Happy Tuesday! Here’s your Tuesday Tech Drop, the past week’s top stories from the intersection of tech and politics.
Sen. Cruz’s curious podcast deal
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, says he isn’t being paid to host his podcast on iHeartMedia three days a week. Meanwhile, the Houston Chronicle recently noted a total of $630,850 in payments from the media platform to a super PAC supporting Cruz’s campaign. The arrangement is raising ethical questions about whether the donations cross a line. According to Texas Monthly, “a Cruz representative decried new complaints as ‘lazy attacks during an election year.’”
For the record, iHeartMedia is owned by Clear Channel, which is no stranger to right-wing media figures: It’s the same company that platformed commentator Rush Limbaugh. A spokesperson for the company told Forbes that Cruz isn’t paid, “but the company sells the advertising inventory for the podcast and the revenue the super PAC reported is ‘associated with those advertising sales.’”
Read more at the San Antonio Current.
RFK Jr.’s tech obsession
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is being widely criticized over a CNN interview in which he claimed President Joe Biden is a greater threat to democracy than Donald Trump, due to the Biden administration’s support for online content moderation efforts meant to stem the spread of hate speech and disinformation.
Kennedy, who’s made a good living spreading conspiracy theories about vaccine safety, is running an independent presidential campaign that has the potential to play spoiler in the contest and help Trump win this fall.
In his interview, Kennedy acknowledged that Trump tried to undermine the 2020 election results. But he also pushed lies popular among conservatives, alleging the Biden administration has engaged in censorship online. Then Kennedy argued that this is more dangerous than Trump literally trying to end democracy as we know it. His comments speak to a point I’ve been screaming from the mountaintops as Kennedy has sought to make inroads with nonwhite voters: He is no ally — just a rich, privileged white dude who apparently thinks curbs on his ability to spread bigotry and misinformation are of greater importance than (to pick just one thing) nonwhite voting rights.
Read more at The Washington Post.
President Biden’s AI order
President Joe Biden has ordered every federal agency in the U.S. to appoint chief artificial intelligence officers who have “significant experience in AI.” The plan is part of an effort to ensure every agency is equipped to mitigate the risks of artificial intelligence, and it’s a reminder that virtually every agency and its operations stand to be affected by AI (if it hasn’t already happened), including the IRS, HUD and others.
Read more at Ars Technica.
Team Biden wants to woo Haley voters
In its attempt to pick up votes wherever it can for this fall’s presidential election, the Biden campaign is homing in on people who cast primary ballots for Nikki Haley in the Republican nominating contests. Axios reported last week on an ad geared toward Haley voters that’s set to run in ZIP codes where Haley performed well in the primaries. Data is likely to play an important role in this year’s election as candidates look to craft specific messages to appeal to voters’ regional, racial, gender or age demographics.
Read more at Axios.
NYC’s futuristic failures
New York City’s rapid rollout of artificial intelligence tools has hit yet another snag. Local outlet The City dropped a report on an AI-powered chatbot Mayor Eric Adams’ administration deployed to help answer New Yorkers’ questions about legal and other policy matters in the city. According to the report, the chatbot has been spitting out bad information, including false claims about tenant’s rights and laws regarding tips. A spokeswoman for the city’s Office of Technology and Innovation told The City “that the city has been clear the chatbot is a pilot program and will improve.”
Read more at The City.








