President Donald Trump’s warning that protesters of Saturday’s US military parade in Washington, DC, will be met with “very heavy force” threatens to chill speech and underscores the need for protesters to take precautions around digital surveillance, privacy advocates tell The Verge. In remarks from the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump did not distinguish between […]
Every morning, Federal Communications Commissioner Anna Gomez says she checks her email “to see if I’m going into work.” At a time when the federal workforce has been slashed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Gomez’s job appears to be one of the most precarious in the US government. She’s the last remaining […]
Disney and Universal sued Midjourney on Wednesday for generating Shrek, Darth Vader, Buzz Lightyear, and a host of other copyrighted characters in the first major legal showdown between Hollywood and generative AI. The complaint, filed in a US District Court in central California, calls Midjourney’s AI image generator a “virtual vending machine, generating endless unauthorized […]
Back in June 2020, when this article was first written, people were taking to the streets to organize for justice and protest against systemic racism and police brutality. There have been several other flashpoints for protests since then (for example, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade), but the recent activities of ICE, especially […]
“This is absurd.” That’s all Amba Kak, co-executive director of the AI Now Institute, recalls thinking when she first heard about the proposed moratorium on state AI regulation tucked into President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” – the same funding bill that had Trump and Elon Musk recently trading barbs online. According to the bill’s […]
President Donald Trump says he has reached a deal with China that will ensure the US receives rare earth materials, keeps tariffs at a total of 55 percent, and allows American universities to keep accepting Chinese students. Trump announced the news of the agreement on Truth Social, which he says is still “subject to final […]
The Trump administration is working on an “AI.gov” website and API to “accelerate government innovation with AI,” 404 Media found based on code posted to Github and an early version of the site. The project appears to be run by the General Services Administration’s Technology Transformation Services, led by former Tesla engineer Thomas Shedd. Shedd, […]
Things are getting nutty in the world of vehicle fuel economy standards. Last week, Transportation Secretary (and ex-reality TV contestant) Sean Duffy declared that he was resetting the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards that govern vehicle fuel efficiency in the US. Duffy confidently declared that the current CAFE standards, in which fuel economy would […]
On Monday after a weekend of demonstrations, hundreds of people flocked to Downtown Los Angeles for another round – to support loved ones who’ve been detained during recent immigration protests or ICE raids, and to face off with National Guard troops deployed by President Donald Trump. Helicopters circled over an event led by unions to […]
Angelenos are demanding the release of people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), planning to gather in downtown Los Angeles for another day of protests following immigration raids throughout the region – but this time, against the backdrop of a federal National Guard deployment. Immigrant rights groups and unions plan to gather for one […]