants to ban TikTok, challenge Section 230

Amanda Silberling — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 21:58:49 +0000

Though President-elect Donald Trump has been expected to stop the looming ban on TikTok, his political appointments suggest otherwise. Trump announced on Sunday that he selected Brendan Carr to chair the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates the internet, news media, and other forms of communication. Carr, whom Trump appointed to the FCC in 2017, […]

Trump’s pro-fracking energy secretary pick has also invested in geothermal and nuclear startups

Tim De Chant — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 20:40:16 +0000

Chris Wright has been a big booster of oil and gas, but he's also no stranger to climate tech.

Sam Altman will co-chair San Francisco mayor-elect Daniel Lurie’s transition team

Maxwell Zeff — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 17:00:00 +0000

San Francisco’s mayor-elect, Daniel Lurie, has tapped OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to help run his transition team, the campaign announced on Monday, as part of the administration’s effort to embrace the tech industry. Altman, alongside nine other San Francisco leaders, will provide guidance to Lurie’s team on ways the city can innovate, and help the […]

TikTok parent ByteDance reportedly values itself at $300B

Anthony Ha — Sat, 16 Nov 2024 17:26:40 +0000

ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, valued itself at $300 billion in a recent share buyback offer, according to a new report in The Wall Street Journal. That number might sound familiar, as the WSJ previously reported on a ByteDance buyback offer at a $300 billion valuation back in September 2022. But a year […]

EU AI Act: Everything you need to know

Natasha Lomas — Sat, 16 Nov 2024 14:00:00 +0000

The European Union’s risk-based rulebook for artificial intelligence — aka the EU AI Act — has been years in the making. But expect to hear a lot more about the regulation in the coming months (and years) as key compliance deadlines kick in. Meanwhile, read on for an overview of the law and its aims. […]

X sues to block California anti-deepfakes bill

Kyle Wiggers — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 16:48:19 +0000

Per Bloomberg, X, Elon Musk’s social media company, has sued to block California law AB 2655, which requires large online platforms to remove or label AI deepfakes related to elections. X argues that the law, also known as the “Defending Democracy from Deepfake Deception Act of 2024,” will lead to widespread censorship of political speech. […]

GM’s Cruise to pay $500,000 fine to DOJ, admits submitting false report

Rebecca Bellan — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 14:08:53 +0000

Cruise, the autonomous vehicle unit of General Motors, has admitted to submitting a false report with the goal of influencing a federal investigation into a safety incident last year. In penance, the company will pay a $500,000 criminal fine as part of a deferred prosecution agreement, per the Department of Justice (DOJ). This is one […]

Google tests removing news articles from search in EU, but it’s already backfiring

Romain Dillet — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 13:50:39 +0000

Under EU law, digital platforms have to pay for news reuse. But how much should Google pay for article previews? That’s what Google is trying to find out with an experiment in nine EU countries. During the test, 1% of users won’t see articles from EU-based news publishers in search and Google News so that […]

Tech leaders recommend colleagues for Trump’s cabinet

Marina Temkin — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 23:56:37 +0000

Tech executives have been trying to influence the incoming Trump administration to appoint Silicon Valley insiders for cabinet positions, The New York Times reported. Given Elon Musk’s strong relationship with Donald Trump, many of these persuasion efforts have been directed towards him, including by friends of Musk like Joe Lonsdale, the co-founder of Palantir and […]

FTC reportedly begins investigating Microsoft’s cloud business practices

Kyle Wiggers — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 23:17:43 +0000

The FTC is reportedly readying an investigation into whether Microsoft used anti-competitive tactics to maintain a dominant position in the cloud market. According to Financial Times, the agency is looking into allegations that Microsoft imposed punitive licensing agreements to prevent customers from moving data off its platforms. Sources told FT that the FTC is also […]

EU AI Act: Draft guidance for general purpose AIs shows first steps for Big AI to comply

Natasha Lomas — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 15:26:16 +0000

A first draft of a Code of Practice that will apply to providers of general-purpose AI models under the European Union’s AI Act has been published, alongside an invitation for feedback — open until November 28 — as the drafting process continues into next year, ahead of formal compliance deadlines kicking in over the coming […]

FBI raids home of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan

Kyle Wiggers — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 14:38:39 +0000

The FBI raided the home of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan on Wednesday morning and seized his electronics, a company spokesperson confirmed to Axios. It’s not clear what the FBI was seeking. In particular, it’s unclear if Polymarket, Coplan, or both are the targets of an investigation. Polymarket, one of the most active prediction betting markets, […]

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau moves to place Google under supervision

Kyle Wiggers — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 14:22:01 +0000

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has taken steps to place Google under formal federal supervision, a move that could subject the company to the same inspections the government imposes on major banks. According to The Washington Post, the CFPB has been in talks with Google for months about the supervision order, which hasn’t yet […]

Meta slapped with a €798M fine in Europe over anticompetitive Marketplace practices

Ingrid Lunden — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 14:07:07 +0000

Meta, the parent of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has been hit with yet another huge regulatory fine in Europe, this time over abusive practices related to Facebook Marketplace. The European Commission announced that it would fine Meta €797.72 million — nearly $840 million — for breaching EU antitrust rules connected to how it ties its […]

What’s DOGE? Musk’s new political appointment under Trump is a crypto joke

Amanda Silberling — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 23:11:04 +0000

President-elect Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that one of his top donors, Elon Musk, will co-lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. It’s a not-even-thinly-veiled nod to the popular Doge meme, depicting a cute Shiba Inu, which is also the inspiration behind the meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin. The commission, which will advise Trump, […]

OpenAI’s take on AI agents could come in January

Kyle Wiggers — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 22:28:09 +0000

OpenAI could release an “AI agent” tool as soon as January. That’s according to Bloomberg, which reports that OpenAI is close to launching software, code-named “Operator,” that can take direct actions on a person’s computer. OpenAI is said to be planning to initially launch Operator as a research preview through its developer API. Operator would […]