Lead story / android
Court Orders Google to Allow Rival Android App Stores
After a settlement fell apart in court, Google must open Android to competing app marketplaces by July 22, and it will still collect fees from rivals.
Section / Policy
Policy.
The Revision reporting on Policy — 158 stories on the wire, decoded into one clear voice.
All Policy coverage
Policy
UK Age Checks Are Spreading - But Gaps Remain
Ofcom's first major report on the Online Safety Act shows age verification scaling fast, while search engines and dating apps remain weak links.
Policy
Court Blocks Deportation of Content Moderation Researchers
A federal judge halted a Trump administration policy that used visa rules to target researchers working in misinformation, fact-checking, and trust and safety.
Policy
YouTube Says It Is Not Social Media to Dodge Addiction Ruling
Google's video platform is appealing an addiction verdict by arguing it belongs in a different category than Meta and other social networks.
Policy
FCC Moves to Scrap the 39% TV Ownership Cap
The FCC plans to replace a hard congressional limit on TV reach with case-by-case reviews, a shift critics say favors Trump-aligned broadcasters.
Policy
Google to Host Rival App Stores on Play Starting Next Week
A court-ordered remedy, triggered by Epic's 2020 Fortnite dispute, forces Google to distribute competing app stores through Google Play.
Policy
Lawsuit Claims Meta's AI Flagged Sick Workers for Layoffs
A new lawsuit alleges Meta used an AI system to identify employees with medical conditions and route them toward layoffs, which Meta flatly denies.
Policy
New York Freezes Large Data Center Builds for One Year
Governor Hochul's executive order halts hyperscale data center construction at 50 MW or more while Albany writes rules on power, water, and community costs.
Policy
China bans minors from AI emotional bonds
New rules bar children from forming romantic or dependent relationships with chatbots, part of Beijing's push to address low birthrates and screen dependency.
Policy
Delaware Wants AI Agents to Sign Contracts and Get Sued
A proposed Delaware AI legal entity would let autonomous systems run companies and face lawsuits under their own name, inside a supervised sandbox.
Policy
Apple Escapes iCloud CSAM Lawsuit Under Section 230
A federal judge ruled Section 230 shields Apple from liability over child abuse imagery stored in iCloud, handing the platform a legal win.
Policy
Former Meta Employees Sue Over AI-Assisted Layoff Targeting
Twenty-six plaintiffs claim Meta's internal AI tools penalized workers on medical leave and disability accommodations during May's 8,000-person cut.
Policy
Lawsuit Says Meta Used AI to Pick Which 8,000 Workers to Cut
Twenty-six former employees allege Meta's layoff algorithm targeted workers with disabilities and those on protected leave.
Policy
Meta Sued Over AI That Allegedly Targeted Disabled Workers in Layoffs
Twenty-six current and former employees claim Meta's AI systems used productivity and token usage metrics to flag workers on medical leave for cuts.
Policy
New York Freezes New Data Center Approvals
Governor Kathy Hochul has paused all large data center construction in New York, citing electricity costs, water use, and local oversight concerns.
Policy
New York Freezes Large Data Center Builds for a Year
Governor Hochul's moratorium on data centers drawing 50 MW or more is the first statewide construction ban in the US, and it has the AI industry nervous.
Policy
New York Puts a One-Year Freeze on Large Data Centers
Governor Hochul signed a moratorium on data center projects of 50 MW or more, making New York the first US state to enact a statewide ban.
Policy
Samsung Health Will Delete Your Data If You Skip AI Training Opt-In
A new consent toggle in Samsung Health gives users one choice: share sensitive health data for AI training, or lose all their synced data permanently.
Policy
Apple Sues OpenAI Over Alleged Trade Secret Theft by Ex-Engineers
A bug in Apple's own systems let a former employee retain server access for weeks after termination, allegedly funneling confidential data to OpenAI.
Policy
Apple Sues OpenAI Over Alleged Prototype Theft and Corporate Spying
Apple's lawsuit accuses OpenAI of soliciting hardware secrets from job candidates and tricking a partner into revealing proprietary design techniques.
Policy
Apple Sues OpenAI Over Alleged Hardware Trade Secret Theft
Apple's lawsuit names OpenAI and two former Apple employees, alleging they stole proprietary specs, prototypes, and techniques to fuel OpenAI's hardware push.
Policy
EU Accuses Meta of Addictive Design on Facebook and Instagram
The European Commission says autoplay and infinite scroll on Meta's platforms break EU law, with fines of up to 6% of global revenue on the table.
Policy
Apple Sues OpenAI Over Alleged Hardware Design Theft
Apple claims OpenAI used job interviews as cover to extract hardware prototypes, naming the AI lab's chief hardware officer in a federal lawsuit.
Policy
Apple Sues OpenAI Over Alleged Hardware Trade Secret Theft
Apple claims former employees carried proprietary hardware secrets to OpenAI and its newly acquired device startup IO Products.
Policy
Apple Sues OpenAI Over AI Hardware Trade Secret Theft
Apple alleges OpenAI ran a coordinated campaign to extract confidential AI hardware details through former Apple employees.
Policy
UK Shop Facial Recognition Will Alert Police in 4 Seconds
A system already running in over 100 UK stores is about to escalate from flagging shoppers to calling police automatically, in real time.
Policy
How Blacklisted Chinese Firms Still Buy US Frontier AI
A Singapore loophole lets companies on the US military blacklist purchase advanced AI from OpenAI and Google, raising questions about export controls.
Policy
EU Finds Meta's Addictive Design Breaks Digital Services Act
The EU Commission ruled Instagram and Facebook's addictive design violates the DSA, a key test of Europe's new platform accountability law.
Policy
NHTSA Calls Robo-Taxi Interference With Emergency Crews Unacceptable
The federal auto safety chief says self-driving cars blocking ambulances and firefighters at emergency scenes cannot continue.
Policy
NHTSA Demands Fix as Driverless Cars Block First Responders
Federal safety regulators say they have identified a pattern of autonomous vehicles obstructing emergency response, and they want AV makers to solve it.
Policy
Most AI-in-Government Research Cannot Name What It Studies
A new paper finds that 55% of highly-cited public administration studies leave the AI system they examined technically unspecified.
Policy
BoE Deputy Governor Flags AI Agents as Market Stability Risk
Sarah Breeden warns that autonomous trading agents reacting in lockstep could amplify volatility in ways existing rules were not built to handle.
Policy
The EU AI Act Has an Identity Problem
A new paper argues the EU's AI rulebook can't answer a basic question: when is an updated AI system still the same system?
Policy
AI Watermarking Rules Are Ahead of the Technology
A new analysis finds that US and EU policymakers are writing laws about AI content labeling faster than the underlying detection methods can support them.
Policy
Kalshi Sues Illinois to Block New Sports Bet Tax
Illinois classified Kalshi as an unlicensed sports wagering operator, exposing the prediction market to taxes and potential felony charges.
Policy
DOJ Seizes 400 Domains in World Cup Piracy Crackdown
Operation Offsides took down nearly 400 illegal streaming domains mid-tournament, but history suggests the sites will resurface before the final whistle.
Policy
Bill Would Bar AI Firms From Selling Health and Location Data
Senators Warren and Scanlon are reviving a 2022 data-broker bill, updated to cover what users share with AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude.
Policy
Apple Calls India's Antitrust Case a Cut-and-Paste Job
Apple told India's Competition Commission its 2024 findings on App Store conduct were lifted verbatim from rivals, not independently verified.
Policy
400 Local Papers Sue OpenAI and Microsoft Over Training Data
A coalition of nearly 400 US local newspapers has filed the largest copyright lawsuit local journalism has brought against AI companies.
Policy
Apple Lobbies for Access to Blacklisted Chinese Memory Chips
With DRAM prices up fourfold, Apple is pressing the Trump administration to let it buy chips from Pentagon-listed CXMT.
Policy
Meta Kills the Tool That Let You Limit Its Web Tracking
The Off-Facebook Activity feature, which let users disconnect browsing data from their profiles, is reportedly going away in July 2026.
Policy
Washington Tells OpenAI to Slow-Walk GPT-5.6 Release
The White House has asked OpenAI to stagger the rollout of GPT-5.6, mirroring the export-control fate that already pulled Anthropic's Fable 5 from the market.
Policy
Malaysia Seizes $13M AI Chip Shipment at Kuala Lumpur Airport
Customs officers found advanced AI chips hidden inside 72 server units declared as ordinary computer components in a free trade zone.
Policy
FCC Moves to Gut $2B School Internet Program
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is proposing to scale back or eliminate E-Rate, citing student screen time concerns.
Policy
Spain Orders Carriers to Keep Mobile Networks Up During Outages
New rules require Spanish carriers to maintain mobile service for at least four hours when the power goes out.
Policy
Polestar Loses US Market Access Over China Software Rule
The federal government denied Polestar's authorization request under the Connected Vehicle Rule, ending US sales of its EVs from model year 2027 onward.
Policy
Sarah Wynn-Williams Sues Meta Over Silencing Efforts
The former Meta executive and Careless People author has flipped the legal dynamic, now suing the company that spent over a year trying to quiet her.
Policy
EU Moves to Tag Amazon and Microsoft as Cloud Gatekeepers
The European Commission is preparing to formally designate the two cloud giants under the Digital Markets Act.
Policy
US Bans Polestar Imports Starting Model Year 2027
The Commerce Department denied Polestar authorization to sell new models in the US, citing rules barring connected cars from automakers with Chinese ties.
Policy
Google Cuts Play Store Fees and Opens Payments Worldwide
Forced by its Epic Games antitrust loss, Google will drop fees to as low as 10% and allow alternative payments across most major markets by June 30.
Policy
Disney Pays $50M to Settle Claims It Inflated Streaming TV Prices
A class action accused Disney of forcing YouTube TV and DirecTV subscribers to pay more by bundling ESPN into base packages.
Policy
FCC Wants Your ID Before You Buy a Prepaid Phone
A proposed FCC rule requiring name, address, and government ID from all phone customers could end anonymous prepaid phone use in the name of stopping robocalls.
Policy
Google Play Opens to Outside Billing Before Court Signs Off
Google is rolling out lower, decoupled app store fees worldwide next week, ahead of final approval of its Epic antitrust settlement.
Policy
AI Labs Spent $27M on a NY Primary and Got a Draw
Anthropic backed a pro-safety candidate while OpenAI's super PAC spent to beat him - and a third candidate won the seat anyway.
Policy
Netherlands Signs Pax Silica Pact Despite MATCH Act Concerns
The Netherlands just became a full Pax Silica member, but the MATCH Act's rules on servicing chip equipment in China put ASML in a bind.
Policy
White House App Force-Installed on Federal Phones Won't Go Away
A White House app pushed to millions of government employees' work phones auto-reinstalls after deletion, alarming federal workers at multiple agencies.
Policy
Meta Is the Last AI Holdout on Federal Security Reviews
Every major US AI developer has agreed to federal security reviews except Meta, which the Trump administration is now pressing to comply.
Policy
Tesla Blames Driver Override After Fatal FSD Crash in Texas
Tesla says the driver floored the accelerator to 100%, overriding Full Self-Driving, before a Model 3 struck a home and killed a 76-year-old woman.
Policy
Trump Signs Post-Quantum Crypto Order With 2030-2031 Deadlines
A new executive order splits the federal quantum-security migration into two phases: encryption by 2030, authentication by 2031.
Policy
ABC Rallies Viewers Against FCC Scrutiny of The View
The FCC is questioning whether The View qualifies as a news program, and ABC is turning its own airwaves into a lobbying tool to fight back.
Policy
Polymarket Paid Influencers to Fake Winning Bets
A Wall Street Journal investigation found Polymarket paid creators to post ads showing fake wins and dummy sites, totaling about $900,000 in fabricated payouts.
Policy
48 Chinese Developers File Antitrust Complaint Over App Store Fees
A group of Chinese iOS developers petitioned China's market regulator, alleging Apple broke a promise to offer them the lowest available commission rate.
Policy
NHTSA Opens Probe Into Fatal Tesla Crash at Texas Home
Federal safety regulators are investigating a deadly crash where the driver claims Full Self-Driving was active, a claim Tesla's CEO disputes.
Policy
EU Moves Closer to Fining Meta Over Child-Targeted Design
Brussels is preparing formal findings that Facebook and Instagram use exploitative design to hook children, a case that could cost Meta 6% of global sales.
Policy
Meta's Employee Surveillance Program Died After an Internal Leak
Meta quietly ran a program logging employee keystrokes and screen activity, then killed it after someone inside leaked details of the surveillance.
Policy
Drivers Sue Gas Stations Over AI Price-Fixing Tool
A Sacramento class action claims Kalibrate's AI pricing tool helped BP, Circle K, and others push California pump prices as much as 30 cents higher.
Policy
Trump Orders a Research-Grade Quantum Computer by 2028
Two executive orders set a 2028 hardware target, push the post-quantum cryptography deadline to 2031, and tie $2 billion in grants to government equity stakes.
Policy
Tesla Crash Kills One in Texas With Driver Assist Active
A Texas crash has left one woman dead after a Tesla with its automated driving assistance system engaged struck a home in Katy.
Policy
Anthropic's Risk Warnings May Have Triggered Its Own Export Ban
Washington last week banned foreign access to Anthropic's Mythos and Fable, and some technologists say its risk warnings invited the move.
Policy
UK Home Office Puts £75M Into Police AI Program
The Home Office launched PoliceAI, a £75 million initiative to bring artificial intelligence tools into UK law enforcement.
Policy
US regulators flag Fable 5 after a single code fix request
Researchers say a simple "fix this code" prompt, not a jailbreak, triggered federal scrutiny of the AI model Fable 5.
Policy
Pichai Booed at Stanford Over Google Defense AI Work
Students walked out on Google's CEO at Stanford's graduation over the company's AI ties to Israel and U.S. immigration enforcement.
Policy
SF Eyes PG&E Takeover, Again
San Francisco is revisiting a municipal utility buyout it has attempted, and abandoned, for roughly a century — this time blaming soaring electricity costs.
Policy
Brazil Fines Apple and Others $60M Over Loot Boxes in Kids' Games
A Brazilian court ordered Apple and several other companies to pay nearly $60 million over loot boxes in games minors could access.
Policy
Meta Can't Shake Lawsuit Over Torrented Porn Used for AI Training
A federal judge let a copyright lawsuit proceed, finding Meta's 'personal use' explanation for torrenting 2,300-plus adult films implausible.
Policy
India May Shut a Tata iPhone Factory Over Farm Pollution
Tamil Nadu's pollution board is threatening to close a Tata iPhone parts plant after farmers reported wastewater contaminating their land and open wells.
Policy
Israeli Firm BlackCore Suspected of Interfering in Three Elections
BlackCore is now linked to alleged influence operations in New York City, Scotland, and France, expanding the mapped geography of for-hire election meddling.
Policy
State Attorneys General Open Investigation Into OpenAI
A coalition of state attorneys general is requesting documents from OpenAI in a coordinated probe of the company's activities.
Policy
FISA Section 702 Expired. The Warrantless Surveillance Didn't.
The spying law lapsed at midnight, but an existing court certification keeps Section 702 collection running until March 2027.
Policy
Tesla FSD Uses Bike Lane in Its Own Denmark Approval Video
The self-driving system drifts into a protected cycling lane 12 seconds into the footage Tesla submitted for Danish regulatory approval.
Policy
DOJ Seizes CFake.com Under Take It Down Act
The Justice Department used the Take It Down Act to seize a site hosting computer-generated fake celebrity nudes, testing how far the law reaches.
Policy
Europe Eyes Rules for Smart Glasses and Their Hidden Cameras
EU regulators are considering whether existing surveillance law covers camera-equipped glasses that silently record bystanders in public.
Policy
UK Bans Social Media for Under-16s, Eyes Spring 2027 Start
The UK's under-16 social media ban covers six major platforms and borrows its enforcement tools from the country's pornography age-verification law.
Policy
Protesters Rally Against Palantir at UK Health Conference
Demonstrators demanded Palantir's removal from an NHS data contract, citing privacy concerns and the company's history with US intelligence work.
Policy
Another Parent Sues OpenAI Over Chatbot's Role in Child's Death
A wrongful death lawsuit claims OpenAI's chatbot failed to intervene before a child died by suicide, adding to a growing pile of similar litigation.
Policy
Congress Revives Antitrust Bill Targeting Big Tech Self-Preferencing
The American Innovation and Choice Online Act is back four years after stalling, with a bipartisan push to bar dominant platforms from favoring their own products.
Policy
Congress Lets Section 702 Wiretap Authority Expire
The House voted 218-198 against a short FISA extension, letting the warrantless surveillance program lapse while Congress debates what warrant rules to attach.
Policy
Canada Tables Bill to Block Under-16s From Social Media
Parliament introduced legislation that would prohibit social media platforms from serving users younger than 16, though it is not yet law.
Policy
Beijing Forces Meta to Unwind Its $2B Manus Deal
Meta has cut the Chinese-founded agentic AI startup off from its systems and is sunsetting the platform after Beijing demanded the acquisition be reversed.
Policy
YouTube Is Profiting From Channels Linked to Sanctioned Iranians
New research found dozens of monetized YouTube channels run by people and organizations the US has sanctioned for their ties to Iran.
Policy
Study Finds Americans Trading Billions on Banned Polymarket
A first-of-its-kind estimate finds US users are moving billions of dollars on Polymarket, which officially bars American traders.
Policy
Iran's 88-Day Internet Blackout Lifts, Partially
Rights groups say Iran's partial internet restoration is not a concession and warn that another blackout is coming.
Policy
South Korea Fines Coupang a Record $409 Million for Data Breach
The PIPC's ruling is the largest privacy penalty in South Korean history, nearly tripling the fine it levied on SK Telecom last year.
Policy
Nashville May Ban Hyperscale Data Centers After Zoo Dispute
A 330,000-signature petition and a zoning appeal have pushed Nashville toward a sweeping ban on hyperscale data centers near the city's zoo.
Policy
China's Official Labor Paper Calls for AI Worker Protections
Workers' Daily, the official organ of China's state-controlled trade union federation, has called on the government to put guardrails on AI job displacement.
Policy
GLP-1 Telehealth Scams Outlived a $5M Government Settlement
A telehealth network selling compounded weight-loss drugs kept defrauding customers even after paying $5 million to clients under a federal settlement.
Policy
Florida Man Sues Police Over Arrest Built on a 93% Facial Match
Robert Dillon, who lives 300 miles from the alleged crime scene, says police ignored license plate data that would have cleared him.
Policy
White House Trades AI Preemption for Online Safety Package
The administration wants a three-year federal freeze on state AI laws, bundled with KOSA and other child safety bills.
Policy
Kalshi Now Requires Employment Verification for Some Bets
The move comes as the CFTC drafts its first prediction market rules and a string of insider trading arrests keeps piling up.
Policy
Stockton Backs Flock Drones as First Responders
Stockton approved millions in Flock drones for first response, but residents say the city is building an aerial surveillance network dressed as public safety.
Policy
Meta Laid Off a Worker. Then Immigration Agents Showed Up
A recently laid-off Meta employee was detained by immigration enforcement agents, with colleagues discussing the incident on internal company message boards.
Policy
German Court Finds Google Liable for AI Overview Defamation
A German court finds Google liable for AI Overviews that falsely tagged two publishers as scammers, rejecting the standard 'AI makes mistakes' defense.
Policy
Apple Says Epic's Dismissal Brief Makes the Case for Appeal
Apple's lawyers filed a 12-page brief turning each of Epic's arguments for dismissal into reasons the Supreme Court should take the case.
Policy
ACLU Sues Florida Police Over Wrongful Face-Recognition Arrest
The ACLU is suing two Florida police departments after officers treated a face-recognition match in a child-abduction case as definitive proof of identity.
Policy
ICE Denies Tracking Protesters. A Letter Tells Congress More.
ICE says it has no protester database, but a letter to Congress offers a more detailed account of what the agency actually does.
Policy
Seattle Freezes New AI Data Center Permits for a Year
The city council voted for a year-long moratorium on new data center construction while officials draft rules the industry doesn't yet have to follow.
Policy
World Cup 2026 Turns Stadiums Into Surveillance Labs
Face recognition and anti-drone systems are being deployed at 2026 World Cup venues across three countries with distinct privacy laws.
Policy
FCC Anti-Robocalling Rule Could Quietly Kill Burner Phones
A proposed FCC identity-verification requirement aimed at robocallers could eliminate anonymous prepaid phone service as collateral damage.
Policy
Apple Refused EU Rules to Keep Siri from Locking Out Rivals
A European Commission spokesperson says Apple resisted requirements designed to let competing AI assistants operate on equal footing on iPhones.
Policy
Apple Blames EU Law for Keeping AI Siri Off European iPhones
Apple says the Digital Markets Act is why its AI-powered Siri won't reach EU users, a framing that puts pressure on Brussels.
Policy
EU Orders Meta to Reopen WhatsApp to Rival AI Assistants
The European Commission gave Meta five working days to restore access for competing AI assistants, citing irreversible harm to competition.
Policy
Apple Pulls Siri AI Rollout from EU After Exemption Denied
The EU Commission rejected Apple's bid for a regulatory carve-out, and Apple's response was to simply not launch.
Policy
Netherlands to Screen Foreign AI Investment from 2027
The Dutch government will vet foreign stakes in AI firms starting January 2027, years after Nexperia's acquisition exposed gaps in the existing screening rules.
Policy
Taiwan Eyes Criminal Penalties for AI Chip Exports to China
A proposed blanket ban would go further than blacklist-based controls, turning any AI chip sale to China into a potential crime.
Policy
Russia's Answer to Its VPN Crackdown Is a State-Run VPN
Roskomnadzor wants to fix the developer access problem it created by proposing a VPN it fully controls - which rather misses the point of a VPN.
Policy
UK Gives Tech Firms Until September to Scan Kids' Devices
Keir Starmer's mandate to block explicit content on children's phones has privacy advocates warning the scanning infrastructure will outlast its stated purpose.
Policy
FCC Moves to End Anonymous Prepaid Phones With Mandatory IDs
A proposed FCC rule would require telecoms to verify every subscriber's identity, effectively ending anonymous prepaid phone service in the US.
Policy
Meta Is Using Your Shopping Data to Shape Your Feeds
Meta says it isn't collecting new data — it's just doing more with what retailers already hand over.
Policy
UK Puts £330M Palantir NHS Contract Under Formal Review
The government may trigger a 2027 break clause to exit the deal, signaling that its political cost has finally caught up with it.
Policy
UK Considers Early Exit from NHS-Palantir Deal
Britain is reviewing its NHS partnership with the US analytics firm and has not ruled out walking away before the contract ends.
Policy
Microsoft Trims Azure Staff in China as Cloud Borders Harden
Hundreds of Azure positions cut in China signal that US-China tech decoupling has reached cloud infrastructure itself.
Policy
Pentagon Flags Alibaba and Baidu as Chinese Military-Linked Firms
The Defense Department's updated list now names two of China's most recognizable tech companies, adding political risk to any U.S. business dealings with them.
Policy
After Meta Loosened Speech Rules, Threats Against Politicians Surged
New research tracks a six-month surge in violent threats on Facebook following Meta's content moderation rollback, including threats against Trump.
Policy
Amazon Workers Back Seattle's Bid to Freeze New Data Centers
The city council votes on a one-year pause as Amazon's own staff testify against the data center boom reshaping their city.
Policy
FCC Extends Amazon Kuiper's Satellite Deployment Deadline
The FCC has pushed back a key build-out milestone for Amazon's low-Earth orbit satellite internet project, easing a requirement under its operating license.
Policy
FCC Buys Amazon Time to Build a Starlink Rival
The FCC waived a deployment deadline for Amazon's satellite constellation, explicitly citing the public interest in a second major broadband provider.
Policy
Pentagon Flags Alibaba, Baidu, BYD, and Unitree as Military-Linked
The Defense Department's 1260H list now names 188 companies, and the latest additions include some of the most recognizable brands in global tech.
Policy
Apple's Rebuilt Siri Blocked in the EU Again, No Timeline Given
EU regulators rejected every proposal Apple submitted to bring its redesigned Siri to Europe, leaving iPhone users there without even a rough launch date.
Policy
FCC Waives Amazon Leo Deadline, Strips Spectrum Priority
The FCC issued Amazon a conditional waiver on its satellite deployment deadline but stripped its spectrum priority, giving far less than the two-year extension it requested.
Policy
Nintendo Fined $40M in France Over Faulty Joy-Cons
French regulators fined Nintendo $40 million over defective Joy-Cons, a hardware complaint that has shadowed the Switch for years.
Policy
SDSU Wired Student Dorms with 1,300 AI Cameras, No Disclosure
San Diego State installed hundreds of AI-enabled cameras in residential housing without telling the students who live there.
Policy
Texas Grid Warns as Data Centers and Crypto Sites Fail Voltage Tests
ERCOT says power-hungry data centers and crypto mines are failing electrical stability tests, adding new fragility to an already stressed grid.
Policy
A New Paper Says Internet Architecture Is a Democratic Risk
Researchers writing in Science argue the internet's foundational design — not just bad actors or platform choices — poses structural risks to democracy.
Policy
States Reportedly Plan to Sue Over Paramount-Warner Deal
A multi-state legal challenge would layer state antitrust pressure onto a merger that already drew a formal probe from California's attorney general.
Policy
The Power Grid May Force AI Rationing, Central Bank Warns
The Bank of England governor says AI's energy demand may require rationing, framing what the industry calls an infrastructure problem as a political one.
Policy
House Draft Would Bar States From Regulating AI
A House proposal would preempt all state AI rules, centralizing oversight in Washington just as states have become the country's most active AI regulators.
Policy
Epic Asks Supreme Court to Deny Apple's App Store Petition
Epic filed a brief opposing Apple's Supreme Court petition to challenge two rulings on off-App-Store payments, asking the justices to let them stand.
Policy
Apple Adds Age Verification to Texas App Store Signups
Apple now requires Texans to confirm they are 18 to open an account, with minors needing parental approval to download apps or make purchases.
Policy
Google Must Link AI Search Sources and Offer Publishers an Opt-Out
UK regulators told Google to cite its sources in AI Overviews and give publishers an opt-out, rejecting Google's claim that users prefer fewer links.
Policy
Ring Faces Lawsuit Over Facial Recognition Without Consent
A new lawsuit claims Ring's doorbell cameras capture facial data from passersby who never consented to being scanned.
Policy
Amazon Sued Over Ring's Facial-Recognition Feature
A class action filed in Seattle claims Ring's Familiar Faces feature stores strangers' facial images without their consent.
Policy
Ballot Seizures in Four States Leave the Midterms in Limbo
Officials have seized ballots in four states with no legal precedent to guide what comes next, and the midterms are approaching fast.
Policy
Maryland bars stores from using AI to set grocery prices
The state is the first to target 'surveillance pricing' in supermarkets, but enforcement details remain thin.
Policy
Academy bars AI-generated films from Oscar eligibility
The Academy has ruled that films using AI for actors or scripts cannot compete for Oscars, marking the industry's first explicit stance on machine-generated content.
Policy
FCC Bars Foreign-Made Consumer Routers From US Sales
The FCC banned new consumer WiFi routers and mobile hotspots made outside the US, citing supply chain security concerns.
Policy
Disneyland Is Now Scanning Faces at the Gate
The theme park confirmed it deployed facial recognition at its California entry points, joining a growing list of venues experimenting with the controversial technology.
Policy
OpenAI Turns On Tracking Cookies for Free ChatGPT Users
Free ChatGPT users are now opted into marketing cookies by default, letting OpenAI track them for ad targeting and subscription conversion.
Policy
Academy Bars AI-Generated Work From Oscar Eligibility
The Oscars just codified what was already true — and what may not matter much anyway.
Policy
AI Giants Funded Influencer Campaign to Push Pro-AI, Fear China
A super PAC backed by OpenAI and Andreessen Horowitz executives paid TikTok creators to promote AI development while framing China as a threat.
Policy
Senators Ban Themselves From Prediction Markets After Betting Scandal
The Senate Ethics Committee enacted a new rule after reports surfaced that candidates had wagered on their own races.
Policy
Minnesota bans fake AI nudes — first state to target the apps themselves
Minnesota's new law hits app developers with $500K fines, targeting creators not just users of AI undressing tools.
Policy
China pressured Zambia to cancel RightsCon over Taiwan dispute
The world's largest digital rights conference was called off after Zambia, under pressure from Beijing, demanded organizers exclude Taiwanese participants.
Policy
Pentagon brings Nvidia, Microsoft and AWS to classified AI networks
The Defense Department is expanding its AI vendor lineup after a dispute with Anthropic, opening classified networks to three major cloud and chip providers.
Policy
YouTube's Algorithm Favoring Russian Over Kyrgyz to Kids
YouTube's recommendation system pushes Russian content to children in Kyrgyzstan even when they search for Kyrgyz-language videos, raising concerns about cultural preservation.
Policy
Trump picks Fox News commentator as surgeon general, blasts Cassidy
The president nominates a television doctor to lead the nation's top public health role, escalates feud with Louisiana senator.
Policy
US Press Freedom Drops Below Ukraine for First Time
The US now ranks below Ukraine in the 2026 Press Freedom Index, with global media freedom at its lowest point in 25 years.
Policy
Meta threatens to pull apps from New Mexico over legal demands
The company says it may exit the state if a judge grants New Mexico's requests in an ongoing privacy case.
Policy
OpenAI Cites User Privacy to Block NYT's Chat Discovery Request
OpenAI is resisting a demand for 20 million ChatGPT conversations, framing a legal discovery fight as a user-protection effort.