Record $125 Million Gift To Case Western Boosts Humanities In Age Of AI

The Mandel Foundation, started by three brothers on the first Forbes 400 list, is giving $125 million for, among other things, interdisciplinary studies such as the ethics of robotics.

Congress keeps kicking surveillance reform down the road
Congress keeps kicking surveillance reform down the road

Congress has reauthorized Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act – but only for another 45 days. The extension is meant to give legislators more time to negotiate reforms to the controversial wiretapping bill. If the past few weeks are any indication of how future debates will go, however, we’re in for a bumpy […]

The logic of the racist Supreme Court isn’t adding up
The logic of the racist Supreme Court isn’t adding up

Close watchers of the Supreme Court knew that the conservative supermajority was about to murder what was left of the Voting Rights Act. Wednesday’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais took down Section 2 of the law, clearing the way for racist gerrymandering, because it is now racist to remedy racism. The decision is an affront […]

Meta threatens to pull its apps from New Mexico if forced to make ‘technologically impractical’ changes
Meta threatens to pull its apps from New Mexico if forced to make ‘technologically impractical’ changes

Meta says it may be forced to pull Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp from New Mexico if the attorney general gets his way. The state is demanding a host of changes that the company says are impossible to achieve. After winning a $375 million jury award against Meta in a trial that argued the company misled […]

Elon Musk confirms xAI used OpenAI’s models to train Grok
Elon Musk confirms xAI used OpenAI’s models to train Grok

In a federal courtroom in California on Thursday, Elon Musk testified that his own AI startup, xAI, has used OpenAI’s models to improve its own. The matter at question is model distillation, a common industry practice by which one larger AI model acts as a “teacher” of sorts to pass on knowledge to a smaller […]

Grindr — yes, Grindr — won the WHCD party circuit
Grindr — yes, Grindr — won the WHCD party circuit

Hello and welcome to Regulator, a newsletter for Verge subscribers about technology, politics, and technology learning how to politick. If you’re not a subscriber but would like to support our work, please subscribe here. I promise that your money will not go toward paying for a drone-proof ballroom for The Verge staff, no matter how […]

The Trump Administration Is Shifting Federal Policy On Cannabis And Psychedelics

In this week’s edition of InnovationRx, we look at a new drug cost partnership, a brain implant deal, and more.

All the evidence revealed so far in Musk v. Altman
All the evidence revealed so far in Musk v. Altman

The Musk v. Altman trial is underway, and that means exhibits, or the evidence to be presented in court, are being revealed piece by piece. So far, email exchanges, photos, and corporate documents are circulating from the earliest days of OpenAI – and from before the AI lab even had a name. Some high-level takeaways: […]

Tumbler Ridge families are suing OpenAI
Tumbler Ridge families are suing OpenAI

Seven families of victims injured or killed in the Tumbler Ridge school shooting in Canada have filed lawsuits against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, accusing the company and its leadership of negligence after they failed to alert police to the suspected shooter’s ChatGPT activity. The families allege OpenAI stayed silent after its systems flagged activity […]

Meta isn’t doing enough to keep kids off Facebook and Instagram, rules EU
Meta isn’t doing enough to keep kids off Facebook and Instagram, rules EU

Meta is breaching Europe’s Digital Services Act (DSA) rules by failing to prevent children under 13 from using Facebook and Instagram, according to a preliminary decision issued by the European Commission. The Commission announced the ruling on Wednesday after an almost two-year investigation, saying that Meta doesn’t have adequate measures in place to stop under-13s […]