#AI regulation

#AI regulation

The Trump administration and congressional Republicans are trying again to eliminate state-level AI regulations in favor of a federal standard. The plan faces opposition from many state governments and civil-society organizations, while AI vendors have welcomed it.

* "If you kill this witness, the case will be dismissed," advised attorney. Man, these MPRE hypos are getting super easy. [ Toronto Star] * Trump signs bill to release the Epstein files. Unclear if he drew a woman's curves around it before signing this time. [ Reuters] * Texas governor demands action on Sharia Law, so you know it's a bad news cycle for him. [ KXAN]

Once a fringe curiosity, the deepfake economy has grown to become a $7.5 billion market, with some predictions projecting that it will hit $38.5 billion by 2032. Deepfakes are now everywhere, and the stock market is not the only part of the economy that is vulnerable to their impact. Those responsible for the creation of deepfakes are also targeting individual businesses, sometimes with the goal of extracting money and sometimes simply to cause damage.

We call for a prohibition on the development of superintelligence, not lifted before there is broad scientific consensus that it will be done safely and controllably, and strong public buy-in.

A union between human and machine? Not on this Ohio Republican's watch. A bill introduced last month by Buckeye state representative Thaddeus Claggett, from Licking County, would block AI systems from having legal personhood by declaring them to be "nonsentient entities," NBC4 News reports. It would also mean that AIs wouldn't be able to marry a human or another AI.

Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

This week in Other Barks & Bites: USPTO Acting Commissioner for Patents Valencia Martin Wallace sends an internal email to staff indicating that 1% of the agency's workforce will be laid off; U.S. sales of electric vehicles hit a record during the third quarter of 2025 just as federal subsidies for EV purchases ended; the Federal Circuit nixes US Inventor's pursuit of associational standing to sue the USPTO for denying its petition for rulemaking on discretionary denial criteria for AIA trials;