Technology
|
Technology
|
|
|
|
Starlink drama puts spotlight on Musk's global stature |
Elon Musk and his business's role in a recent dispute over Ukraine's access to Starlink and its military network is putting a spotlight on the tech mogul's outsized influence on the international stage.
|
© Matt Rourke, Associated Press file
|
Following about 10 days of confusion and finger-pointing over what caused the slowdown of Starlink and its military-grade version — Starshield — in Ukraine, Musk acknowledged his company, SpaceX, was behind the restrictions on Starlink's commercial services.
While the exact decision behind the specific Starshield slowdown is still contested, the debacle is underscoring the vast reach the world's richest man has on global and military affairs.
"A lot of people are uncomfortable with the idea that an individual like a corporate leader, [is] essentially making foreign policy decisions about access, though it's not clear what the alternative is in this case," Michael Horowitz, director of the Defense and National Security program at the Council on Foreign Relations, told The Hill.
Ukraine has used Starlink's commercial services since the beginning of its war with Russia and later added Starshield through SpaceX's contract with the Pentagon.
SpaceX, which was incorporated in 2002, is the largest satellite and space company, dominating the field and in turn, making Musk's leadership even more important.
"No unelected civilian titan of industry should have the ability to interfere with a war in the way that SpaceX did here," Andrew Grotto, director of Stanford University's program on geopolitics, technology and governance, told The Hill.
Read more in a full report tomorrow at The Hill.com
|
Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we’re Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.
|
|
|
|
How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future:
|
Bipartisan pair of Senators press Kalshi, Polymarket over election markets
|
|
|
|
A bipartisan pair of senators are pressing Kalshi and Polymarket over prediction markets tied to the Nov. 3 midterm elections. “We write to express concerns about election-related prediction markets and to request specific information about your companies’ efforts to prevent insider trading, market manipulation, and wagers based on material nonpublic information,” Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and John Curtis (R-Utah) …
|
|
|
|
|
35 states, DC reach $220M settlement with General Motors over driver data privacy
|
|
|
|
Automaker General Motors (GM) agreed to pay $220 million to settle a lawsuit with 35 states and Washington, D.C., which alleged the company sold drivers’ data to insurance companies, several attorneys general involved with the settlement announced Thursday. A bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general, led by Democrats Dan Rayfield of Oregon and Nick Brown of Washington state, brought forward the challenge against …
|
|
|
|
|
Finnish police launch criminal probe over forest cleared for Google data center
|
|
|
|
Finnish police opened a criminal investigation Thursday into Google’s work on a planned data center in northern Finland after the company cleared hundreds of acres of forest without completing required environmental reviews. The investigation adds to mounting scrutiny of Google’s $1.5 billion investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure in Finland, where the company’s expansion plans have raised concerns over deforestation …
|
|
|
|
|
Nvidia dismisses report alleging Chinese executive tied to CEO passed intel to Beijing
|
|
|
|
Nvidia dismissed a new report that CEO Jensen Huang was targeted by a Chinese intelligence asset, stating the diversion allegations were “thoroughly investigated and debunked last year.” The New York Times published a report Thursday finding American spy agencies last year discovered Alice Huang, an executive at the Singapore-based data center Megaspeed, funneled information to Beijing while developing a “close relationship” …
|
|
|
|
|
News we’ve flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:
|
- Alphabet sheds half a trillion in market value in stock's worst day ever (The Wall Street Journal)
- Cape Canaveral braces for its new "boom cycle" (Axios)
|
|
|
|
More than 120 organizations in a new letter are calling on House and Senate leadership to include the STOP CSAM Act in the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) when they're back in session.
The bill, the Strengthening Transparency and Obligation to Protect Children Suffering from Abuse and Mistreatment (STOP CSAM) Act, would allow victims of child sexual abuse material to sue the companies that host it.
The letter, sent Wednesday, said the bill's passage would "represent the boldest action Congress has taken against the scourge of online child sexual exploitation in a generation."
Sponsored by Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the bill was included in the manager's amendment of the Senate version of the NDAA.
Its companion bill in the House has not moved.
While both chambers have repeatedly expressed wanting to do more on kids online safety, intraparty and partisan fights have stopped nearly every kids safety bill from passing out of Congress. When lawmakers return after the midterms, they will have just just over a month before the new Congress begins.
|
|
|
|
Branch out with other reads on The Hill:
|
West Virginia sues TikTok, alleging app is ‘harming kids’
|
West Virginia has sued TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, accusing the social media giant of deliberately keeping children hooked on its app while exposing them to sexualized content and potential predators. The lawsuit filed Thursday alleges TikTok violated state consumer protection laws by using addictive features to encourage excessive screen time among children while misleading parents about the effectiveness of …
|
|
|
|
Opinions related to tech submitted to The Hill:
|
|
|
|
|
You’re all caught up. See you tomorrow!
|
400 N Capitol Street NW Suite 650, Washington, DC 20001
|
Copyright © 1998 - 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved.
|
|
|
|
|
