In Brief

FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel agrees to step down

Jessica Rosenworcel, the first woman to serve as permanent chair on the FCC, said Wednesday that she’ll step down from the agency when Donald Trump assumes the presidency. Rosenworcel joined the FCC in 2012, and was behind a number of efforts to transform the agency charged with regulating the U.S. telecommunications industry. She pushed for […]

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Bill to ban social media use by under-16s arrives in Australia’s parliament

Legislation to ban social media for under 16s has been introduced in the Australian parliament. The country’s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, confirmed the plan to curb the use of social media by kids earlier this month, and the bill has now been presented to lawmakers, Reuters reports. Many jurisdictions will be watching the proceedings with interest,

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Ben Affleck tells actors and writers not to worry about AI

Unions representing Hollywood actors and writers went on strike last year to secure protections against AI systems taking their jobs. But Ben Affleck says that actors and screenwriters shouldn’t worry about AI because it’s not capable of doing either job today, and likely won’t for a long time. “Movies will be one of the last

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Justice Department reportedly pushing Google to spin off Chrome

The Department of Justice is reportedly pushing to force Google to spin off its Chrome browser business. That’s according to Bloomberg, which reports that the Justice Department is also planning to recommend to a federal judge that Google face antitrust requirements related to AI and its Android mobile operating system. The enforcement actions are the

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Google tests removing news articles from search in EU, but it’s already backfiring

Under EU law, digital platforms have to pay for news reuse. But how much should Google pay for article previews? That’s what Google is trying to find out with an experiment in nine EU countries. During the test, 1% of users won’t see articles from EU-based news publishers in search and Google News so that

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Tech leaders recommend colleagues for Trump’s cabinet

Some tech investors and executives have been trying to influence the incoming Trump administration to appoint Silicon Valley insiders for cabinet positions, The New York Times reported. Given Elon Musk’s strong relationship with Donald Trump, a significant portion of tech leaders’ persuasion efforts have been directed towards him. Friends of Musk, like Joe Lonsdale, the

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FTC reportedly begins investigating Microsoft’s cloud business practices

The FTC is reportedly readying an investigation into whether Microsoft used anti-competitive tactics to maintain a dominant position in the cloud market. According to the Financial Times, the agency is looking into allegations that Microsoft imposed punitive licensing agreements to prevent customers from moving data off its platforms. Sources told FT that the FTC is

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