Happy Tuesday! Here’s your Tuesday Tech Drop, the past week’s top stories from the intersection of technology and politics.
Trump’s warning to Starmer
“Don’t censor my disinformation-filled social media platform … or else.” That was the gist of President Donald Trump’s message during a Monday meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland, while responding to a conveniently phrased question about whether he anticipates that a new United Kingdom law requiring social media sites to protect children from harmful content will lead to his social media platform, Truth Social, being “censored.”
Starmer disagreed with the reporter’s phrasing, saying the law is primarily designed to protect children. With a smile on his face, Trump said any censorship of his platform would be a “mistake” and that he’d have his ambassador look into any such activity. This appeared to have been said in jest but, coming from Trump, we can’t make any assumptions: His administration hasn’t hidden its disdain for content moderation laws in Europe and has even reportedly raised concerns about them during trade talks with European nations.
Watch more at Forbes’ YouTube channel.
Uber app update
Uber recently announced that it will soon be testing a new option called “Women Preferences” on its ride-sharing platform, which will allow women riders to request women drivers. The move comes in response to alleged incidents of sexual assaults.
Read more at CNN.
The risk of using ChatGPT for counsel
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently issued what amounted to a public warning, saying during a podcast appearance that he thinks it’s “very screwed up” that his company could be legally obligated to turn over conversations with ChatGPT that would be legally protected if they took place with a therapist, doctor or lawyer.
Read more at PC Magazine.
Chatbot camaraderie
Relatedly, a new report from The Associated Press highlights the disturbing trend of teens turning to artificial intelligence chatbots for friendship — and seeking consultation from them about serious matters, rather than asking real people.
Read more at The Associated Press.
Tea’s security tested by hackers
Tea, an app conceived as a safe space for women to talk about men, was recently hacked. The company estimated that 72,000 images — including 13,000 verification photos and images of government IDs — were accessed.
Read more at NBC News.
Boeing seemingly avoids major repercussions
A new report from The Verge highlights how Boeing appears to have evaded major repercussions over a raft of highly public catastrophes after the aircraft company cozied up to the Trump administration and donated to Trump’s inauguration fund.
Read more at The Verge.
Trump released an “action plan” designed to help the U.S. dominate the AI space. It’s basically a list of goodies for Big Tech — and even some of his loudest supporters hate it, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Steve Bannon. Read more at MSNBC. Liberal think tank Third Way released a plan for Democrats to counter Trump’s AI plan that it says will encourage innovation while discouraging what it views as dangerous AI “accelerationism” that ignores technology’s harmful impacts on society. Read more at Third Way. An Arizona woman has been sentenced to eight years in prison for her role in an identity theft scheme designed to steal Americans’ identities for North Koreans to use to secure remote jobs at U.S. companies. Read more at NPR. An exclusive report from The Washington Post detailed how Trump’s dubiously titled Department of Government Efficiency is preparing to use an AI tool to cut 50% of federal regulations, as the administration rapidly tries to institute AI tools throughout the government to impose the president’s highly controversial deregulatory agenda. Read more at The Washington Post.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.
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