Tech Friday — The year of AI reform

The Hill's weekly technology news digest.

Friday, May 10, 2024 Welcome to Tech Friday, a new joint project of The Hill and Pluribus News covering tech policy across government. Sign up to receive The Hill's newsletters here. Rather not receive this newsletter? Let us know. LEADING THE DAY The year of AI reform Image © Getty Images Being first is hard. See Connecticut, where Gov. Ned Lamont (D) effectively killed a landmark artificial intelligence (AI) bill this week with a veto threat, and Colorado, where Gov. Jared Polis (D) has been notably quite about a similar bill that won passage in the final days of session. Connecticut Sen. James Maroney (D) and Colorado Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez (D) are the driving forces behind AI regulations — and leaders of the interstate working group of lawmakers who met throughout the last year on emerging AI technology. For Maroney, Lamont's veto threat was a bitter pill. Rodriguez doesn't yet know how Polis will act. Even before Polis makes his decision, the Maroney-Rodriguez template is showing up in other states. Expect to see more states take up AI legislation in the future, both to promote the industry and to set up guardrails over government and private use of AI systems. Next year will be the year of AI reform.  Read the full story from Pluribus News here IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK Image © Jaap Arriens, NurPhoto via Getty Images TikTok sues to block divestment TikTok has filed suit in federal court to block a forced divestiture from parent company ByteDance. The law, approved by Congress last month, gives ByteDance 270 days to sell TikTok. TikTok and ByteDance say the law violates users' First Amendment rights. Read more at The Hill. Biden administration funds semiconductor chips The Biden administration is granting $285 million for research and development of digital twins in the semiconductor industry. The money will establish and operate an American manufacturing institute focused on cloud-based chip technology. Read more at The Hill. Health giant hit in cyber attack Ascension Health, the nation's largest Catholic hospital chain, said it had been hit by a cyberattack, interrupting some systems. It's not clear how much damage the chain's IT system has suffered. Read more at The Hill.   IN BUSINESS THIS WEEK Google eyes HubSpot Google parent Alphabet is in talks to acquire the marketing software provider HubSpot. Alphabet has discussed deal terms; HubSpot has a $30 billion market cap. Read more at Bloomberg. Streaming services join to create bundle Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery will offer Disney+, Hulu and Max as a streaming bundle, the companies said this week. It's the first major cross-company partnership between streaming services, a step toward catching up to Netflix's library of content. Read more at Deadline. Instacart expands into restaurants The grocery delivery service Instacart will add restaurant takeout to its offerings in partnership with Uber Eats, it said this week. The service means free delivery over $35 for those who subscribe to Instacart Plus. Read more at The Hill. Magnificent Seven performance this week NVDA +1.1%, META +6.6%, TSLA -5.6%, AMZN +1.5%, GOOG +1.9%, MSFT +2.4%, AAPL -1.1%. NASDAQ-100 Tech Sector Index: +0.6%. IN THE STATES THIS WEEK Image © Getty New York Assemblyman Clyde Vanel (D) will introduce legislation requiring generative aritificial intelligence (AI) systems to come with a warning that the information they provide might be false. The bill comes after AI systems made up stories about lawmakers committing sexual harassment. Read more at Pluribus News. Colorado Lawmakers approved bills that would prevent companies from reducing pay for drivers based on tips they receive. One measure opens the door for ride share drivers to unionize. Read more at Pluribus News. California Sen. Steve Glazer (D) has introduced a bill to create a data extraction mitigation fee from big tech platforms, a fee that would capture about $500 million to fund local journalism. The fund would provide tax credits to news organizations based in California. Read more at Pluribus News. ON OUR RADAR May 14: Alibaba and Tencent report first quarter earnings. May 15: Cisco Systems reports earnings. Also May 15: The Senate Intelligence Committee will hold a hearing on foreign threats to the 2024 elections. The House Oversight Subcommittee on Cybersecurity will hold a hearing into cyberthreats from China. Do this ... A whopping 97% of American teenage boys play video games, and 62% identify as a gamer, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Among girls, 73% play video games, and 17% call themselves gamers. Read more at Pew. Don't do this ... Apple is facing consumer criticism over an advertisement for its latest iPad model. Users saw the advertisement as a metaphor for big tech companies cashing in at their expense. Read the surprising amount of critical ink at The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic and Ars Technica. You're all caught up! See you next week. Looking for more? Check out The Hill's Technology page for the latest coverage. View more tech stories from Pluribus News here. Like this newsletter? Take a moment to view our other topical products here. Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  View this Newsletter in Browser  1625 K Street NW, 9th Floor,  Washington, DC 20006 If you believe this has been sent to you in error, please click here to safely unsubscribe.  Copyright © 1998 - 2024  Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved.