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☆ AI could disrupt the 2024 US presidential election. What’s Congress doing about it?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

But with just nine months until Americans head to the ballot box, there are few signs Congress is ready to pass any meaningful legislation on AI. Alex Wong/Getty ImagesSchumer has previously said that with the election nearing, he may seek to fast-track a bill that focuses specifically on AI and election security. Nothing looks likely to move.”Initial momentum on AI regulationFor months, Congress has focused on getting up to speed on the basics of AI. Still other ideas would require “high-risk” AI models to register for a government license, or create a dedicated new federal agency to oversee AI. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testifies before a Senate Judiciary Privacy, Technology & the Law Subcommittee hearing titled 'Oversight of A.I.

Persons: Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, “, Schumer, Sen, Todd Young, Martin Heinrich, Michael Rounds, Alex Wong, New Mexico Democratic Sen, South Dakota Republican Sen, Mike Rounds, Indiana Republican Sen, didn’t, Paul Gallant, Cowen, ”, Gallant, we’re, Sam Altman, Altman, Heinrich, Rounds, Young, Julia Nikhinson, Sundar Pichai, Jensen Huang, Mike Johnson, Marcus Molinaro, Johnson, Drake, Tom Hanks, Tennessee Republican Sen, Marsha Blackburn, Hakeem Jeffries, Don Beyer, it’ll, Alan Davidson, Biden, Elizabeth Frantz, ” Davidson, —, Sarah Myers West Organizations: Washington CNN, mayoral, U.S, Senate, Capitol, Artificial Intelligence, “, CNN, New, New Mexico Democratic, South Dakota Republican, Indiana Republican, Cowen Inc, United, International Atomic Energy Agency, Intelligence, Reuters, Google, Nvidia, New York Republican, The Washington Post, Commerce, Tennessee Republican, ITI, Virginia Democratic Rep, State of, Republican, House Energy, European Union, EU, Congress, Commerce Department, White House, Privacy, Technology, Democrats, Federal Trade Commission Locations: Washington ,, New Mexico, South, Washington , U.S, Washington

Co-founder and CEO of Snap Inc. Evan Spiegel attends the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on online child sexual exploitation at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, on January 31. In prepared testimony reviewed by CNN, Spiegel will say that on average, most Snapchat users connect directly with their friends. "We designed Snapchat to open into the camera, instead of a content feed, to encourage creativity instead of passive consumption," Spiegel will testify. "When people share their Story with friends on Snapchat there are no public likes or comments." A California judge recently ruled that Snap must face a lawsuit over children's fentanyl purchases linked to the app.

Persons: Evan Spiegel, Nathan Howard, Spiegel, Connecticut Democratic Sen, Richard Blumenthal, Tennessee Republican Sen, Marsha Blackburn Organizations: Snap Inc, U.S . Capitol, Reuters, CNN, Connecticut Democratic, Tennessee Republican Locations: Washington, California

☆ Big Tech executives to appear at Senate hearing to defend social media’s impact on teens
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Brian Fung | Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Zuckerberg is expected to tout the company’s more than 30 safety controls, according to prepared testimony released ahead of the hearing. In recent weeks, Meta has also begun hiding more “age-inappropriate” content in teens’ feeds and restricting teens from receiving direct messages from people they don’t follow. Ideally, Clegg said, Zuckerberg would authorize as many as 124 new hires, but acknowledged that financial pressures could make it difficult. After months of radio silence from Zuckerberg, Clegg tried to follow up, this time with a slimmed-down proposal that envisioned either 25 new hires or, if even that was infeasible, just seven. “This would be the bare minimum needed to meet basic policymaker inquiries,” Clegg wrote to Zuckerberg on Nov. 10, 2021.

Persons: “ We’re, ” Connecticut Democratic Sen, Richard Blumenthal, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Evan Spiegel, Rosemarie Calvoni, Meta, Calvoni, ”, ” Calvoni, Arturo Béjar, ’, Tennessee Republican Sen, Marsha Blackburn, Sheryl Sandberg, Global Affairs Nick Clegg, Clegg —, —, Clegg, ” Clegg, Sandberg, “ Organizations: Washington CNN, Meta, Twitter, ” Connecticut Democratic, Facebook, Blumenthal, Tennessee Republican, Global Affairs Locations: ” Connecticut, Massachusetts

☆ Meta ignored warnings on Instagram’s harm to teens, whistleblower says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Washington CNN —Meta’s top executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, ignored warnings for years about harms to teens on its platforms such as Instagram, a company whistleblower told a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday. Meanwhile, both parties have united behind blaming Meta for contributing to a nationwide mental health crisis. Bejar’s research “is basically a smoking gun,” Haugen told CNN in an interview Tuesday. “Every day countless people inside and outside of Meta are working on how to help keep young people safe online,” said Meta spokesman Andy Stone in a statement. He said everyday Americans understand “the harm being done” and compared it to harms from smoking.

Persons: Washington CNN —, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, Arturo Bejar, Bejar, Zuckerberg, Bejar’s, ” Bejar, Frances Haugen, Instagram, ” Haugen, “, Sheryl Sandberg, ”, Andy Stone, Stone, Connecticut Democratic Sen, Richard Blumenthal ., Josh Hawley, Tennessee Republican Sen, Marsha Blackburn, Adam Mosseri, Sandberg, Chris Cox, Mosseri, ” Blackburn, Louisiana Republican Sen, John Kennedy, we’re, ” Meta, Blumenthal, Cox, Haugen, Hawley, ” Blumenthal, ” CNN’s Samantha Kelly Organizations: Washington CNN, Washington CNN — Meta’s, Facebook, Wall, Meta, CNN, Connecticut Democratic, Big Tech, Tennessee Republican, Louisiana Republican, Wall Street, “ Big Tech, Tobacco Locations: Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal . Missouri, Instagram

☆ New bipartisan bill in Senate could address TikTok security concerns without a ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Much of the existing legislation addressing TikTok at the federal and state level has focused on bans of the app. Wednesday’s legislation, known as the Protecting Americans’ Data From Foreign Surveillance Act, does not identify TikTok by name. TikTok has faced criticism from US officials who say the company’s links to China pose a national security risk. Congress has made several attempts in recent months to address data transfers to foreign adversaries. In February, House lawmakers advanced a bill that would all but require the Biden administration to ban TikTok over national security concerns about the app.

Persons: Oregon Democratic Sen, Ron Wyden, Wyoming Republican Sen, Cynthia Lummis, —, ” Wyden, Wyden, TikTok, ByteDance, Biden, Justin Sherman, ” Sherman, Rhode Island Democratic Sen, Sheldon Whitehouse, Sheldon Whitehouse , Tennessee Republican Sen, Bill Hagerty, New Mexico Democratic Sen, Martin Heinrich, Florida Republican Sen, Marco Rubio, Warren Davidson, Anna Eshoo Organizations: CNN, Oregon Democratic, Wyoming Republican, ByteDance, Commerce Department, Oracle, Texas, Commerce, Duke University’s Sanford School of Public, Rhode, Rhode Island Democratic, Sheldon Whitehouse , Tennessee Republican, New Mexico Democratic, Florida Republican, Ohio Republican, California Democratic Locations: China, United States, Russia, Rhode Island, Sheldon Whitehouse , Tennessee, New Mexico, Florida

☆ Senators unveil bipartisan legislation to ban kids under 13 from joining social media platforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The proposed legislation by a bipartisan group of US senators aims to address what policymakers, mental health advocates and critics of tech platforms say is a mental health crisis fueled by social media. “Social media companies have stumbled onto a stubborn, devastating fact,” Schatz said. But it would represent a potentially vast expansion of the government’s role in regulating websites where age verification is a requirement. Tech companies could still develop their own in-house age verification technology or hire third party companies to perform the verification, lawmakers said. Violations of the proposed law could mean millions of dollars in Federal Trade Commission fines for social media companies.

☆ San Francisco Fed leader Daly likely not a major player in SVB saga, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Steve Liesman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

"She was not in the chain of command," one former Fed bank president told CNBC. "Supervisory action taken by the San Francisco Fed staff would have been cleared by Washington." Daly and Fed board officials declined to comment for this report. San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly reacts at the Los Angeles World Affairs Council Town Hall, Los Angeles, California, U.S., October 15, 2019. A review of what went wrong will likely point more heavily to Washington, its supervisory bureaucracy and the board leadership than to San Francisco.

☆ Drag queens take on Tennessee bill seeking to restrict their performances
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Andrew Davis | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

At 5 Points Diner & Bar in Nashville, Tenn., drag performer Veronika Electronika can often be seen strutting between brunch tables. The measure, known as Senate Bill 3, was introduced by Tennessee Republican Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson in November. Tennessee has proposed 31 anti-LGBTQ bills this year, the most of any state, according to Freedom for All Americans. “We tip our servers, we tip our bartenders, we tip our hair stylists, and we tip our drag queens,” she said. As for Veronika, she said she’s determined to rally enough opposition to scuttle Tennessee’s drag bill before it becomes state law.

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