James Farrell – SiliconANGLE

FCC launches probe into censorship on Big Tech platforms

James Farrell — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 01:43:02 +0000

The Federal Trade Commission today announced that it will investigate alleged censorship on tech platforms, explaining that any wrongdoing would “have violated the law.” “Tech firms should not be bullying their users,” said FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, recently chosen by President Trump to lead the commission. “This inquiry will help the FTC better understand how […]

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Trump Media and Rumble sue Brazil Supreme Court justice in censorship row

James Farrell — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 01:52:06 +0000

Donald Trump’s media group and the video platform Rumble today filed a joint lawsuit against Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, accusing him of violating U.S. free speech protections. The suit, filed in a federal court in Tampa, Florida, came just hours after Brazil’s ex-president Jair Bolsonaro was charged with attempting a coup after […]

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South Korea pauses DeepSeek downloads over privacy concerns

James Farrell — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 02:10:58 +0000

South Korea’s personal data protection watchdog has announced that downloads of the popular Chinese artificial intelligence app DeepSeek have been banned in the country. The Personal Information Protection Commission said the app was removed from the local version of Apple’s App Store and Google Play over the weekend. The officials said the app will remain […]

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Major publishers launch copyright lawsuit against AI startup Cohere

James Farrell — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 01:36:04 +0000

Several major publishers are suing the Canadian artificial intelligence startup Cohere Inc., alleging that the company engaged in “systematic copyright and trademark infringement,” the latest in a long line of copyright lawsuits publishers have launched against AI firms. “Without permission or compensation, Cohere uses scraped copies of our articles, through training, real-time use, and in […]

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Report says companies ‘playing with fire’ as AI chatbots fail when trying to summarize news

James Farrell — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 01:42:02 +0000

Four of the major artificial intelligence chatbots presented “significant inaccuracies” when they summarized news stories, according to a report issued this week by the BBC. This comes a month after Apple Inc. suspended its news summarizing feature for the iPhone after it was revealed the feature was making substantial mistakes, effectively writing misinformation. “We are […]

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Paris AI Summit: US, UK refuse to sign agreement on ‘safe’ and ‘inclusive’ AI as JD Vance sends warning

James Farrell — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 02:17:36 +0000

At the landmark AI Summit today in Paris, the U.S. and U.K. went against the general tenor of the meeting when both countries refused to sign a declaration on “inclusive and sustainable” artificial intelligence. Officials from the Trump administration expressed reservations about signing the agreement. It’s a communique aimed at ensuring countries develop AI that […]

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Apple shares fall after China ponders mounting probe into App Store

James Farrell — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 02:17:23 +0000

Apple Inc. shares slid today after it was reported China’s watchdog will mount an antitrust investigation into the company’s App Store commissions. The probe, similar to those already carried out in the U.K. and the EU, will examine Apple’s practice of taking 30% of in-app purchase fees and blocking external payment services. Apple ran into a similar […]

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Google quietly changes stance on using AI for weapons or surveillance

James Farrell — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 02:25:47 +0000

Google LLC has made a major change to its AI Principles, taking out the part where it used to say it wouldn’t use the technology for surveillance or weapons applications. The old policy, which the company first released in 2018, stated that it would not pursue any AI developments that were “likely to cause harm,” […]

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Ontario cancels and un-cancels Starlink contract after tariffs concession

James Farrell — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 02:06:43 +0000

Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford today announced he was pausing retaliatory measures in response to U.S. tariffs after President Donald Trump agreed to delay the tariffs. Ford (pictured) had earlier said he would cancel a C$100m (US$68.5m) contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink, stating that he was “ripping up” the contract the province had with Trump’s “first […]

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Meta back in the ‘tent’ after agreeing to settle Trump’s $25M censorship lawsuit

James Farrell — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 02:34:17 +0000

Meta Platforms Inc. today agreed to a $25 million settlement over the lawsuit President Donald Trump brought against the company in 2021 for suspending his accounts following the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Meta, which under its Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg recently seems to have charmed President Trump (pictured) back into his graces, at […]

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Trump pardons Ross Ulbricht, founder of Silk Road drug marketplace

James Farrell — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 05:04:51 +0000

President Donald Trump today signed a full and unconditional pardon for Ross Ulbricht, the man who operated the notorious dark web drug marketplace, Silk Road. Ulbricht ran the Silk Road from 2011 until 2013 under the pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts.” That year he was arrested and in 2015 was sentenced to life without parole. The […]

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Trump signs executive order to prevent censorship of online platforms

James Farrell — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 02:34:58 +0000

President Donald Trump today signed an executive order that he claims will restore freedom of speech and end federal censorship, with the express purpose of keeping government out of social media. “Over the last 4 years, the previous administration trampled free speech rights by censoring Americans’ speech on online platforms, often by exerting substantial coercive […]

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Nick Clegg steps down as Meta’s global policy chief, replaced with Trump-friendly Joel Kaplan

James Farrell — Fri, 03 Jan 2025 02:28:17 +0000

Former Republican White House staffer Joel Kaplan just became Meta Platforms Inc.’s global policy head as Britain’s former deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, leaves the company after six years. Clegg (pictured, center), who led the Liberal Democrat Party from 2007 to 2015, joined Meta – then Facebook Inc. – in 2018 as vice president of […]

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Judge upholds most of California’s ban on ‘addictive feeds’ for children

James Farrell — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 02:32:05 +0000

Tech industry trade group NetChoice has failed to block California’s attorney general from enforcing most of a law that will regulate how social media firms deliver content to young people. The Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act (SB 976) was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in September last year. The law […]

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UK coalition of creatives rejects government plan on AI copyright exemption

James Farrell — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 02:21:57 +0000

A coalition of publishers, news media, musicians, photographers and film producers has rejected a proposal issued earlier this week by the U.K. government to allow artificial intelligence companies to train their large language models on their content if they don’t opt out. Since the rise of generative AI, tech companies have found themselves in legal tangles with the artists who […]

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EU opens probe into TikTok over possible Russian interference in Romanian election

James Farrell — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 01:50:15 +0000

Regulators in the European Union today announced they’ve opened an investigation into TikTok for possible breaches of the Digital Services Act, DSA, by failing to prevent foreign interference in the recent Romanian presidential election. The second round of the vote didn’t go through earlier this month after intelligence showed that 25,000 TikTok accounts suddenly became […]

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TikTok CEO meets with Trump as company hopes Supreme Court will block upcoming ban

James Farrell — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 01:46:25 +0000

President-elect Donald Trump today met with TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, to discuss the app being banned in the U.S. over security risks. Prior to the meeting, Trump said at a press conference he had “a warm spot” for the Chinese app, saying, “We’ll take a look” […]

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Character.AI sued over slew of harmful chatbot messages sent to children

James Farrell — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 01:24:01 +0000

A lawsuit today was launched against Google LLC-funded chatbot service Character.AI Inc. it’s alleging the chatbot groomed children and induced them into committing violence and self-harm. The suit follows another one against the company in October by a Florida mother who claimed her 14-year-old son’s suicide was a consequence of his addiction to one of the hyperrealistic […]

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TikTok makes a last stand as it asks for emergency pause on US ban

James Farrell — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 02:01:52 +0000

Chinese social media app TikTok today asked a court for an emergency injunction to prevent it from becoming unavailable to U.S. users next month. Last Friday, the company lost an appeal to save its existence in the U.S. when it argued in an appeals court that the ban signed into legislation earlier in 2024 is […]

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Waymo’s driverless taxis are coming to Miami

James Farrell — Fri, 06 Dec 2024 02:02:01 +0000

Alphabet Inc.-owned Waymo LLC announced today that its continued expansion of robotaxi services into U.S. cities will now include Miami, Florida, where it will set up shop in 2026. The fleet of driverless taxis will take to the streets first in 2025 with a human test driver at the wheel, after which the full driverless […]

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Trump nominates Gail Slater to lead antitrust at DOJ and crypto backer Paul Atkins for head of SEC

James Farrell — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 02:42:13 +0000

President-elect Donald Trump today picked Big Tech critic Gail Slater to become the assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice in a slew of nominations that also included crypto-friendly Paul Atkins as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Slater served Trump during his first presidential term as a tech […]

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Biden administration hits out at China’s chip industry with export controls

James Farrell — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 01:58:04 +0000

The Biden administration today announced new restrictions on advanced chip technology that can be exported to China in a further effort to curb the country’s ambitions in artificial intelligence and the development of high-end military technology. According to the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, the new export controls will see over 100 Chinese […]

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Australian Senate bill means under 16s will be banned from using social media

James Farrell — Fri, 29 Nov 2024 01:58:19 +0000

Australian lawmakers today approved a landmark ban on social media for children under 16 in an attempt to address the negative impact of various apps on young people’s physical and mental health. The world-first ban will affect most major platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, Snapchat and Reddit, although Google LLC-owned YouTube hasn’t made the […]

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TikTok to block beauty filters over mental health concerns among the young

James Farrell — Thu, 28 Nov 2024 01:30:22 +0000

The embattled Chinese social media app TikTok has said that over the coming weeks it will start blocking beauty filters after growing research showing that transforming one’s face from its reality causes anxiety and issues with self-esteem, adding to the mental health crisis affecting the young. It’s long been known – and let’s face it, […]

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X claims ownership of all X accounts in battle for The Onion to acquire Alex Jones’ Infowars

James Farrell — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 01:42:17 +0000

Who actually owns your social media account came into question on Monday after lawyers for Elon Musk’s X Corp. argued that the accounts belonging to Alex Jones’ bankrupt InfoWars site were its exclusive property. The Onion’s bid to buy the website through auction was recently put on hold after Jones and one of the losing […]

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Meta takes down millions of accounts related to ‘pig-butchering’ scams

James Farrell — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 01:17:52 +0000

To thwart one of the fastest-growing and most sophisticated online scam industries, Meta Platforms Inc. today said it has removed about 2 million accounts related to investment scams known as “pig-butchering.” The name refers to taking a pig — the human victim — to the slaughter after a period of online grooming when the scammer […]

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Meta is now letting users tinker with Instagram’s algorithm recommendation system

James Farrell — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 01:40:23 +0000

In a move that will please some of Instagram’s critics, the company will now allow users to reset the recommendation system that powers what they see in their feeds. For years now, Instagram has been in the sights of child health experts who believe apps such as Instagram are addictive and perhaps harmful in part […]

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Accused of violating labor rights, Amazon and SpaceX attack US labor board in court

James Farrell — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 02:11:35 +0000

Attorneys for Amazon.com Inc. and Elon Musk’s SpaceX Corp. today argued in a federal appeals court that the National Labor Relations Board is unconstitutional. In separate cases, attorneys for the two companies told a panel of judges at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that the labor agency, created in 1935, has unchecked power and […]

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Waymo’s fleet of robotaxis is now available to anyone in LA

James Farrell — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 01:26:08 +0000

Alphabet Inc.-owned Waymo LLC announced today that its autonomous ride-hailing service, Waymo One, is now available to everyone in Los Angeles. With a $5.6 billion funding round last month, Waymo is hoping to improve its autonomous driving system, Waymo Driver, while expanding to the more cities around the U.S. Some of those include Buffalo, New […]

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Amazon reportedly mulls another multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic – but with an added twist

James Farrell — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 01:44:14 +0000

Amazon.com Inc. is ready for another hefty investment in the San Francisco-based generative artificial intelligence startup Anthropic PBC, one of the main rivals of OpenAI. The report today in The Information follows a report in late September in the same publication that Anthropic was looking to raise a round at a $40 billion valuation. The company has raised $9.7 […]

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