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☆ Bipartisan U.S. bill would end Section 230 immunity for generative AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Katie Paul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 14 (Reuters) - Two U.S. senators introduced legislation on Wednesday that would allow social media companies to be sued for spreading harmful material created with artificial intelligence. The law would open the door for lawsuits to proceed against social media companies for claims based on emerging generative AI technology, including fabricated but strikingly realistic "deepfake" photos and videos of real people. It followed the defeat last month of two landmark cases at the Supreme Court that would have narrowed the scope of Section 230 immunity. "We can't make the same mistakes with generative AI as we did with Big Tech on Section 230," said Hawley, a Republican. A small set of narrow exceptions have been established for issues like copyright infringement and child sex trafficking, the latter via a bipartisan 2018 amendment called the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act.

Persons: Republican Josh Hawley, Richard Blumenthal, Hawley, Blumenthal, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Katie Paul, Chris Sanders, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Republican, Big Tech, Democrat, Republicans, Google, Facebook, Democratic, Communications, Thomson

☆ Opinion | Is Masculinity in Crisis?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To the Editor:Re “The Right Is All Wrong About Masculinity,” by David French (column, May 29):Today’s men, Mr. French writes, “are in desperate need of virtuous purpose,” and he’s spot on about what’s wrong. No, we should not discourage masculinity defined by a willingness to fight or even die for what is right, to show strength, purpose and idealism. This drive is a virtue, to be sure, but it needs to be informed by critical thinking, literacy, facts and compassion rather than meanness, blind self-righteousness, incivility and dehumanization. Tim MaxwellMenlo Park, Calif.To the Editor:Men don’t come with a surgeon general’s warning: Being a man may be hazardous to your health. But it is nonetheless true — far too many men lead lives of quiet desperation.

Persons: David French, “, Josh Hawley, Tim Maxwell Menlo Locations: Florida, Calif

☆ The twice-impeached Trump now faces his second criminal indictment as he looks to recapture White House
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

CNN —Donald Trump, who has often lied, unquestionably told the truth when he said Thursday was a “dark day” for America. Why the new indictment could be more serious than the firstAmazingly, this was not the first time Trump was indicted. This undercut his arguments that he declassified everything he took from the White House. — On Thursday, CNN’s Zachary Cohen revealed that a key former White House official who worked in both the Trump and Obama administrations was interviewed by special counsel prosecutors earlier this year. “The weaponization of federal law enforcement represents a mortal threat to a free society,” he tweeted before making his own White House pitch.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, it’s, Simply, Joe Biden –, he’s, Trump’s, “ It’s, That’s, ”, Stormy Daniels, Jim Trusty, Kevin McCarthy, “, Elise Stefanik, parroted, Joe Biden, GOP Sen, Josh Hawley, Jack Smith’s, —, Andrew McCabe, Smith, Mark Meadows, CNN’s Zachary Cohen, thrall, Alvin Bragg’s, Ron DeSantis, Mike Pence –, – Organizations: CNN, Republican, Justice Department, Biden’s Justice Department, Trump, “, ”, ” New York, GOP, — CNN, FBI, Mar, White, New York Times, White House, Obama, Biden’s, Florida Gov, DOJ, Republican Party Locations: America, Miami, Manhattan, United States of America, Missouri, Iran, Washington ,, Florida, —, Georgia

☆ 'Nobody is above the law': The world reacts to Trump being indicted for the second time
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Jake Swearingen | Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Trump's allies and enemies took to Twitter en masse to weigh in on his second indictment. The common refrain from Democrats and Trump's opponents within the GOP was that nobody was above the law. God Bless President Trump. I, and every American who believes in the rule of law, stand with President Trump… — Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) June 9, 2023Sen. Josh Hawley worried about the state of the republic. Every "Republican" running for President should suspend their campaign and go to Miami as a show of support.

Persons: Trumpworld, —, Donald Trump, — Adam Kinzinger, Gerry Connolly, Michael Cohen, Trump's, fixer, Trump, izsOqf04yc — Michael Cohen, Biden, DOJ indicts Trump, YdmbbAo6fX — Anna Paulina Luna, Jim Jordan, Kevin McCarthy, Joe Biden, Trump … — Kevin McCarthy, Sen, Josh Hawley, Marjorie Taylor Greene, W8GallYAeH —, Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 ( Organizations: Twitter, Trump, Service, GOP, —, DOJ, America Locations: America, United States of America

☆ Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg touts to employees 'incredible breakthroughs' the company has seen in A.I.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants his workforce to know the company is in the middle of the artificial intelligence race. During a meeting with employees Thursday in the Hacker Square pavilion at Meta's Menlo Park headquarters, Zuckerberg discussed Meta's AI efforts, a spokesperson confirmed. Meta said it's giving employees access to several internal generative AI tools to help develop prototypes, and the company is hosting a hackathon for workers to show off their AI projects. Meta executives told employees the company is still committed to releasing AI research to the open-source community. Last week, Meta told employees they will need to work at the company's offices three days a week, starting in September.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, we've, Axios, hasn't, Meta, Richard Blumenthal, Josh Hawley Organizations: Menlo, CNBC, Meta, Microsoft, Google Locations: Sens, R

☆ The US Senate is working to get up to speed on AI basics ahead of any legislation
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The deliberate pace of progress contrasts with the blistering speed with which companies and organizations have embraced generative AI, and the flood of investment into the industry. “The Senate must deepen our expertise in this pressing topic,” Schumer wrote in a letter to colleagues announcing the briefings. Options include forming a select committee to craft a comprehensive AI bill, or “splitting out and having lots of different committees come up with different pieces of legislation,” Rounds said. Sen. Michael Bennet has introduced legislation to create a new federal agency with authority to regulate AI, for example. And on Wednesday, Sen. Josh Hawley unveiled his own framework for AI legislation that called for letting Americans sue companies for harms created by AI models.

Persons: Chuck Schumer, Schumer, “, ” Schumer, South Dakota Republican Sen, Mike Rounds, Rounds, New Mexico Democratic Sen, Martin Heinrich, Indiana Republican Sen, Todd Young — haven’t, ” Rounds, Sam Altman, Sen, Michael Bennet, Josh Hawley, ” Organizations: Washington CNN, guardrails, South Dakota Republican, Washington, New, New Mexico Democratic, Indiana Republican, National Defense Locations: New Mexico

☆ Opinion | Men Have Lost Their Way. Josh Hawley Has Thoughts About How to Save Them.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Carlos Lozada | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

In Bly’s view, part of the answer was to recreate ancient rites of male initiation and restore mentoring between young men and their elders, a relationship that instructs boys to channel, but not suppress, their instincts. And he urges young men to assume greater responsibility for their own lives (“Ditching porn is a good place to start,” Hawley writes) as a step toward glimpsing that missing vision of manhood. To dismiss or mock such views merely because they come from Josh Hawley is to let partisan commitments overwhelm intellectual ones. “Much of today’s left seems to welcome men who are passive and tame, who will do as they are told and sit in their cubicles, eyes affixed to their screens,” Hawley writes. Hawley is not necessarily wrong when he complains about the mixed messages aimed at young men today — Your identity is yours to shape and claim, but why are you so toxic and oppressive?

Persons: Schlesinger, John F, Kennedy, John Wayne, ” Hawley, Josh Hawley, Hawley, today’s, “, ”, … Organizations: Trump Locations: America

☆ The next election can't handle a world powered by ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Even the man who runs ChatGPT-maker OpenAI worries about the influence of AI on 2024's election. The devastation caused by social media in America's recent political history could look like child's play by comparison to AI. Even Altman thinks AI will make humans stupidFor now, Altman said, humans understand that AI is in its infancy and are aware that bots like ChatGPT routinely make mistakes. Altman correctly (and self-interestedly) called during the session for AI to be regulated, including a suggestion that AI-generated content is clearly labeled. The same slowness just won't cut it in a world running to embrace ChatGPT.

☆ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is ready to tell Congress that the ChatGPT-led AI era he's ushered in needs rules — before it's too late
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sam Altman is ready to tell Congress that his AI invention ChatGPT needs to follow some rules. The OpenAI CEO is due to appear before Congress on Tuesday as concerns grow over AI risks. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is set to make his debut appearance before Congress to address growing concerns about the societal threats posed by a ChatGPT-led era of AI. The testimony comes at a crucial moment as the release of OpenAI's ChatGPT in November introduced the world to consumer-led AI. The spread of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT has caused concern among lawmakers about the potential harm they could cause.

☆ Here's what happened during OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's first hearing on artificial intelligence
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testifies before a Senate Judiciary Privacy, Technology & the Law Subcommittee hearing titled 'Oversight of A.I. : Rules for Artificial Intelligence' on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 16, 2023. The hearing came after Altman met with a receptive group of House lawmakers at a private dinner Monday, where the CEO walked through risks and opportunities in the technology. After the hearing, Blumenthal told reporters that comparing Altman's testimony to those of other CEOs was like "night and day." "Some of the Big Tech companies are under consent decrees, which they have violated.

☆ JD Vance defends Trump's comments that Republicans should let the US default, saying the former president was giving 'political advice' and doing 'fundamentally the right thing'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sen. JD Vance defended Trump's comments to Axios, saying he was just giving "political advice." "I say to the Republicans out there, congressmen and senators, if they don't give you massive cuts you are going to have to do a default," Trump said. Sen. JD Vance argued that Trump was just trying to help his party. Vance told Axios that "what the president is doing is really giving political advice ... not financial advice." GOP Sen. Josh Hawley, for example, told Axios that he disagreed with Trump's comments and that "there is no world in which [a default] happens."

☆ Ted Cruz accused JD Vance of empowering 'the radical Green Movement' by aligning with Democrats on a bill to prevent rail disasters like the East Palestine crash
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Ethan Dodd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

JD Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio, proposed the Rail Safety Act in March. "All of us were moved by the testimony of the witnesses" from East Palestine, Cruz said. "We cannot undo the psychological, economic, and physical toll of the derailment in East Palestine," Vance noted, but "there will be another East Palestine in this country if we do not pass the Railway Safety Act." "I earnestly hoped that we would reach a bipartisan consensus," Cruz said, but "this bill is overly and needlessly prescriptive." Nonetheless, Cruz doubted the bill would pass the Senate with 60 votes, let alone the House.

☆ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to testify before Congress for the first time next week
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will testify before Congress for the first time next week as lawmakers are urgently seeking to figure out how to regulate rapidly advancing artificial intelligence tools. The hearing, entitled "Oversight of AI: Rules for Artificial Intelligence," will also feature IBM Vice President and Chief Privacy and Trust Officer Christina Montgomery and New York University Professor Emeritus Gary Marcus. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., who is co-hosting the dinner, told NBC News it's meant to "educate members" and that more than 50 lawmakers had already RSVP'd. Last week, Altman joined other tech CEOs for a meeting at the White House with Vice President Kamala Harris to discuss risks associated with AI. WATCH: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on the ChatGPT boom and the need for regulation

☆ Mitch McConnell says Tucker Carlson's following in the GOP is 'disturbing'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mitch McConnell recently offered his most blunt remarks yet on former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. "At the risk of patting myself on the back, not many Republicans went after Tucker Carlson, but I did," McConnell told Bloomberg. "I think Carlson had developed a coterie of followers in the Congress as well as in the country that I found disturbing." "I do think the party of Ronald Reagan is coming back here," said McConnell. Despite McConnell's comments, Carlson continues to enjoy warm relations with many in the Republican Party.

☆ A group of Democratic senators want to withhold $10 million in Supreme Court funding until it adopts a public code of ethics: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A group of fifteen Democratic senators sent a letter in March asking to withhold $10 million in Supreme Court funding. The senators said the $10 million should be withheld until a public code of ethics is instituted for the court. "Congress has broad authority to compel the Supreme Court to institute these reforms, which would join other requirements already legislatively mandated. At a Supreme Court ethics hearing on Tuesday, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley appeared to take umbrage at the Democratic senators' request, asserting the $10 million that would be cut from the Supreme Court's budget would directly impact their security. She added that cutting funding for the Supreme Court's security simply wasn't on the table.

☆ Sen. JD Vance defends Tucker Carlson over leaked 'how white men fight' text: 'He says far more controversial things publicly every single day'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Tucker Carlson bemoaned that a group of Trump supporters didn't fight like "white men," per a leaked text. "By the way, I don't think that's why he was fired," the Ohio senator added. "I don't know why that would justify somebody getting fired, especially when you're talking about a private text message." "I'm highly skeptical that text message caused them to fire Tucker Carlson. "Once a week, I worry that something terrible will happen to Tucker Carlson," said Vance.

☆ JPMorgan just got a lot bigger — and Elizabeth Warren is alarmed
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington, DC CNN —JPMorgan Chase has once again come to the rescue of the banking system by acquiring a doomed bank. By blessing JPMorgan’s takeover of First Republic Bank, Warren fears federal regulators just made the” Too Big to Fail” problem even worse. My view on this is it’s important to look at the effect on competition and to try to keep a more diversified banking system,” Warren said. For his part, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is hopeful his bank’s takeover of First Republic eases the stress in the banking system. Clawing back banker payIn the wake of the bank failures, Warren is calling for accountability — both of bank executives and regulators.

“I hope the Republican Party can muster the courage to oppose late-term abortion like we have done in the past. But after the midterms produced a slimmer-than-expected majority, there now appears to be little appetite inside the House GOP for such a bill. Troy Nehls, a Republican from Texas, told CNN: “it’s up to the states,” when asked about a national ban. The National Right to Life Committee said it is in regular communication with House Republican leadership about possible legislative efforts and educational needs on the issue. “What we’re working on right now is primarily reacquainting members with the abortion issue after the Dobbs decision.

☆ Senate Republicans who backed Trump's election fraud claims say Fox News settling Dominion case leaves things 'a little murky'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Several Senate Republicans predicted the settlement wouldn't change much at Fox or in journalism. "A bad settlement is a lot better than going to court," one Trump backer told Insider. "I think that it leaves a few things a little murky," Braun said while walking through the Senate subway. "The trial was likely to be pretty ugly," Cruz told Insider. "It's no problem — if you don't lie," Romney told Insider between votes.

☆ One of the most important conservative think tanks is changing its tune on the free market and state power to keep up with the 'New Right' ushered in by Trump and DeSantis
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Ethan Dodd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A recent report published by the think tank outlines how government could play a greater role in the economy. The foundation is trying to keep up with American right's turn away from free markets with Trump and DeSantis. On the other side are libertarian conservatives like Sen. Rand Paul who opposes interfering with free markets. The Reaganite fusion of free markets, social traditionalism, and anti-communism "is fundamentally dead," Geoff Kabaservice, vice president of political studies at the market-oriented think tank Niskanen Center, told Insider. Heritage's president, Kevin Roberts, took over in 2021 and has aligned the think tank much more with the New Right, which is home to figures like Florida Gov.

☆ Mike Pence in pink boots, Ron DeSantis in a big ball gown. Here's how the 'RuPublicans' Instagram account uses AI art to call out GOP lawmakers — by dressing them in drag.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Aditi Bharade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The "RuPublicans" Instagram account posts AI-generated pictures of GOP lawmakers in full drag. The images range from Mike Pence in sparkly pink boots to Ron DeSantis in a big ball gown. The images are the work of an Instagram account called "RuPublicans," which uses AI to dress Republican lawmakers in drag — complete with frills, feathers, jewels, and wigs. Some of the GOP lawmakers in drag have a history of pushing anti-trans rhetoricSeveral GOP lawmakers that the "RuPublicans" account called out have, in the past, pushed anti-trans messages. Representatives of Pence, DeSantis, Graham, Cruz, Hawley, and McConnell did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.

☆ 5 things the Supreme Court will take into account in medication abortion case
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Ariane De Vogue | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —As the Supreme Court prepares for yet another controversial abortion case to come its way, the justices will pore over District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling last week to block the government’s approval of the key medication abortion drug at issue. “There are serious questions on whether the Supreme Court is willing to endorse the district’s court’s very broad approach to those questions,” he said. As he often does, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote separately last June to explain his thinking in voting to overturn Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court might also take issue with the relief that Kacsmaryk ordered. None other than the liberals on the Supreme Court who dissented in Dobbs.

☆ Fact Check-Florida driver who vandalized Pride crosswalk charged with criminal mischief and reckless driving, not hate crime
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A Florida man pleaded guilty to criminal mischief and reckless driving after using his pick-up truck to vandalize a rainbow-colored Pride road crossing in West Palm Beach, Florida, in June 2021. The caption reads: “Burning rubber on a rainbow street was categorized as a hate crime but a trans terrorist massacring Christian children was not.”U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican, introduced a senate resolution to name the Nashville shooting a hate crime (here). John Kennedy, another Republican Senator, asked Attorney General Merrick Garland if a hate crime investigation would be opened on March 28 at a senate hearing (here). Although a man who vandalized a Pride crosswalk in Florida was initially arrested for criminal mischief, reckless driving, and evidence of prejudice (also referred to as a hate crime), he was ultimately charged with the first two only.

☆ A Texas judge's abortion pill ruling was 'extraordinary' because it let doctors ban a drug they neither use nor prescribe, the DOJ said in a bid to reverse the decision
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The Justice Department filed an emergency motion seeking a stay on last week's abortion pill ruling. Anti-abortion activists lacked standing to challenge FDA approval of the drug, the department says. But anti-abortion doctors are neither in a position to use nor prescribe mifepristone, the DOJ said. Feds criticize anti-abortion studyIn their filing, Justice Department lawyers also took aim at the sources Judge Kacsmaryk cited to justify his decision. The Justice Department, in turn, described the source as "an article" that was "based entirely on fewer than 100 anonymous blog posts submitted to a website titled 'Abortion Changes You.'"

☆ This former Trump White House official says Republicans are 'such nerds' for pushing a 'ridiculous' ban on TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But John McEntee, a former Trump White House official, thinks that's "ridiculous." But John McEntee, who worked as a top White House staffer when former President Donald Trump attempted to ban the app via executive order, says he's unabashedly "pro-TikTok" and insists the push from the right to ban the Chinese-owned app is "ridiculous." "I think Republicans are such nerds for even doing this," McEntee, the one-time Director of the Official of Presidential Personnel, told Insider in an interview on Thursday. In that job, he reportedly scrutinized White House staffers for their perceived loyalty and played a significant role in the effort to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election results on January 6, 2021. In one widely-viewed TikTok, McEntee dances to Demi Lovato's "La La Land" while riffing on liberals attending their first protest, making hand-horns as Lovato sings the phrase "converse with my dress."

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