Tag Archives: Policy

Feds seize $15 billion from alleged forced labor scam built on “human suffering”

Federal prosecutors have seized $15 billion from the alleged kingpin of an operation that used imprisoned laborers to trick unsuspecting people into making investments in phony funds, often after spending months faking romantic relationships with the victims. Such “pig butchering” scams have operated for years. They typically work when members of the operation initiate conversations… Read More »

ICE wants to build a 24/7 social media surveillance team

Together, these teams would operate as intelligence arms of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division. They will receive tips and incoming cases, research individuals online, and package the results into dossiers that could be used by field offices to plan arrests. The scope of information contractors are expected to collect is broad. Draft instructions specify… Read More »

California’s newly signed AI law just gave Big Tech exactly what it wanted

On Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act into law, requiring AI companies to disclose their safety practices while stopping short of mandating actual safety testing. The law requires companies with annual revenues of at least $500 million to publish safety protocols on their websites and report incidents to… Read More »

White House officials reportedly frustrated by Anthropic’s law enforcement AI limits

Anthropic’s AI models could potentially help spies analyze classified documents, but the company draws the line at domestic surveillance. That restriction is reportedly making the Trump administration angry. On Tuesday, Semafor reported that Anthropic faces growing hostility from the Trump administration over the AI company’s restrictions on law enforcement uses of its Claude models. Two… Read More »

ChatGPT may soon require ID verification from adults, CEO says

OpenAI joins other tech companies that have tried youth-specific versions of their services. YouTube Kids, Instagram Teen Accounts, and TikTok’s under-16 restrictions represent similar efforts to create “safer” digital spaces for young users, but teens routinely circumvent age verification through false birthdate entries, borrowed accounts, or technical workarounds. A 2024 BBC report found that 22… Read More »

Senator castigates federal judiciary for ignoring “basic cybersecurity”

US Senator Ron Wyden accused the federal judiciary of “negligence and incompetence” following a recent hack, reportedly by hackers with ties to the Russian government, that exposed confidential court documents. The breach of the judiciary’s electronic case filing system first came to light in a report by Politico three weeks ago, which went on to… Read More »

AI in Wyoming may soon use more electricity than state’s human residents

Wyoming’s data center boom Cheyenne is no stranger to data centers, having attracted facilities from Microsoft and Meta since 2012 due to its cool climate and energy access. However, the new project pushes the state into uncharted territory. While Wyoming is the nation’s third-biggest net energy supplier, producing 12 times more total energy than it… Read More »

White House unveils sweeping plan to “win” global AI race through deregulation

Trump’s plan was not welcomed by everyone. J.B. Branch, Big Tech accountability advocate for Public Citizen, in a statement provided to Ars, criticized Trump as giving “sweetheart deals” to tech companies that would cause “electricity bills to rise to subsidize discounted power for massive AI data centers.” Infrastructure demands and energy requirements Trump’s new AI… Read More »

A power utility is reporting suspected pot growers to cops. EFF says that’s illegal.

In May 2020, Sacramento, California, resident Alfonso Nguyen was alarmed to find two Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputies at his door, accusing him of illegally growing cannabis and demanding entry into his home. When Nguyen refused the search and denied the allegation, one deputy allegedly called him a liar and threatened to arrest him. That same… Read More »

Chinese firms rush for Nvidia chips as US prepares to lift ban

Chinese firms have begun rushing to order Nvidia’s H20 AI chips as the company plans to resume sales to mainland China, Reuters reports. The chip giant expects to receive US government licenses soon so that it can restart shipments of the restricted processors just days after CEO Jensen Huang met with President Donald Trump, potentially… Read More »