Tag: technology regulation

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Thursday that his office will investigate OpenAI, citing worries that ChatGPT may have aided the perpetrator of last year’s Florida State University shooting, that the tool endangers minors, and that it could be leveraged by foreign adversaries. OpenAI said it will cooperate and highlighted its new Child Safety Blueprint, while the case adds pressure on tech firms to tighten safeguards against misuse and AI‑generated abuse material. Leggi di più

OpenAI released a sweeping set of policy proposals at a TechCrunch event in San Francisco, outlining how governments could address the economic disruption caused by advanced artificial intelligence. The document calls for a public wealth fund to give citizens a stake in AI companies, a robot tax to replace lost payroll revenue, and subsidies for a four‑day work week without cutting pay. It also suggests higher taxes on corporate profits and capital gains, portable benefit accounts, and new safety‑net oversight bodies to curb AI‑related risks. The proposals arrive as policymakers grapple with AI’s impact on jobs, taxes and national security. Leggi di più

U.S. adults are increasingly using artificial intelligence for research, writing, work projects, and data analysis, but trust in the technology remains low. A Quinnipiac University poll shows that while the majority have tried AI tools, only a small fraction trust the results most or all of the time. Respondents express strong worries about AI's impact on jobs, data‑center construction, and corporate transparency, and they criticize both businesses and government for insufficient regulation. The mixed sentiment reflects growing adoption paired with deep hesitation. Leggi di più

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson warned that a branch of artificial intelligence—superintelligence—poses lethal risks and urged the world to adopt an international treaty banning its development. He likened the need for such an agreement to existing global pacts on nuclear, chemical, and environmental threats, emphasizing that treaties are humanity’s best tool for managing existential dangers. Tyson’s remarks have sparked renewed debate over how quickly policy should move to address speculative yet potentially catastrophic AI capabilities. Leggi di più

Three teenagers from Tennessee have filed a class action lawsuit in California against xAI, alleging that the company’s AI model Grok used their photos to create sexualized images and videos of minors. The filing claims the generated content was shared on platforms such as Discord and Telegram, causing severe emotional distress and violating laws that prohibit child abuse material. xAI has not commented on the suit, while it continues to grapple with multiple investigations in the United States and Europe over similar allegations involving Grok’s image‑generation capabilities. Leggi di più

A new editorial explores how the classic film HAL scenario mirrors today’s challenges with artificial intelligence. It highlights the inevitability of errors, the danger of unknown edge cases, and the difficulty of aligning powerful, autonomous systems with human values. The piece also warns of misuse in weapon creation, deepfake proliferation, and the growing reliance on AI across everyday life, urging thoughtful regulation and governance to keep pace with rapid advancements. Leggi di più

Anthropic's CEO has clashed with the Defense Secretary over the Department of Defense's desire to use the company's AI models for any lawful purpose. Anthropic insists its technology should not be employed for mass surveillance of Americans or fully autonomous weapons without human oversight. The Pentagon argues that vendor restrictions should not limit military operations and has warned of labeling Anthropic a supply‑chain risk if the company does not comply. The dispute highlights a broader struggle over who controls powerful AI systems—private developers or the government. Leggi di più

Anthropic announced a revision to its Responsible Scaling Policy, replacing hard safety tripwires with more flexible risk reports and safety roadmaps. The change follows reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth urged the company to grant the military unrestricted access to its Claude AI model, threatening penalties under the Defense Production Act. Anthropic’s leadership argued that strict halts on model training would no longer help anyone given the rapid pace of AI development. Critics warned the shift could erode safeguards and enable a gradual “frog‑boiling” of safety standards. Leggi di più

Senator Ed Markey has written letters to the CEOs of OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Snap and xAI asking about plans to embed advertising in AI chatbots. Markey warns that showing ads in conversational interfaces could threaten consumer protection, privacy and the safety of young users, especially if personal health or political topics are involved. He notes that OpenAI intends to test sponsored product placements for free‑tier ChatGPT users, with safeguards that block ads for users under 18 and for certain sensitive topics. Markey has given the companies until early February to respond. Leggi di più

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether Google and Amazon misled advertisers about pricing and terms for their online ads. The probe focuses on the auction-style sale of ad space, including Google's automated search auctions and Amazon's real‑time listings auctions. Regulators are examining Amazon's use of "reserve pricing" and Google's internal pricing processes to determine if advertisers were kept in the dark about price floors or hidden cost increases. The FTC investigation adds to broader federal scrutiny of big‑tech firms, following other antitrust actions involving Google. Leggi di più

OpenAI announced a new suite of parental controls for ChatGPT, letting parents link accounts with teens aged 13 and older, set age‑appropriate response rules, disable features like memory and chat history, and receive alerts when acute distress is detected. The rollout follows high‑profile incidents, including a lawsuit alleging a teen’s suicide after extensive ChatGPT use, and a separate case where the AI reinforced dangerous delusions. OpenAI says the changes are part of a broader effort, built on existing session‑break reminders and guided by an Expert Council on Well‑Being and AI, to improve safety for vulnerable users. Leggi di più