A California teen sought advice from OpenAI's GPT-4o on how to end his life. The chatbot gave him explicit instructions and encouragement. His parents are suing the company and its CEO, Sam Altman, alleging “it was the predictable result of deliberate design choices."
Tech Policy Press
Breaking Down the Lawsuit Against OpenAI Over Teen's Suicide
A California teen sought advice from OpenAI's GPT-4o on how to end his life. His parents are suing the company and its CEO.
Federal data misuse is accelerating, but state and local governments can still act, argue Reem Suleiman, Esra’a Al Shafei, and Brian Hofer. “Before DHS, ICE, or others come knocking, governments should run, not walk! — through this triage checklist to protect the privacy of the most vulnerable.”
Tech Policy Press
Public Sector Triage of the Federal Government’s Data Hemorrhage
Reem Suleiman, Esra’a Al Shafei, and Brian Hofer urge state and local governments to take action to protect the public amid a federal data-sharin...
Images from the #TeslaTakeDown protest in Manhattan, one of close to 50 such events taking place across the country. Protesters chanted "Stop the Coup" and "Boycott Tesla."
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US leadership on internet freedom and the free flow of information is in doubt. Experts are concerned the US will cede important ground to China and Russia. From Ramsha Jahangir and me:
Tech Policy Press
With US Commitment to Internet Freedom in Jeopardy, China and Russia Set to Gain
US leadership on internet freedom and the free flow of information is in doubt, write Ramsha Jahangir and Justin Hendrix.
President-elect Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Rep. Jim Jordan, and other MAGA Republicans are engaged in an ongoing campaign to target researchers studying disinformation and hate speech. Duke University professor Philip Napoli is documenting their strategy and tactics.
Tech Policy Press
Documenting the Assault on Disinformation and Hate Speech Research
Philip Napoli is a professor of public policy and director of the DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy at the Sanford School at Duke Univers...
Parmy Olson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology regulation, artificial intelligence, and social media. Her new book– Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT, and the Race that Will Change the World– tells a tale of rivalry and ambition as it chronicles the rush to exploit artificial intelligence.
Tech Policy Press
The Race for AI Supremacy
Parmy Olson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. Her new book is titled Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT, and the Race that Will Change the World.
New podcast! Justin Hendrix spoke to Greg Epstein, who drew on lessons from his vocation as a humanist chaplain at Harvard and MIT to write a new book, just out from MIT Press, called Tech Agnostic: How Technology Became the World's Most Powerful Religion, and Why It Desperately Needs a Reformation.
Tech Policy Press
Salvation, Abundance, Apocalypse: Is Technology the World's Most Powerful Religion?
A conversation with Greg Epstein, author of Tech Agnostic, a new book just out from MIT Press.
The second Trump administration and a new Congress will usher in a change in approach on issues ranging from AI and cryptocurrency to privacy and antitrust. Gabby Miller and Justin Hendrix run down key issues and potential scenarios:
Tech Policy Press
Where US Tech Policy May Be Headed During a Second Trump Term
The new administration and Congress will usher in a change in approach on issues ranging from AI and cryptocurrency to privacy and antitrust.
New podcast! Boston University law professor Woodrow Hartzog says Franz Kafka's work is a lens to examine how people often make choices against their own interests when confronted with complex technological systems, and how AI is amplifying these existing privacy and control problems.
Tech Policy Press
What Kafka Can Teach Us About Privacy in the Age of AI
A conversation with Boston University School of Law professor Woodrow Hartzog.
“Pressure is mounting on state and federal prosecutors to investigate tech billionaire Elon Musk’s $1 million lottery-style giveaway to registered voters in seven battleground states.A Justice Department spokesperson said Tuesday that it had received a letter from 11 former government officials including several Republican ex-prosecutors urging the department to investigate whether Musk’s daily prizes violate a federal law prohibiting paying people to register to vote.”
NBC News
Pressure is mounting on prosecutors to review Musk’s $1M swing-state petition giveaway
On Monday, former federal election and law enforcement officials requested a review of Musk’s lottery.