11 results found

France is making a strategic shift from Windows to Linux across government systems, driven by digital sovereignty. This move aims to reduce reliance on U.S. tech and gain control over national data, despite facing significant implementation challenges.
Ars Technica reports on the Trump administration's escalating efforts to unmask an ICE critic on Reddit, moving from a standard summons to a secret grand jury subpoena, sparking significant privacy and free speech concerns for online users and platforms.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr clarified that his recent warning about broadcast license renewals, widely seen as a threat over Iran war coverage, was actually aimed at "hoaxes and news distortions." He emphasized the FCC's role in ensuring broadcasters operate in the public interest, not in censoring specific news content. Carr also touched on tech platform regulation and other FCC actions.

The L.A. jury ordered Meta and YouTube to pay $3M for designing addictive apps that harmed a child's mental health. This bellwether case highlights the impact of features like infinite scroll and algorithms, setting a precedent for future litigation.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has condemned the Pentagon's decision to label AI lab Anthropic a "supply-chain risk" as "retaliation." This follows Anthropic's refusal to allow its AI for mass surveillance or lethal autonomous weapons without human oversight. The dispute, which has garnered support for Anthropic from across the tech industry, will see a pivotal court hearing this Tuesday in San Francisco.

Super Micro co-founder Yih-Shyan ‘Wally’ Liaw and two others face federal charges for a $2.5 billion scheme to smuggle advanced Nvidia AI servers to China, circumventing US export controls. The alleged operation involved using dummy servers and swapping serial numbers to deceive auditors. This case exposes significant vulnerabilities in US tech export policies and raises questions about corporate compliance amidst escalating chip trade tensions.

Washington Governor Bob Ferguson has announced he will sign the revised 'millionaires tax' bill, Senate Bill 6346, despite intense debate within the state's tech and business communities. The legislation, imposing a 9.9% tax on incomes over $1 million starting in 2028, aims to rebalance the state's tax system and fund key affordability initiatives.

WhatsApp has capitulated to regulatory demands in Brazil, agreeing to allow rival AI chatbots on its platform, following a similar decision in Europe. Brazil's antitrust regulator, CADE, rejected Meta's appeal to block the policy, citing competitive harm. Developers express concern over Meta's new per-message pricing, despite the regulatory victory for market competition.

Google is overhauling Play Store fees and third-party app store policies, lowering commissions and allowing alternative billing, largely due to Epic's lawsuit.

President Trump banned federal agencies from using Anthropic's AI tools, citing the company's refusal to lift restrictions on military use. This clash over "all lawful use" versus Anthropic's ethical red lines (lethal autonomous weapons, mass surveillance) creates disruption for agencies and sets a precedent for AI ethics in government contracts.

South Korea has conditionally approved Google to export high-precision geographic information, finally enabling full Google Maps services like real-time navigation. This decision reverses a decade-long restriction based on national security concerns, opening the door for tourists and residents to use comprehensive Google Maps while introducing strict data security protocols. Seoul aims to boost tourism and strengthen its domestic geospatial industry, despite potential ripples in the local map market.