of National Conference of State LegislaturesThe annual Legislative Summit is the largest policy conference in the U.S. Each August, more than 1,000 lawmakers gather in ballrooms and breakout sessions for several days to hear what’s working and what’s not working across a range of policy areas.
It’s notable that this year’s summit, held in Louisville this week, had a very clear and explicit theme: artificial intelligence, its potential to improve our lives, and the dangers it poses if left unchecked. Lawmakers at least 8 sessions In many ways AI Policy Just the first day of the conference.
Why are states taking the lead on AI policy? Lawmakers cited two reasons. First, Congress does not think They can come together to take action. Regulatory failure Consumer data privacy is the latest in Big Tech’s policy battles in state legislatures, where they are determined to do what Washington, D.C., won’t, and act before Big Tech can sabotage the process.
That means when legislative sessions resume in state capitals in January, lawmakers will be kicking off an unprecedented year on AI.
Google’s decision gives impetus to Department of Justice and FTC
Antitrust experts say the ruling that Google is a monopoly Big Benefits Lawsuits against the government Amazon, Meta and appleThe Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission are currently filing lawsuits challenging elements of the three companies’ businesses. The Hill.
White House officials meet with cryptocurrency leaders
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed Chairman of the National Economic Council Lael Brainard The White House met with about a dozen crypto industry leaders on Thursday as the Biden administration reaches out to the emerging industry. It was the second major call between the White House and industry leaders hosted by U.S. Representative Biden. Ro Khanna (Democrat of California). The Hill.
Democrats call for investigation into sports streaming deals
Top Democrats, including Senators. Elizabeth Warren (Democrat, Massachusetts) and Bernie Sanders (R-Vermont) has asked the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission to investigate. Venuis a new joint sports subscription product from Warner Bros. Discovery, Fox Corp. and Walt Disney Co. Lawmakers cited rising streaming costs. The Hill.
This Week in Business
FTX Ordered to Pay New Fines
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued an order to defunct cryptocurrency exchanges. FTX and its sister company Alameda Research $12.7 million fine “The new fine comes on top of the huge trading losses the company recovered and returned to customers under its convicted CEO,” the bank said in a statement. Sam Bankman FreedLearn more The Hill.
Disney Streaming Pays Off
Disney‘s streaming business turned a profit for the first time in the second quarter of this year, as the company’s entertainment division’s operating profit rose nearly 1.5% year-over-year. Tripling to $1.2 billionThe company’s direct-to-consumer business, which includes Disney+ and Hulu, reported a quarterly loss. $19 millionThat’s down from $505 million the previous year.The Hill.
Confusion leads to soaring revenue
Perplexity AI is a search engine that 250 million questions The company has grown its annual revenue sevenfold since the start of the year as it pivoted from a subscription business model to an advertising one to more directly compete with Google’s dominance in search. Financial Times.
Countries are racing to develop quantum technology
Colorado and Illinois were the first states to invest public funds. Quantum TechnologyLawmakers said the plan would create tens of thousands of jobs and Billions of dollars in public investmentBut they’re not alone. At least 14 states have set up budgets, grants, or partnerships to advance their own quantum industries. Pluribus News.
Democrats at odds over California AI bill
The California Legislature this week passed a bill calling on Sen. Scott Wiener (D-Calif.) to “protect and safeguard the environment.” Secure Innovation for Cutting-Edge Artificial Intelligence ModelsThe bill aims to prevent AI tools from causing catastrophic harm. But U.S. House of Representatives members Zoe Lofgren The California Democrat, who represents part of Silicon Valley, said Weiner’s move would put the industry and the public at unnecessary risk.The Washington Post.
Our Radar
August 13:Google The company will hold its annual Made by Google event at its Mountain View, California headquarters, where industry experts expect the company to unveil several versions of the Pixel 9, as well as new versions of its smartwatch and earphones. Read more9to5Google.
August 14: Tencent and Cisco Report quarterly financial results.
August 15: Alibaba The company reported its second quarter results.
Do this…
You can make images every day Cat riding a unicycle Firing lasers in the desert: ChatGPT’s free product users can create up to 2 images per day. DALL-E 3 model” OpenAI announced this Thursday. See below for details.The Verge.
Don’t do that…
A new report from OpenAI published Thursday suggests that some users Emotionally attached The company’s new GPT-4o model includes: Human-like voice modeThe new model can respond to voice input in 232 milliseconds, which is closer to the response time of a human being during a conversation, increasing the risk that users will anthropomorphize the dialogue. The Hill.
