Government & Policy

EU signs $11B deal for sovereign satellite constellation to rival Musk’s Starlink

Government & Policy /

The European Union is forging ahead with plans for a constellation of internet satellites to rival Elon Musk-owned Starlink, after signing a €10.6 billion ($11.1B) deal to launch nearly 300 satellites into low- and medium-Earth orbits by 2030. The bloc wants the space tech to boost its digital sovereignty by providing secure comms to governments. […]

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UK’s internet watchdog finalizes first set of rules for Online Safety law

Government & Policy /

On Monday, the U.K.’s internet regulator, Ofcom, published the first set of final guidelines for online service providers subject to the Online Safety Act. This starts the clock ticking on the sprawling online harms law’s first compliance deadline, which the regulator expects to kick in in three months’ time. Ofcom has been under pressure to

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Meta asks California attorney general to block OpenAI’s conversion to for-profit

Government & Policy /

Facebook’s parent company, Meta, is supporting Elon Musk’s effort to block OpenAI’s conversion from a nonprofit company into a for-profit one. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Meta sent a letter to California attorney general Rob Bonta, arguing that allowing the shift would have “seismic implications for Silicon Valley.” And while the company asked

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Meta asks California AG to block OpenAI’s conversion to for-profit

Government & Policy /

Facebook’s parent company Meta is supporting Elon Musk’s effort to block OpenAI’s conversion from a non-profit company into a for-profit one. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Meta sent a letter to California Attorney General Rob Bonta arguing that allowing the shift would have “seismic implications for Silicon Valley.” And while the company asked

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Biden administration races to approve clean energy loans before Trump takes over — here’s who is benefiting

Government & Policy /

The Department of Energy (DOE) is on a loan-approval spree in the lead-up to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, and the winners are all companies manufacturing clean energy solutions on U.S. soil. Companies like Stellantis and Samsung, Rivian, and most recently, EVgo. Trump has promised to cancel any unspent federal dollars under President Joe Biden’s Inflation

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Sam Altman and Jeff Bezos are the latest billionaires to donate $1M to Trump fund

Government & Policy /

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Jeff Bezos’ Amazon plan to donate $1 million each to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, according to reports from Fox and the Wall Street Journal.  TechCrunch has confirmed Altman’s plans to personally commit the money, which is not coming directly from OpenAI.    The donations from the billionaires follow plans by

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Texas AG is investigating Character.AI, other platforms over child safety concerns

Government & Policy /

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday launched an investigation into Character.AI and 14 other technology platforms over child privacy and safety concerns. The investigation will assess whether Character.AI — and other platforms that are popular with young people, including Reddit, Instagram and Discord — conform to Texas’ child privacy and safety laws. The investigation

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Google wraps ‘blue links’ search test, lobbies for less maximalist application of EU’s DMA

Government & Policy /

Google has ended a test in which it was returning basic “blue link” search results for hotel-related searches in a handful of markets in the European Union, in response to compliance complaints related to the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). These blue links appeared instead of visually richer results, where its search engine will display

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Mark Zuckerberg sweetens Meta’s $1M donation to Trump’s inaugural fund with a pair of smart glasses

Government & Policy /

Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg is pulling off a lobbying-public relations combo move by gifting President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund $1 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. The money came from Meta, to be clear, but Zuckerberg sweetened the gift further — while doing great marketing — by sending Trump a pair of Meta’s smart

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