Historian Jill Lepore says Silicon Valley misreads science fiction and undermines democracy
On the latest episode of Equity, we spoke to Jill Lepore about “government by machines” and why Elon Musk is a bad science fiction reader.
AI policy
OpenAI’s vision for the AI economy: public wealth funds, robot taxes, and a four-day work week
OpenAI proposes taxes on AI profits, public wealth funds, and expanded safety nets to address job loss and inequality, blending redistribution with capitalism as policymakers debate AI’s economic impact.
California lawmaker proposes a four-year ban on AI chatbots in kid’s toys
“Our children cannot be used as lab rats for Big Tech to experiment on,” Senator Steve Padilla said. He just introduced a bill to ban AI chatbots in toys until safety regulations are developed.
Trump’s AI executive order promises ‘one rulebook’ — startups may get legal limbo instead
Trump signed an AI executive order targeting state laws and promising one national rulebook. Critics warn it could trigger court battles and prolong uncertainty for startups while Congress debates federal rules.
‘ONE RULE’: Trump says he’ll sign an executive order blocking state AI laws despite bipartisan pushback
“I will be doing a ONE RULE Executive Order this week,” Trump posted on social media. “You can’t expect a company to get 50 Approvals every time they want to do something.”
The race to regulate AI has sparked a federal vs state showdown
The fight over AI regulation isn’t about the technology — it’s about whether Washington or the states get to set the rules, and what happens to consumers caught in between.
a16z-backed super PAC is targeting Alex Bores, sponsor of New York’s AI safety bill — he says bring it on
A super PAC backed by Andreessen Horowitz, OpenAI, and other tech leaders has targeted New York Assembly member Alex Bores’ congressional campaign, marking its first attack against a lawmaker supporting AI regulation.
Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince is pushing UK regulator to unbundle Google’s search and AI crawlers
Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince is urging regulators to rein in Google’s AI practices, arguing the tech giant’s dominance in search gives it an unfair edge in the AI race.
Anthropic CEO claps back after Trump officials accuse firm of AI fear-mongering
Amodei’s response comes after last week’s dogpiling on Anthropic from AI leaders and top members of the Trump administration, including AI czar David Sacks and White House senior policy advisor for AI Sriram Krishnan — all accusing the AI giant of stoking fears to damage the industry.
California’s new AI safety law shows regulation and innovation don’t have to clash
“Are bills like SB 53 the thing that will stop us from beating China? No,” said Adam Billen, vice president of public policy at youth-led advocacy group Encode AI. “I think it is just genuinely intellectually dishonest to say that that is the thing that will stop us in the race.”