Government & Policy
Technology is deeply intertwined with government and policy, both being regulated by them and augmenting civic infrastructure like voting, social services, the justice system, and state-funded research, as well as exploring the frontiers of civil rights.
A powerful new video-generating AI model became widely available today — but there’s a catch: The model appears to be censoring topics deemed too politically sensitive by the government in…
Today’s story takes us to a high school on the outskirts of Essex, which has ended up on the wrong side of the U.K.’s GDPR…
The outcome of the Spanish authority’s probe could take up to two years to complete, and leave Apple on the hook for fines in the billions.
After hearing that a U.S. Navy submarine ran into an underwater mountain, Joe Wolfel was surprised to find out just how little both government and…
This weekend, President Biden announced that he would suspend his campaign for president, and he endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris. We still don’t know…
Featured Article
There’s a lot more to the Kamala Harris memes than you think
“You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” says Vice President Kamala Harris in a now infamous clip. An overlay of the lime green album art for Charli XCX’s “Brat” flashes on the screen, while a remix of “Von Dutch” scores increasingly frenetic clips of Harris hysterically laughing…
FTC is investigating how companies are using AI to base pricing on consumer behavior
The Federal Trade Commission announced on Tuesday that it’s ordering eight companies that offer AI-powered “surveillance service pricing” to turn over information about the potential impact these products have on…
Google is no longer proposing to deprecate third-party tracking cookies in Chrome, instead suggesting that users be given an option to deny tracking.
An English school has been reprimanded by U.K. regulators after it used facial recognition technology without getting opt-in consent from students.
The EC has announced an investigation into Berlin-based food delivery giant Delivery Hero and its Spanish subsidiary, Glovo, citing cartel concerns.
India’s federal government has removed the so-called angel tax for all classes of investors, delivering a major victory to the country’s startup ecosystem that had lobbied for years against the…
As a part of TechCrunch’s ongoing Women in AI series, which seeks to give AI-focused women academics and others their well-deserved — and overdue — time in the spotlight, TechCrunch interviewed Lakshmi…
With President Joe Biden dropping out of the race, Vice President Kamala Harris may become the Democrats’ new nominee. In announcing his plans, Biden offered his “full support and endorsement…
U.S. President Joe Biden has announced he no longer plans to seek reelection, a decision that follows weeks of growing pressure from some Democratic Party supporters, including high-profile tech investors…
Featured Article
Some Black startup founders feel betrayed by Ben Horowitz’s support for Trump
Trump is an advocate for a number of policies that could be harmful to people of color.
Featured Article
Tracking the EV battery factory construction boom across North America
A wave of automakers and battery makers — foreign and domestic — have pledged to produce North American–made batteries before 2030.
Prior to the ban, Trump’s team used his channel to broadcast some of his campaigns. With the ban now lifted, his channel can resume doing so.
What we know about CrowdStrike’s update fail that’s causing global outages and travel chaos
Here’s everything you need to know so far about the global outages caused by CrowdStrike’s buggy software update.
The EU just re-elected its president for another five years — here’s what that means for tech
The European Union’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, was confirmed in the role for another five years Thursday after parliamentarians voted overwhelmingly to re-elect her. The scale of her support…
Italy’s competition watchdog is investigating how Google gets user consent in order to link their activity across different services for ad profiling.
Ethereum co-founder’s warning against ‘pro-crypto’ candidates: ‘Are they in it for the right reasons?’
Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, issued a warning on Wednesday against choosing a candidate purely based on whether they claim to be “pro-crypto.” In a blog post, Buterin said…
On AI, new UK gov’t to work on ‘appropriate’ rules for ‘most powerful’ models and beef up product safety powers
There had been rumors the U.K.’s shiny new-in-post Labour government would commit to introducing a dedicated artificial intelligence bill on Wednesday as it unveiled its full legislation program amid the…
Marc Andreessen, the co-founder of one of the most prominent venture capital firms in Silicon Valley, says he’s been a Democrat most of his life. He says he has endorsed…
Microsoft faces UK antitrust probe after hiring Inflection AI founders and employees
U.K. authorities have until early September to decide whether the hiring is tantamount to a merger.
The Russia-based security software maker said its U.S. business is “no longer viable” following a U.S. Commerce Department sales ban.
An Indian court has initiated insolvency proceedings against edtech giant Byju’s, once-valued at $22 billion.
Former President Donald Trump picked Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate on Monday, as he runs to reclaim the office he lost to President Joe Biden in 2020.…
Whistleblowers have accused OpenAI of placing illegal restrictions on how employees can communicate with government regulators, according to a letter obtained by The Washington Post. Lawyers representing anonymous whistleblowers sent…
Meta announced former President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts will no longer be subject to heightened suspension penalties, according to an updated blog post on Friday. The company says…
A bipartisan group of senators has introduced a new bill that seeks to protect artists, songwriters and journalists from having their content used to train AI models or generate AI…
