The Trump administration announced last week that it wants Americans to consume more protein, churning out a colorful illustration of an inverted food pyramid that prominently features a big, red steak, a wedge of cheese, and a carton of whole milk at the top and claiming it’s “ending the war on protein.” It may seem […]
Verizon can keep phones locked to its network for longer after the Federal Communications Commission agreed to waive the carrier’s 60-day unlocking requirement, as reported by Ars Technica. Following this decision, Verizon must follow a looser set of guidelines set by the CTIA wireless trade group, which says carriers should only unlock a customer’s postpaid […]
Former NYC Mayor Eric Adams has come under fire after his new cryptocurrency token crashed just hours following its launch on Monday. As reported by CoinDesk, Adams’ “NYC Token” hit a $580 million market capitalization at its peak before plummeting to around $130 million at this time of writing. Data from the blockchain analysis platform, […]
The UK is bringing a law into force that makes creating nonconsensual intimate deepfake images, like the ones that have proliferated on X because of the Grok AI chatbot, a criminal offense, as reported by the BBC. “The Data Act, passed last year, made it a criminal offence to create – or request the creation […]
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is making kids’ online safety a cornerstone of her administration, and she’s eyeing a platform that has often flown under the radar: Roblox. As progress in Congress has stagnated, states have become the primary drivers of internet reforms meant to protect kids, including age verification laws and new requirements for […]
The path forward for the Democratic party after its 2024 defeat includes less tech influence and more populist policies, according to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Warren delivered this message in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on Monday, where she charted a vision for the future of a party that’s still […]
This week’s Current Climate newsletter also looks at the AI boom’s water problem and stabilized funding for the California High-Speed Rail project.
The Trump administration approached Microsoft for its donation to fund the White House’s $300 million ballroom, documents released by Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) office reveal. In response to a Democrat-led letter questioning Big Tech’s involvement in the ballroom’s construction, Microsoft counsel Karen Christian writes that the company “was contacted by a fundraiser for the effort […]
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the action (and inaction) of lawmakers seeking to rein in tech platforms, follow Lauren Feiner. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started In the […]
X is suing music publishers and their trade group, the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), accusing them of attempted coercion in their ongoing battle over licensing, as reported earlier by The Hollywood Reporter. The Elon Musk-owned platform accuses music publishers of colluding with the NMPA to “coerce X into taking licenses to musical works from […]