All posts tagged: regulation

Amazon Employees Show Up to City Council Meeting to Demand Limits on Data Centers

Amazon Employees Show Up to City Council Meeting to Demand Limits on Data Centers

Published by skeptic

Two Amazon employees on Wednesday publicly called for regulations on new data centers, telling elected officials in Seattle that unchecked development of the sharply disputed nerve centers of AI threatens the region’s environment, economy, and safety. “Local governments, in collaboration with community stakeholders, should be setting the terms for data center buildout,” Amazon senior software engineer Liesl Wigand said at a city hearing. “Let’s not let Big Tech burn Seattle to win the AI race.” The comments by Wigand and another Amazon software engineer, Patrick Schloesser, mark a significant escalation in the protest movement across the US against the rapid construction of data centers over the past couple of years. While workers at several big tech companies, including Amazon, have complained about the negative effects of data centers and the need for greater oversight, none are believed to have done so as publicly and explicitly before, according to labor organizers supporting the effort in Seattle. Schloesser, who has been at Amazon for nearly six years, said that data centers should have to supply more renewable …

Google faces regulation crackdown in UK over AI use of content

Google faces regulation crackdown in UK over AI use of content

Published by Sam Flores

Google AI Overviews shown in front of a Google webpage. Picture: Shutterstock/DIA TV In a world first, UK regulators today told Google to give publishers control over how their content is surfaced in AI answers. In response Google announced that (from today) it will test “a new control that lets website owners manage how their links and content appear in generative AI Search features”. The Competition and Markets Authority ruling tackles a number of longstanding complaints from publishers over lack of transparency and control over how their content is surfaced by Google. So far, Google has made it impossible for publishers to remove their content from its AI-written answers without also removing themselves from Google’s main search index (the way most people in the UK access the internet). Yet the introduction of AI-written Google summaries has led to plunging Google referral traffic and a rise in zero-click searches as they remove the need for readers to click through to an article source. The CMA said Google must do the following: “– provide publishers with effective …

The Trump Administration Is at War With Itself Over AI Regulation

The Trump Administration Is at War With Itself Over AI Regulation

Published by skeptic

The Trump administration is navigating internal strife as officials try to figure out whether they can resurrect the executive order about AI regulation that President Donald Trump abruptly nixed last month, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. The conversations in the weeks since have been widely viewed as chaotic, by both key Silicon Valley players and administration officials. Some AI executives have privately told WIRED they are uncertain what a revised executive order might require, or whether one will end up being signed at all. On May 21, Trump canceled a planned signing ceremony for the order just hours before it was scheduled to take place. He told reporters at the time that it could stifle competition domestically and reduce the advantage the US currently maintains over China in the AI race. The most contentious section of the nixed executive order was a provision creating a voluntary framework in which AI labs like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google would give the White House early access to AI models ahead of their public release to …

UN urges ‘urgent’ action to protect children online | Technology News

UN urges ‘urgent’ action to protect children online | Technology News

Published by Sam Flores

Call to governments and tech companies comes amid a global push for greater accountability and oversight of social media platforms. Published On 29 May 202629 May 2026 The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for urgent action to protect children online, demanding it be made a “priority”. In a statement released on Friday, Volker Turk called for stronger action by governments and tech companies to make online platforms safer. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “Enhancing protection of children online is an urgent priority,” he insisted. The call comes amid a global push for greater accountability and oversight of social media platforms, with countries testing age-based bans and stricter regulations, and pressure growing on technology companies. Alongside the statement, the UN human rights office released a set of guidelines aimed at improving children’s safety online and protecting their rights through stronger regulation. The measures include safeguards around age verification processes, mandatory child rights impact assessments, and involving children in shaping regulatory responses. “We need much wider action – by governments …

Top US trade official blasts German streaming quota plan – POLITICO

Top US trade official blasts German streaming quota plan – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

“If this tax on American companies is enacted, it would be at odds with the Turnberry Agreement, in which the European Union committed to ‘address unjustified digital trade barriers’ — not erect new ones,” Greer said. The criticism follows scrutiny by Republicans in Washington of a similar Canadian streaming law requiring tech platforms to financially support domestic cultural production. House Republicans in March introduced legislation seeking a U.S. trade investigation into Canada’s Online Streaming Act, arguing it unfairly targets American companies and could justify retaliatory tariffs. Germany’s proposed law would require streaming companies and broadcasters to invest at least 8 percent of their annual German revenues into domestic and wider European film and television production, or face financial penalties. Berlin also announced plans to nearly double public support for local productions to €250 million. Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil defended the overhaul in February, saying it would create “planning certainty for more investment in national and international productions” and send “a clear signal” for Germany’s media industry and “cultural diversity.” Netflix has pushed back. “If regulation …

US refuses to budge on environmental impact of tech, regulating Big Tech at G7 – POLITICO

US refuses to budge on environmental impact of tech, regulating Big Tech at G7 – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

The environmental impact of AI specifically, as it consumes huge amounts of energy, has become a talking point in Europe, with the European Environment Agency warning earlier this month that the “the rapid expansion of AI presents a growing challenge to achieving climate neutrality.” But an emphasis on combating the environmental impact of tech is “a red line for the United States,” a digital ministry representative, granted anonymity due to French protocol, told reporters, adding that France respects its “partners’ red lines.”  Environmental issues have been “the most complicated” to get a consensus among the G7 countries, the same representative added, saying that the wording of that part of the declaration may only be endorsed by the “G7 presidency,” i.e. France.  “This is a step back from the initial ambitions,” the same representative admitted, adding that France “knew it would be complicated.”   More broadly, “discussing the regulation of industry players is something the United States is not ready to do,” the French digital ministry representative said, adding that “in Europe, we will conclude that regulation is necessary, and we will take the extra step that …

Here Comes Ojai, Waymo’s New Chinese-Made Robotaxi

Here Comes Ojai, Waymo’s New Chinese-Made Robotaxi

Published by skeptic

There’s a new autonomous vehicle in town, or at least in the towns of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix. Starting today, Alphabet self-driving vehicle developer Waymo will start picking up members of the public in its new Ojai vehicles (pronounced “oh hai”)—pale blue boxy minivans studded with sensors and complete with steering wheels, even though they’re designed to travel without drivers. For now, the rides in these new cars, which can be summoned through Waymo’s app, will be free. It’s been a long road for the vehicle, first announced by Waymo in 2021 and tested on public streets since 2024. It’s also a weird time for Waymo: The self-driving-vehicle company, which is trying to expand quickly across the US and the world, shut down service in six US cities last week due to issues with how its vehicles react to flooding. It has also suspended its highway driving program due to concerns about operations near construction zones. WIRED breaks down what’s new and interesting about Ojai, and the complex system that powers it. Why? …

Illinois Lawmakers Just Passed America’s Strongest AI Safety Bill

Illinois Lawmakers Just Passed America’s Strongest AI Safety Bill

Published by skeptic

The Illinois House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday requiring frontier AI labs like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind to have their safety practices audited by a third party. If signed into law, AI safety experts tell WIRED, it would be the nation’s leading check on the power of major AI companies. The bill, SB 315, now heads to governor JB Pritzker’s desk. In a post on social media on Wednesday, Pritzker said he plans to sign the bill, citing a need to hold Big Tech accountable. Since Congress has yet to pass any meaningful AI safety legislation, state lawmakers have happily stepped up in recent years to promote bills that show their constituents they’re keeping Silicon Valley in check. As AI tools become increasingly popular, and the companies behind them race toward massive IPOs, polls show that American voters are looking for more AI regulation. As a result, safety advocates and tech companies have zeroed in on state legislatures as the primary battleground to hash out how these laws should look. OpenAI’s chief …

Prediction markets regulation by CFTC eyed by White House

Prediction markets regulation by CFTC eyed by White House

Published by Sam Flores

A proposal for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to regulate prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket is under review by the White House, a filing from Tuesday shows. Details of the proposal, which are being reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget, are not visible on the filing. CNBC has requested comment from the CFTC on the filing, which Bloomberg reported earlier Wednesday. A spokeswoman for Kalshi had no comment on the filing. Polymarket did not immediately respond to a request for comment. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig on Jan. 29 said the agency planned to write rules for governing prediction markets as he scrapped a proposed rule that would have prohibited trades on sports and politics on those platforms. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission headquarters in Washington, Dec. 23, 2022. Ting Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images The agency has argued in public statements and in courts that it has exclusive authority to regulate the growing prediction market sector, rather than individual states, some of which are seeking to exercise such authority. Tuesday’s …

Waymo Takes Its Self-Driving Cars to Virginia

Waymo Takes Its Self-Driving Cars to Virginia

Published by skeptic

Self-driving cars aren’t yet permitted to operate in Virginia. But Alphabet-owned Waymo began transporting its cars to the state last week, a Waymo representative told Virginia officials, to map Arlington and Alexandria, in the northern part of the state. For most autonomous vehicle companies, mapping, or the creation of sensor-aided and ultra-precise digital representations of streets and the features around them, is the first step required to launch a local robotaxi service. Drivers will operate the mapping vehicles for now, Waymo says. Ethan Teicher, a spokesperson for Waymo, confirmed the move to WIRED and called it “an important preparatory step should the Commonwealth authorize fully autonomous ride-hailing.” Still, he said, the company does “not currently have plans for a commercial service there.” In a public meeting last week with a Virginia Department of Transportation working group, Waymo policy adviser Rich Harrington said that Waymo vehicles had touched down in Alexandria and would soon come to Arlington, both just across the Potomac River from Washington, DC. Moving from mapping to a full-blown robotaxi service takes 12 …