Meta hypes AI friends as social media’s future, but users want real connections
Meta declined to comment further on the company’s vision for social media’s future. In a statement, a Meta spokesperson told Ars that “the FTC’s lawsuit against Meta defies reality,” claiming that it threatens US leadership in AI and insisting that…
Verizon tries to get out of merger condition requiring it to unlock phones
Verizon also said that after it bought TracFone, there was “a sharp increase in the number of TracFone devices that deactivated before making enough payments for Verizon to recover the subsidy on the device.” Verizon: Do it for DOGE With…
Did Google lie about building a deadly chatbot? Judge finds it plausible.
Judge not ready to rule on whether AI outputs are speech Google and Character Technologies also moved to dismiss the lawsuit based on First Amendment claims, arguing that C.AI users have a right to listen to chatbot outputs as supposed…
Trump threatens Apple with 25% tariff to force iPhone manufacturing into US
Donald Trump woke up Friday morning and threatened Apple with a 25 percent tariff on any iPhones sold in the US that are not manufactured in America. In a Truth Social post, Trump claimed that he had “long ago” told…
AT&T has $6 billion deal to buy CenturyLink fiber broadband business
AT&T has struck a deal to buy CenturyLink’s consumer fiber broadband division for $5.75 billion, giving the Internet provider another 1.1 million fiber customers in 11 states. The all-cash deal is expected to close during the first half of 2026…
Musk’s DOGE used Meta’s Llama 2—not Grok—for gov’t slashing, report says
Why didn’t DOGE use Grok? It seems that Grok, Musk’s AI model, wasn’t available for DOGE’s task because it was only available as a proprietary model in January. Moving forward, DOGE may rely more frequently on Grok, Wired reported, as…
Trump admin tells Supreme Court: DOGE needs to do its work in secret
US argues for secrecy A three-judge panel at the appeals court was unswayed by the government’s claim that this process is too burdensome. “Although the government protests that any such assertion of privilege would be burdensome, the only identified burdens…
RFK Jr. calls WHO “moribund” amid US withdrawal; China pledges to give $500M
“WHO’s priorities have increasingly reflected the biases and interests of corporate medicine,” Kennedy said, alluding to his anti-vaccine and germ-theory denialist views. He chastised the health organization for allegedly capitulating to China and working with the country to “promote the…
FCC chairman celebrates court loss in case over Biden-era diversity rule
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr celebrated an FCC court loss yesterday after a ruling that struck down Biden-era diversity reporting requirements that Carr voted against while Democrats were in charge. “An appellate court just struck down the Biden FCC’s…
Trump’s trade war risks splintering the Internet, experts warn
Bertin Martens, a senior fellow at a European economics-focused think tank called Bruegel, broke down in April how practical it could be for the EU to attack digital platforms, noting, “there is a question of whether such retaliation is even…
Labor dispute erupts over AI-voiced Darth Vader in Fortnite
For voice actors who previously portrayed Darth Vader in video games, the Fortnite feature starkly illustrates how AI voice synthesis could reshape their profession. While James Earl Jones created the iconic voice for films, at least 54 voice actors have…
Biotech company Regeneron to buy bankrupt 23andMe for $256M
Biotechnology company Regeneron will acquire 23andMe out of bankruptcy for $256 million, with a plan to keep the DNA-testing company running without interruption and uphold its privacy protection promises. In its announcement of the acquisition, Regeneron assured 23andMe’s 15 million…
US and China pause tariffs for 90 days as Trump claims “historic trade win”
The deal announced today “did not address what would happen to low-value ‘de minimis’ ecommerce packages shipped from China to the US,” Reuters wrote. The US imposed 120 percent tariffs on those packages. According to Axios, a White House official…
Trump has “a little problem” with Apple’s plan to ship iPhones from India
Analysts estimate it would cost tens of billions of dollars and take years for Apple to increase iPhone manufacturing in the US, where it at present makes only a very limited number of products. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said…
Meta argues enshittification isn’t real in bid to toss FTC monopoly case
Further, Meta argued that the FTC did not show evidence that users sharing friends-and-family content were shown more ads. Meta noted that it “does not profit by showing more ads to users who do not click on them,” so it…
Spotify caught hosting hundreds of fake podcasts that advertise selling drugs
This week, Spotify rushed to remove hundreds of obviously fake podcasts found to be marketing prescription drugs in violation of Spotify’s policies and, likely, federal law. On Thursday, Business Insider (BI) reported that Spotify removed 200 podcasts advertising the sale…
Report: Terrorists seem to be paying X to generate propaganda with Grok
Back in February, Elon Musk skewered the Treasury Department for lacking “basic controls” to stop payments to terrorist organizations, boasting at the Oval Office that “any company” has those controls. Fast-forward three months, and now Musk’s social media platform X…
Telegram bans $35B black markets used to sell stolen data, launder crypto
On Thursday, Telegram announced it had removed two huge black markets estimated to have generated more than $35 billion since 2021 by serving cybercriminals and scammers. Blockchain research firm Elliptic told Reuters that the Chinese-language markets Xinbi Guarantee and Huione…
Meta is making users who opted out of AI training opt out again, watchdog says
Noyb has requested a response from Meta by May 21, but it seems unlikely that Meta will quickly cave in this fight. In a blog post, Meta said that AI training on EU users was critical to building AI tools…
Judge admits nearly being persuaded by AI hallucinations in court filing
Wilner wasn’t fully satisfied with the firm’s response that the two errors were “inadvertently included” in the brief and sought more detail. “I didn’t discover that Plaintiff’s lawyers used AI—and re-submitted the brief with considerably more made-up citations and quotations…
GOP sneaks decade-long AI regulation ban into spending bill
The reconciliation bill primarily focuses on cuts to Medicaid access and increased health care fees for millions of Americans. The AI provision appears as an addition to these broader health care changes, potentially limiting debate on the technology’s policy implications….
FCC threatens EchoStar licenses for spectrum that SpaceX wants to use
“If SpaceX had done a basic search of public filings, it would know that EchoStar extensively utilizes the 2 GHz band and that the Commission itself has confirmed the coverage, utilization, and methodology for assessing the quality of EchoStar’s 5G…
Copyright Office head fired after reporting AI training isn’t always fair use
Copyright Office seemingly opposes Meta’s torrenting Also among those “general observations,” the Copyright Office wrote that “making commercial use of vast troves of copyrighted works to produce expressive content that competes with them in existing markets, especially where this is…
FCC commissioner writes op-ed titled, “It’s time for Trump to DOGE the FCC“
In addition to cutting Universal Service, Simington proposed a broad streamlining of the FCC licensing process. Manual processing of license applications “consumes vast staff hours and introduces unnecessary delay into markets that thrive on speed and innovation,” he wrote. “For…
Apple: “Hundreds of millions to billions” lost without App Store commissions
Many horses, including Spotify and Amazon’s Kindle Store, have already left the barn. But Apple is moving quickly to shut the external payments door opened by last week’s ruling that the company willfully failed to comply with court orders regarding…
Report: DOGE supercharges mass-layoff software, renames it to sound less dystopian
“It is not clear how AutoRIF has been modified or whether AI is involved in the RIF mandate (through AutoRIF or independently),” Kunkler wrote. “However, fears of AI-driven mass-firings of federal workers are not unfounded. Elon Musk and the Trump…
Senate passes “cruel” Republican plan to block Wi-Fi hotspots for schoolkids
Blumenthal pointed out that under a joint resolution of disapproval, the FCC is forbidden to adopt a similar rule in the future. “I have to ask, really? Are schools and teachers crying out to repeal this rule? Really? No, they…
Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky sentenced to 12 years for “unbank yourself” scam
As the case dragged on, Mashinsky and his family appeared unremorseful, victims said, even while facing threats of violence and significant public shaming. Some victims accused Mashinsky of lying to their faces and pushing them to continue depositing funds even…
Industry groups are not happy about the imminent demise of Energy Star
One of Bush’s “points of light” Energy Star was first established under President George H.W. Bush’s administration in 1992, the year of the Earth Summit in Rio, where nations around the world first joined in a framework convention to address…
Trump kills broadband grants, calls digital equity program “racist and illegal”
President Donald Trump said he is killing a broadband grant program that was authorized by Congress, claiming that the Digital Equity Act of 2021 is racist and unconstitutional. “I have spoken with my wonderful Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, and…
Trump just made it much harder to track the nation’s worst weather disasters
The Trump administration’s steep staff cuts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) triggered shutdowns of several climate-related programs Thursday. Perhaps most notably, the NOAA announced it would be shuttering the “billion-dollar weather and climate disasters” database for vague…
DOGE software engineer’s computer infected by info-stealing malware
Login credentials belonging to an employee at both the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Department of Government Efficiency have appeared in multiple public leaks from info-stealer malware, a strong indication that devices belonging to him have been hacked…
Trump tariffs could make Americans pay $123B more annually for 10 common gadgets
“If the US says one thing but does another, or even attempts to use negotiations as a pretext to continue coercive and blackmailing tactics, China will never agree, nor will it sacrifice its principles or international fairness and justice to…
Starlink: Here’s a free satellite dish—if you pay $120 a month instead of $90
There are 15 US states in which Residential Lite is offered: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Hawaii. This territory generally overlaps with the larger territory in…
Jury orders NSO to pay $167 million for hacking WhatsApp users
A jury has awarded WhatsApp $167 million in punitive damages in a case the company brought against Israel-based NSO Group for exploiting a software vulnerability that hijacked the phones of thousands of users. The verdict, reached Tuesday, comes as a…
Trump and DOJ try to spring former county clerk Tina Peters from prison
President Donald Trump is demanding the release of Tina Peters, a former election official who parroted Trump’s 2020 election conspiracy theories and is serving nine years in prison for compromising the security of election equipment. In a post on Truth…
Largest deepfake porn site shuts down forever
The shuttering of Mr. Deepfakes won’t solve the problem of deepfakes, though. In 2022, the number of deepfakes skyrocketed as AI technology made the synthetic NCII appear more realistic than ever, prompting an FBI warning in 2023 to alert the…
After two court losses, DOGE asks Supreme Court for Social Security data access
The Trump administration filed an emergency application on Friday asking the Supreme Court to restore DOGE’s access to Social Security Administration records. A lower-court order that prohibited DOGE’s access is causing “irreparable harm to the executive branch” and thwarting DOGE’s…
First Amendment doesn’t just protect human speech, chatbot maker argues
Although Character Technologies argues that it’s common to update safety practices over time, Garcia’s team alleged these updates show that C.AI could have made a safer product and chose not to. Expert warns against giving AI products rights Character Technologies…
A DOGE recruiter is staffing a project to deploy AI agents across the US government
“We want our government to be something that we can rely on, as opposed to something that is on the absolute bleeding edge,” says Etzioni. “We don’t need it to be bureaucratic and slow, but if corporations haven’t adopted this…
DOGE put a college student in charge of using AI to rewrite regulations
Sweet did not respond to requests for comment regarding his work. In response to a request to clarify Sweet’s role at HUD, a spokesperson for the agency said they do not comment on individual personnel. The University of Chicago confirmed…
“Blatantly unlawful”: Trump slammed for trying to defund PBS, NPR
“CPB is not a federal executive agency subject to the president’s authority,” Harrison said. “Congress directly authorized and funded CPB to be a private nonprofit corporation wholly independent of the federal government,” statutorily forbidding “any department, agency, officer, or employee…
Judge on Meta’s AI training: “I just don’t understand how that can be fair use”
Determined to probe this key question, Chhabria pushed authors’ attorney, David Boies, to point to specific evidence of market harms that seemed noticeably missing from the record. “It seems like you’re asking me to speculate that the market for Sarah…
DOJ confirms it wants to break up Google’s ad business
In the trial, Google will paint this demand as a severe overreach, claiming that few, if any, companies would have the resources to purchase and run the products. Last year, an ad consultant estimated Google’s ad empire could be worth…
Tesla denies trying to replace Elon Musk as CEO
Tensions had been mounting at the company. Sales and profits were deteriorating rapidly. Musk was spending much of his time in Washington. Around that time, Tesla’s board met with Musk for an update. Board members told him he needed to…
Don’t watermark your legal PDFs with purple dragons in suits
Being a model citizen and a person of taste, you probably don’t need this reminder, but some others do: Federal judges do not like it when lawyers electronically watermark every page of their legal PDFs with a gigantic image—purchased for…
Fortnite will return to iOS as court slams Apple’s “interference“ and ”cover-up“
In a statement provided to Ars Technica, an Apple spokesperson said, “We strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court’s order and we will appeal.” An Epic return With the new court order in place, Epic says…
CBS owner Paramount reportedly intends to settle Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit
“[Paramount] Board members are cognizant that a huge settlement could be viewed as something of a payoff to the president to move the Skydance merger over the finish line, knowledgeable sources have said,” the Los Angeles Times wrote. Carr reportedly said…
Montana’s Republican legislators fight back after successful youth climate lawsuit
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy, and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. In the wake of a high-profile court decision that upended the state of Montana’s…
FCC urges courts to ignore 5th Circuit ruling that agency can’t issue fines
“The Fifth Circuit concluded that the FCC’s enforcement proceeding leading to a monetary forfeiture order violated AT&T’s Seventh Amendment rights. This Court shouldn’t follow that decision,” the FCC told the 2nd Circuit last week. FCC loss has wide implications Carr’s…
DOGE could help Musk firms avoid $2.3B in government penalties, Democrats say
Elon Musk’s companies could avoid over $2.3 billion in potential fines and other liabilities thanks to Musk’s unusual government position as the head of DOGE, said a memo yesterday from the Democratic staff of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations….
Trump’s hasty Take It Down Act has “gaping flaws” that threaten encryption
While the tech law is expected to achieve the rare feat of getting through Congress at what experts told Ars was a record pace, both supporters and critics also expect that the law will just as promptly be challenged in…
Trump is “desperate” to make a deal—China isn’t, analysts say
Donald Trump has started signaling that he’s ready to slash tariffs on Chinese imports, but economists have warned that the US softening its stance now likely cedes power to China, which perhaps benefits from dragging out trade talks. On Tuesday,…
New Android spyware is targeting Russian military personnel on the front lines
Russian military personnel are being targeted with recently discovered Android malware that steals their contacts and tracks their location. The malware is hidden inside a modified app for Alpine Quest mapping software, which is used by, among others, hunters, athletes,…
Report: TP-Link’s low router prices probed in criminal antitrust investigation
The report of a criminal antitrust investigation follows a report in December that US authorities were investigating whether to ban TP-Link wireless routers, which were targeted in high-profile attacks linked to the Chinese government. TP-Link was founded in China in…
Thermal imaging shows xAI lied about supercomputer pollution, group says
xAI’s submission claimed that each of the 15 turbines “is equipped with Solar’s Dry Low Emission (DLE)/SoLoNOx control technology” and other systems to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds. For those reasons, xAI expects to…
FBI offers $10 million for information about Salt Typhoon members
The FBI is offering $10 million for information about the China-state hacking group tracked as Salt Typhoon and its intrusion last year into sensitive networks belonging to multiple US telecommunications companies. Salt Typhoon is one of a half-dozen or more…
Mike Lindell’s lawyers used AI to write brief—judge finds nearly 30 mistakes
A lawyer representing MyPillow and its CEO Mike Lindell in a defamation case admitted using artificial intelligence in a brief that has nearly 30 defective citations, including misquotes and citations to fictional cases, a federal judge said. “[T]he Court identified…
Trump orders Ed Dept to make AI a national priority while plotting agency’s death
Trump pushes for industry involvement It seems clear that Trump’s executive order was a reaction to China’s announcement about AI education reforms last week, as Reuters reported. Elsewhere, Singapore and Estonia have laid out their AI education initiatives, Forbes reported,…
Comcast president bemoans broadband customer losses: “We are not winning”
Comcast executives apparently realized something that customers have known and complained about for years: The Internet provider’s prices aren’t transparent enough and rise too frequently. This might not have mattered much to cable executives as long as the total number…
AI secretly helped write California bar exam, sparking uproar
On Monday, the State Bar of California revealed that it used AI to develop a portion of multiple-choice questions on its February 2025 bar exam, causing outrage among law school faculty and test takers. The admission comes after weeks of…
FCC Democrat slams chairman for aiding Trump’s “campaign of censorship”
The first event is scheduled for Thursday and will be hosted by the Center for Democracy and Technology. The events will be open to the public and livestreamed when possible, and feature various speakers on free speech, media, and telecommunications…
Harvard sues to block government funding cuts
The suit also claims that the funding hold, made in retaliation for Harvard’s letter announcing its refusal to accept these conditions, punishes Harvard for exercising free speech. Separately, the lawsuit focuses on Title VI, part of the Civil Rights Act,…
Taxes and fees not included: T-Mobile’s latest price lock is nearly meaningless
Besides the five-year price guarantee, there’s at least one more notable pricing detail. T-Mobile’s previous plans had “taxes and fees included,” meaning the advertised price was inclusive of taxes and fees. With the new Experience plans, taxes and fees will…
Trump can’t keep China from getting AI chips, TSMC suggests
“Despite TSMC’s best efforts to comply with all relevant export control and sanctions laws and regulations, there is no assurance that its business activities will not be found incompliant with export control laws and regulations,” TSMC said. Further, “if TSMC…
White House plagued by Signal controversy as Pentagon in “full-blown meltdown”
“Given that, it’s hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer,” Ullyot forecasted. According to NPR—which has been the target of Trump threats to rescind funding—four of Hegseth’s senior advisors abruptly quit after The…
Trump threatens to spike chipmakers’ costs by billions as China mulls exemptions
However, it is clear that these groups are sharing their concerns with lawmakers. Last week, SEMI, a global industry group, was holding talks in Washington, DC, with chipmakers and lawmakers, in a blog noting they were advocating “for policy changes…
Government IT whistleblower calls out DOGE, says he was threatened at home
NLRB denies breach Berulis’ disclosure said that several days before receiving this threat, he had been instructed to drop his investigation and not report his concerns to US security officials. Bakaj’s letter to senators and the Office of Special Counsel…
14 reasons why Trump’s tariffs won’t bring manufacturing back
The tariffs have frozen business activity because no one wants to take a big risk dependent on a policy that may change next week. Even further, the tariffs are confusing, poorly communicated, and complex. Today, if you want to import…
Google loses ad tech monopoly trial, faces additional breakups
Ultimately, Brinkema found that Google’s anticompetitive acts substantially harmed “Google’s publisher customers, the competitive process, and, ultimately, consumers of information on the open web.” For Google, the ruling likely hits hard, despite a couple of notable wins. For one, Brinkema…
Chris Krebs, who debunked 2020 election lies, vows full-time fight against Trump
SentinelOne updated that post yesterday with copies of the email sent by Krebs and an email from Weingarten to staff. Weingarten’s email praised Krebs’ work “in service of democratic institutions and critical infrastructure.” “I know he’ll take on this next…
Trump’s tariffs trigger price hikes at large online retailers
It’s unclear how high prices on Temu and Shein could go, but neither company is willing to wait before overhauling their price models. In Shein’s announcement, the fashion retailer only explained that it “will be making price adjustments starting April…
At monopoly trial, Zuckerberg redefined social media as texting with friends
If Meta can convince the court that the FTC’s market definition is wrong and that TikTok is Meta’s biggest rival, then Meta’s market share drops below monopolist standards, “undercutting” the FTC’s case, Big Tech on Trial reported. But are Facebook…
Trump’s FCC chair threatens Comcast, demands changes to NBC news coverage
Victor Martinez-Hernandez was convicted of killing Rachel Morin earlier this week. The White House has attempted to link this murder to Abrego Garcia’s deportation, but they are entirely separate cases. Carr’s fight against media Carr’s post yesterday, combined with his…
Disgruntled users roast X for killing Support account
After X (formerly Twitter) announced it would be killing its “Support” account, disgruntled users quickly roasted the social media platform for providing “essentially non-existent” support. “We’ll soon be closing this account to streamline how users can contact us for help,”…
AP: Trump admin to kill IRS free tax-filing service that Intuit lobbied against
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) criticized Intuit’s lobbying against Direct File and told the AP that Trump and Musk “are going after Direct File because it stops giant tax prep companies from ripping taxpayers off for services that should be free….
ISPs and robocallers love the FCC plan to “delete” as many rules as possible
Securus also wants the FCC to lift a ban on “ancillary” charges that drive up the prices paid by prisoners and their families. Carr generally supported that 2024 order but expressed some concerns about the rate structure chosen by the…
White House calls NPR and PBS a “grift,” will ask Congress to rescind funding
We also contacted the CPB and NPR today and will update this article if they provide any comments. Markey: “Outrageous and reckless… cultural sabotage” Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) blasted the Trump plan, calling it “an outrageous and reckless attack on…
After Harvard says no to feds, $2.2 billion of research funding put on hold
The Trump administration has been using federal research funding as a cudgel. The government has blocked billions of dollars in research funds and threatened to put a hold on even more in order to compel universities to adopt what it…
Zuckerberg’s 2012 email dubbed “smoking gun” at Meta monopoly trial
Still, for Meta, the stakes are high, as the FTC could pursue a breakup of the company, including requiring Meta to spin off WhatsApp and Instagram. Losing Instagram would hit Meta’s revenue hard, as Instagram is supposed to bring in…
DOGE gearing up for hackathon at IRS, wants easier access to taxpayer data
DOGE has already slashed and burned modernization projects at other agencies, replacing them with smaller teams and tighter timelines. At the Social Security Administration, DOGE representatives are planning to move all of the agency’s data off of legacy programming languages…
Can an employment lawyer review my job contract?
employment lawyer review my job contract If you’re starting a new job or have recently received a new employment contract, you may wonder if an employment lawyer can help you review it. The answer is yes—an employment lawyer is well-equipped…
Meta secretly helped China advance AI, ex-Facebooker will tell Congress
Later today, a former Facebook employee, Sarah Wynn-Williams, will testify to Congress that Meta executives “repeatedly” sought to “undermine US national security and betray American values” in “secret” efforts to “win favor with Beijing and build an $18 billion dollar…
After market tumult, Trump exempts smartphones from massive new tariffs
Shares in the US tech giant were one of Wall Street’s biggest casualties in the days immediately after Trump announced his reciprocal tariffs. About $700 billion was wiped off Apple’s market value in the space of a few days. Earlier…
Elon Musk wants to be “AGI dictator,” OpenAI tells court
OpenAI also alleges that this is when Musk began intensifying his attacks on OpenAI while attempting to poach its top talent and demanding access to OpenAI’s confidential, sensitive information as a former donor and director—”without ever disclosing he was building…
FTC now has three Republicans and no Democrats instead of the typical 3-2 split
After declaring the FTC to be under White House control, Trump fired both Democratic members despite a US law and Supreme Court precedent stating that the president cannot fire commissioners without good cause. House Commerce Committee leaders said the all-Republican…
Apple silent as Trump promises “impossible” US-made iPhones
During Trump’s last term, Cook raised a successful “charm offensive” that secured tariff exemptions without caving to Trump’s demand to build iPhones in the US, CNBC reported, and he’s likely betting that Apple’s recent $500 billion commitment will lead to…
Amazon’s Chinese sellers to raise prices or quit US market as tariffs hit 145%
Jassy said Amazon is “doing everything we can to try and keep prices the way they’ve been for customers, as low as possible.” Amazon has already “done some strategic forward inventory buys to get as many items as make sense…
Google takes advantage of federal cost-cutting with steep Workspace discount
Google has long been on the lookout for ways to break Microsoft’s stranglehold on US government office software, and the current drive to cut costs may be it. Google and the federal government have announced an agreement that makes Google…
Trump boosts China tariffs to 125%, pauses tariff hikes on other countries
On Wednesday, Donald Trump, once again, took to Truth Social to abruptly shift US trade policy, announcing a 90-day pause “substantially” lowering reciprocal tariffs against all countries except China to 10 percent. Because China retaliated—raising tariffs on US imports to…
Take It Down Act nears passage; critics warn Trump could use it against enemies
Free speech concerns The Electronic Frontier Foundation has been speaking out against the bill, saying “it could be easily manipulated to take down lawful content that powerful people simply don’t like.” The EFF pointed to Trump’s comments in an address…
Victory for DOGE as appeals court reinstates access to personal data
A US appeals court ruled yesterday that DOGE can access personal data held by the US Department of Education and Office of Personnel Management (OPM), overturning an order issued by a lower-court judge. The US government has “met its burden…
Twitch makes deal to escape Elon Musk suit alleging X ad boycott conspiracy
Instead, it appears that X decided to sue Twitch after discovering that Twitch was among advertisers who directly referenced the WFA’s brand safety guidelines in its own community guidelines and terms of service. X likely saw this as evidence that…
White House figures out how it texted secret bombing plans to a reporter
We contacted the White House today and will update this article if it provides any comment. Waltz: “It said one person and then a different phone number” Waltz recently told Fox News, “I’m sure everybody out there has had a…
Trump gives China one day to end retaliations or face extra 50% tariffs
Last week, Politico reported that some top Republicans are pushing to reassert Congress’ power over tariffs as the trade war escalates. They’ve introduced a bill that would force Trump to give Congress 48 hours’ notice before imposing tariffs and to…
Big brands are spending small sums on X to stay out of Musk’s crosshairs
According to data from Emarketer, X’s revenue will increase to $2.3 billion this year compared with $1.9 billion a year ago. However, global sales in 2022, when the group was known as Twitter and taken over by Musk, were $4.1…
Even Trump may not be able to save Elon Musk from his old tweets
A loss in the investors’ and SEC’s suits could force Musk to disgorge any ill-gotten gains from the alleged scheme, estimated at $150 million, as well as potential civil penalties. The SEC and Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) did not respond…
DOGE staffer’s YouTube nickname accidentally revealed his teen hacking activity
A SpaceX and X engineer, Christopher Stanley—currently serving as a senior advisor in the Deputy Attorney General’s office at the Department of Justice (DOJ)—was reportedly caught bragging about hacking and distributing pirated e-books, bootleg software, and game cheats. The boasts…
NJ teen wins fight to put nudify app users in prison, impose fines up to $30K
On LinkedIn, her mother, Dorota Mani—who has been working with the governor’s office on a commission to protect kids from online harms—thanked lawmakers like Murphy and former New Jersey Assemblyman Herb Conaway, who sponsored the law, for “standing with us.”…
Judge calls out OpenAI’s “straw man” argument in New York Times copyright suit
“Taken as true, these facts give rise to a plausible inference that defendants at a minimum had reason to investigate and uncover end-user infringement,” Stein wrote. To Stein, the fact that OpenAI maintains an “ongoing relationship” with users by providing…
EU may “make an example of X” by issuing $1 billion fine to Musk’s social network
European Union regulators are preparing major penalties against X, including a fine that could exceed $1 billion, according to a New York Times report yesterday. The European Commission determined last year that Elon Musk’s social network violated the Digital Services…
Most Americans think AI won’t improve their lives, survey says
The expert sample is not representative of the AI field, as Bender points out to Ars that AI is not a “thing” or even “a coherent set of technologies,” and an expert in one area doesn’t necessarily understand other areas….
Critics suspect Trump’s weird tariff math came from chatbots
Rumors claim Trump consulted chatbots On social media, rumors swirled that the Trump administration got these supposedly fake numbers from chatbots. On Bluesky, tech entrepreneur Amy Hoy joined others posting screenshots from ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Grok, each showing that…
Not just Signal: Michael Waltz reportedly used Gmail for government messages
National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and a senior aide used personal Gmail accounts for government communications, according to a Washington Post report published yesterday. Waltz has been at the center of controversy for weeks because he inadvertently invited The Atlantic…
Vast pedophile network shut down in Europol’s largest CSAM operation
Europol has shut down one of the largest dark web pedophile networks in the world, prompting dozens of arrests worldwide and threatening that more are to follow. Launched in 2021, KidFlix allowed users to join for free to preview low-quality…
“Chaos” at state health agencies after US illegally axed grants, lawsuit says
Nearly half of US states sued the federal government and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. today in a bid to halt the termination of $11 billion in public health grants. The lawsuit was filed by…
FTC: 23andMe buyer must honor firm’s privacy promises for genetic data
Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson said he’s keeping an eye on 23andMe’s bankruptcy proceeding and the company’s planned sale because of privacy concerns related to genetic testing data. 23andMe and its future owner must uphold the company’s privacy promises,…
DOGE accesses federal payroll system and punishes employees who objected
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has gained access “to a payroll system that processes salaries for about 276,000 federal employees across dozens of agencies,” despite “objections from senior IT staff who feared it could compromise highly sensitive government…
France fines Apple €150M for “excessive” pop-ups that let users reject tracking
A typical ATT pop-up asks a user whether to allow an app “to track your activity across other companies’ apps and websites,” and says that “your data will be used to deliver personalized ads to you.” Agency: “Double consent” too…
FBI raids home of prominent computer scientist who has gone incommunicado
A prominent computer scientist who has spent 20 years publishing academic papers on cryptography, privacy, and cybersecurity has gone incommunicado, had his professor profile, email account, and phone number removed by his employer, Indiana University, and had his homes raided…
TSMC’s $100 billion pledge won’t resurrect US chipmaking, says Intel’s ex-CEO
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s pledge to spend an extra $100 billion on advanced manufacturing plants in the US will do little to help the country restore its global lead in chipmaking, according to Pat Gelsinger, who was forced out as…
Ex-FCC chairs from both parties say CBS news distortion investigation is bogus
The Federal Communications Commission’s news distortion investigation into CBS drew a public rebuke from a bipartisan group of five former FCC commissioners, including two former chairmen. The group criticizing current Chairman Brendan Carr includes Republican Alfred Sikes, the FCC chair…
What could possibly go wrong? DOGE to rapidly rebuild Social Security codebase.
Like many legacy government IT systems, SSA systems contain code written in COBOL, a programming language created in part in the 1950s by computing pioneer Grace Hopper. The Defense Department essentially pressured private industry to use COBOL soon after its…
Elon Musk’s X has a new owner—Elon Musk’s xAI
Elon Musk today said he has merged X and xAI in a deal that values the social network formerly known as Twitter at $33 billion. Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion in 2022. xAI acquired X “in an all-stock transaction….
EU will go easy with Apple, Facebook punishment to avoid Trump’s wrath
The EU is set to impose minimal fines on Apple and Facebook-owner Meta next week under its Digital Markets Act, as Brussels seeks to avoid escalating tensions with US President Donald Trump. According to people familiar with the decisions, the…
Trump can’t fire us, FTC Democrats tell court after being ejected from office
Two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission who were fired by President Trump sued him today, saying their removals are “in direct violation of a century of federal law and Supreme Court precedent.” “Plaintiffs bring this action to vindicate…
Elon Musk and Trump win fight to keep DOGE’s work secret
Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) don’t have to turn over information related to their government cost-cutting operations, at least for now, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday. A federal judge previously ruled that 14 states suing…
The Atlantic publishes texts showing Trump admin sent bombing plan to reporter
White House didn’t want texts released Prior to running its follow-up article, The Atlantic asked Trump administration officials if they objected to publishing the full texts. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt emailed a response: As we have repeatedly stated,…
Anti-diversity lawsuits likely to hurt the scientific community, say scholars
The Scholars Program has provided funding for around 3,500 students to support their studies in scientific fields. With these lawsuits, “there are students who are currently enrolled, students who will be enrolled, who see themselves being attacked,” said Matt Hartings,…
FBI probes arson of Tesla cars and facilities, says “this is domestic terrorism”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation yesterday launched a task force “to try to nail the criminals setting fire to Tesla vehicles and charging stations,” and is looking into an anarchist blog that has been “calling for more” attacks, The New…
Apple barred from Google antitrust trial, putting $20 billion search deal on the line
Apple has suffered a blow in its efforts to salvage its lucrative search placement deal with Google. A new ruling from the DC Circuit Court of Appeals affirms that Apple cannot participate in Google’s upcoming antitrust hearing, which could leave…
Trump administration accidentally texted secret bombing plans to a reporter
Using Signal in this way may have violated US law, Goldberg wrote. “Conceivably, Waltz, by coordinating a national-security-related action over Signal, may have violated several provisions of the Espionage Act, which governs the handling of ‘national defense’ information, according to…
Mom horrified by Character.AI chatbots posing as son who died by suicide
Moutier told Ars that chatbots encouraging suicidal ideation don’t just present risks for people with acute issues. They could put people with no perceived mental health issues at risk, and warning signs can be hard to detect. For parents, more…
Cybertrucks’ faulty trim prompts biggest recall yet, stokes Tesla investor panic
Every Tesla Cybertruck ever sold is being recalled so Tesla can fix an exterior panel that could potentially come unglued and detach while driving. If the “panel separates from the vehicle while in drive, it could create a road hazard…
Trump administration’s blockchain plan for USAID is a real head-scratcher
Giulio Coppi, a senior humanitarian officer at the nonprofit Access Now who has researched the use of blockchain in humanitarian work, says that blockchain technologies, while sometimes effective, offer no obvious advantages over other tools organizations could use, such as…
Judge orders Musk and DOGE to delete personal data taken from Social Security
The lawsuit was filed by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; the Alliance for Retired Americans; and American Federation of Teachers. “Never before has a group of unelected, unappointed, and unvetted individuals—contradictorily described as White House employees,…
Italy demands Google poison DNS under strict Piracy Shield law
Spotted by TorrentFreak, AGCOM Commissioner Massimiliano Capitanio took to LinkedIn to celebrate the ruling, as well as the existence of the Italian Piracy Shield. “The Judge confirmed the value of AGCOM’s investigations, once again giving legitimacy to a system for…
California bill would force ISPs to offer 100Mbps plans for $15 a month
Several states consider price requirements While the California proposal will face opposition from ISPs and is not guaranteed to become law, the amended bill has higher speed requirements for the $15 plan than the existing New York law that inspired…
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr starts granting telecom lobby’s wish list
In July 2024, AT&T became the first carrier to apply for a technology transition discontinuance “under the Adequate Replacement Test relying on the applicant’s own replacement service,” the order said. “AT&T indicated in this application that it was relying on…
After “glitter bomb,” cops arrested former cop who criticized current cops online
The police claimed that “the fraudulent Facebook pages posted comments on Village of Orland Park social media sites while also soliciting friend requests from Orland Park Police employees and other citizens, portraying the likeness of Deputy Chief of Police Brian…
How Jeff Bezos made peace with Donald Trump
But the Post has struggled to hold on to the commercial success it had reached during the first Trump administration, falling far behind its biggest competitor, The New York Times. Its audience has shrunk and financial losses have ballooned. “He’s…
Can I sign a non-compete agreement in Toronto?
sign a non-compete agreement in Toronto A non-compete agreement in Toronto is a legal contract that restricts an employee or business partner from working for a competitor or starting a competing business for a certain period and within a specific…
Dad demands OpenAI delete ChatGPT’s false claim that he murdered his kids
Currently, ChatGPT does not repeat these horrible false claims about Holmen in outputs. A more recent update apparently fixed the issue, as “ChatGPT now also searches the Internet for information about people, when it is asked who they are,” Noyb…
Judge disses Star Trek icon Data’s poetry while ruling AI can’t author works
But Millett pushed back, writing that “statutory construction requires more than just finding a sympathetic dictionary definition.” “The text of multiple provisions of the statute indicates that authors must be humans, not machines,” the judge said, pointing to numerous examples….
Furious at the FCC, Arkansas jail cancels inmate phone calls rather than lower rates
If “the Federal Communications Commission reverses their adverse regulations,” Montgomery said, “the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office will revisit the feasibility of reimplementing the inmate phone system.” One might expect this view to generate some sympathy in the MAGA-fied halls of…
DOGE cuts to USDA may open door to invasive species, higher food prices
Two federal judges and an independent agency that assesses government personnel decisions have already ordered that fired USDA employees be reinstated. Earlier this week, the USDA said that it was pausing the terminations for 45 days and would “develop a…
Trump plan to fund Musk’s Starlink over fiber called “betrayal” of rural US
“Some states are on the 1-yard line” Republicans criticized the Biden administration for not yet distributing grant money, but the NTIA said in November that it had approved initial funding plans submitted by every state and territory. Feinman said the…
Alphabet spins off laser-based Internet backbone provider Taara
Krishnaswamy, Taara’s general manager, says the next stage of development is a tiny silicon photonic chip that will obviate the need for many of the terminals’ mirrors and lenses and allow multiple connections from one transmitter. The light-based chip units…
Meta mocked for raising “Bob Dylan defense” of torrenting in AI copyright fight
The authors, however, think that torrenting pirated works is so notoriously illegal that they now have an “open-and-shut case” of copyright infringement. “Meta’s reproduction of Plaintiffs’ Copyrighted Books without permission, including through peer-to-peer file sharing, is not fair use,” the…
OpenAI declares AI race “over” if training on copyrighted works isn’t fair use
OpenAI is hoping that Donald Trump’s AI Action Plan, due out this July, will settle copyright debates by declaring AI training fair use—paving the way for AI companies’ unfettered access to training data that OpenAI claims is critical to defeat…
Scoop: Origami measuring spoon incites fury after 9 years of Kickstarter delay hell
An attention-grabbing Kickstarter campaign attempting to reinvent the measuring spoon has turned into a mad, mad, mad, mad world for backers after years of broken promises and thousands of missing spoons. The mind-boggling design for the measuring spoon first wowed…
Google joins OpenAI in pushing feds to codify AI training as fair use
Google’s position on AI regulation: Trust us, bro If there was any doubt about Google’s commitment to move fast and break things, its new policy position should put that to rest. “For too long, AI policymaking has paid disproportionate attention…
The same day Trump bought a Tesla, automaker moved to disrupt trade war
Elon Musk’s Tesla is waving a red flag, warning that Donald Trump’s trade war risks dooming US electric vehicle makers, triggering job losses, and hurting the economy. In an unsigned letter to the US Trade Representative (USTR), Tesla cautioned that…
New Reddit controls let you block your most-hated advertisers for a year
The spokesperson noted that users can also “report” an ad if they believe it goes against Reddit’s policies. Reporting an ad also results in that advertiser being blocked from pitching to you for a year. Reddit already lets people block…
Meta plans to test and tinker with X’s community notes algorithm
Meta also confirmed that it won’t be reducing visibility of misleading posts with community notes. That’s a change from the prior system, Meta noted, which had penalties associated with fact-checking. According to Meta, X’s algorithm cannot be gamed, supposedly safeguarding…
FTC reverses, says it’s ready for trial on Amazon’s allegedly deceptive sign-ups
Shortly after the Federal Trade Commission moved to push back a trial set to determine if Amazon tricked customers into signing up for Prime subscriptions, the FTC backpedaled to clarify that it is “fully prepared” to stick with the original…
EPA accused of faking criminal investigation to claw back climate funds
Citibank has until March 15 to provide more information on orders to freeze funding. More details on that front were shared today, however, in a court filing in a lawsuit raised by Climate United—one of eight NCIF awardees whose funding…
Telecom tells employees they won’t get bonuses if they don’t follow RTO policy
Adding to the complexity and uncertainty around Vodafone’s newly strict RTO enforcement are claims of there being limited office space for employees. Vodafone is “reducing office space at their offices in Newbury and Paddington, offshoring roles to Málaga, [Spain], Romania,…
X’s globe-trotting defense of ads on Nazi posts violates TOS, Media Matters says
“X conceded that depending on what content a user follows and how long they’ve had their account, they might see advertisements placed next to extremist content,” MMFA alleged. As MMFA sees it, Musk is trying to blame the organization for…
Developer convicted for “kill switch” code activated upon his termination
A 55-year-old software developer faces up to 10 years in prison for deploying malicious code that sabotaged his former employer’s network, allegedly costing hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses. The US Department of Justice announced Friday that Davis Lu…
What the EPA’s “endangerment finding” is and why it’s being challenged
A document that was first issued in 2009 would seem an unlikely candidate for making news in 2025. Yet the past few weeks have seen a steady stream of articles about an analysis first issued by the Environmental Protection Agency…
DOJ: Google must sell Chrome, Android could be next
Unsurprisingly, Google’s remedy position is light-years away from the Justice Department’s. “DOJ’s sweeping proposals continue to go miles beyond the Court’s decision and would harm America’s consumers, economy, and national security,” said a Google spokesperson. As expected, Google did not…
Elon Musk loses initial attempt to block OpenAI’s for-profit conversion
Rogers found that because “the threshold question of whether a charitable trust was created remains a toss-up, Musk has not demonstrated likelihood of success on the merits sufficient to obtain an injunction.” Trial expedited to fall 2025 Musk’s lawsuit also…
Crypto fans underwhelmed by “symbolic” Trump order creating US bitcoin reserve
Ahead of the first-ever White House Crypto Summit Friday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a strategic bitcoin reserve that a factsheet claimed delivers on his promise to make America the “crypto capital of the world.” Trump’s order…
Music labels will regret coming for the Internet Archive, sound historian says
But David Seubert, who manages sound collections at the University of California, Santa Barbara library, told Ars that he frequently used the project as an archive and not just to listen to the recordings. For Seubert, the videos that IA…
Feds arrest man for sharing DVD rip of Spider-Man movie with millions online
A 37-year-old Tennessee man was arrested Thursday, accused of stealing Blu-rays and DVDs from a manufacturing and distribution company used by major movie studios and sharing them online before the movies’ scheduled release dates. According to a US Department of…
Trump claims CFPB “destroys” people. Senators say killing it is a gift to Musk.
“If Mr. Musk has taken actions in his federal role that will benefit his financial interests without receiving appropriate waivers and approvals, he may have violated the criminal conflict of interest statute,” the senators alleged. That ethics law, they said,…
Starlink benefits as Trump admin rewrites rules for $42B grant program
Don’t be “technology-blind,” broadband group says The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society criticized what it called “Trump’s BEAD meddling,” saying it would “leave millions of Americans with broadband that is slower, less reliable, and more expensive.” The shift to…
China aims to recruit top US scientists as Trump tries to kill the CHIPS Act
On Tuesday, Donald Trump finally made it clear to Congress that he wants to kill the CHIPS and Science Act—a $280 billion bipartisan law Joe Biden signed in 2022 to bring more semiconductor manufacturing into the US and put the…
Google tells Trump’s DOJ that forcing a Chrome sale would harm national security
The government’s 2024 request also sought to have Google’s investment in AI firms curtailed even though this isn’t directly related to search. If, like Google, you believe leadership in AI is important to the future of the world, limiting its…
Trump’s 25% tariffs take effect; Canadian PM calls it “a very dumb thing”
President Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico took effect today, and the White House increased a tariff on China from 10 to 20 percent in an executive order. Canada, Mexico, and China announced retaliatory moves, and stock markets…
Apple refuses to break encryption, seeks reversal of UK demand for backdoor
Although it wasn’t previously reported, Apple’s appeal was filed last month at about the time it withdrew ADP from the UK, the Financial Times wrote today. Snoopers’ Charter Backdoors demanded by governments have alarmed security and privacy advocates, who say…
“It’s not actually you”: Teens cope while adults debate harms of fake nudes
Thorn also recommends more research into how young people use blocking and reporting to combat threats online. Stroebel told Ars that she wants to better understand why kids choose to block versus report in certain circumstances. She’s worried that kids…
TSMC to invest $100B as Trump demands more US-made chips, report says
Currently, TSMC only builds its most advanced chips in Taiwan. But when the most advanced US fabs are operational, they’ll be prepared to manufacture “tens of millions of leading-edge chips” to “power products like 5G/6G smartphones, autonomous vehicles, and AI…
EV battery manufacturing capacity will rise when 10 plants come online this year
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy, and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. Ten new electric vehicle battery factories are on track to go online this year…
Europol arrests 25 users of online network accused of sharing AI CSAM
In South Korea, where AI-generated deepfake porn has been criminalized, an “emergency” was declared and hundreds were arrested, mostly teens. But most countries don’t yet have clear laws banning AI sex images of minors, and Europol cited this fact as…
Firefox deletes promise to never sell personal data, asks users not to panic
Update at 10:20 pm ET: Mozilla has since announced a change to the license language to address user complaints. It now says, “You give Mozilla the rights necessary to operate Firefox. This includes processing your data as we describe in…
Commercials are still too loud, say “thousands” of recent FCC complaints
Streaming ads could get muzzled, too As you may have noticed—either through the text of this article or your own ears—The Calm Act doesn’t apply to streaming services. And because The Calm Act doesn’t affect commercials viewed on the Internet,…
Elon Musk fans truly believe he can make Dogecoin the currency of Earth
“It’s hard to go higher than being this kind of a second-in-charge or second-in-popularity to Trump,” Zelinsky said. On Reddit and X, Zelinsky analyzed messages from Musk followers who truly believed that Dogecoin price hikes are Musk’s “gift” propelling Dogecoin…
Trump should block Biden’s AI “gift” to China, Microsoft argues
“Countries including Brazil, India, Israel, and the UAE are eminently capable of ramping up investments aimed at securing new ways to access increased computing capacity,” the Brookings Institute said. “Preventing companies in middle-tier countries from relying on the US to…
Bitcoin plunges as crypto fans didn’t get everything they wanted from Trump
The price of bitcoin hit a record high of $109,114.88 during intraday trading on January 20, the day of President Trump’s inauguration, but has plummeted since and went as low as $83,741.94 during today’s trading. That’s a 23.3 percent drop…
Automattic’s “nuclear war” over WordPress access sparks potential class action
WordPress software, Keller’s complaint explained, “has long been promised to be free and available to everyone forever.” This promise propelled WordPress’ popularity to, by its own estimates, “encompass more than 40 percent of all websites in the world,” his complaint…
Chegg sues Google, explores sale after AI search summaries hit revenues
Chegg is suing Google parent Alphabet over claims the search engine’s artificial intelligence summary tool has hit its revenues, leading the US-listed educational technology group to weigh up a sale of the business. California-based Chegg, which provides study tools for…
Supreme Court rejects ISPs again in latest bid to kill NY’s $15 broadband law
“To broadband ISPs and their friends complaining about the New York law and proposed Massachusetts laws mandating a low-income broadband service offering: you asked for complete deregulation at the federal level and you got it. This is the consequence,” Gigi…
Apple promises $500 billion in US investment in wake of tariff threats
On Monday, Apple announced plans to invest more than $500 billion in the US over the next four years. This is the “largest-ever” spending commitment that Apple has made in the US, supporting “a wide range of initiatives” focused on…
Judge: US gov’t violated privacy law by disclosing personal data to DOGE
“The plaintiffs have made a clear showing that they are likely to suffer irreparable harm without injunctive relief,” the order said. “DOGE affiliates have been granted access to systems of record that contain some of the plaintiffs’ most sensitive data—Social…
ISPs fear wave of state laws after New York’s $15 broadband mandate
More state bills are expected Morrow told Ars he is concerned about his bill facing opposition from Internet providers, though he noted Comcast already offers a low-cost plan in Vermont that “just needs to be advertised better.” Morrow said he…
Can lawyer harassment at work occur in law firms?
lawyer harassment Lawyer harassment at work can certainly occur in law firms, despite the expectations of professionalism and ethics that are associated with the legal field. Law firms, like any other workplace, are not immune to harassment, and the behavior…
In war against DEI in science, researchers see collateral damage
In the 1990s, Lane, as NSF director, ushered in the requirement that, in addition to intellectual merit, reviewers should consider a grant proposal’s “broader impacts.” In general, he said, the aim was to encourage science that would benefit society. The…
SEC’s “scorched-earth” lawsuit against Coinbase to be dropped, company says
On Friday, a Coinbase executive declared the “war against crypto” over—”at least as it applies to Coinbase.” According to Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) plans to drop its lawsuit against the largest…
Apple pulls end-to-end encryption in UK, spurning backdoors for gov’t spying
“We are gravely disappointed that the protections provided by ADP will not be available to our customers in the UK given the continuing rise of data breaches and other threats to customer privacy,” Apple said. “Enhancing the security of cloud…
Elon Musk to “fix” Community Notes after they contradict Trump
Elon Musk apparently no longer believes that crowdsourcing fact-checking through Community Notes can never be manipulated and is, thus, the best way to correct bad posts on his social media platform X. Community Notes are supposed to be added to…
Under new bill, Bigfoot could become California’s “official cryptid”
You might suspect that a one-line bill about Bigfoot that bears the number “666” is a joke, but AB-666 is apparently a serious offering from California Assemblymember Chris Rogers. Rogers represents a California district known for its Bigfoot sightings (or…
ISP sued by record labels agrees to identify 100 users accused of piracy
Cable company Altice agreed to give Warner and other record labels the names and contact information of 100 broadband subscribers who were accused of pirating songs. The subscribers “were the subject of RIAA or third party copyright notices,” said a…
FTC investigates “tech censorship,” says it’s un-American and may be illegal
The Federal Trade Commission today announced a public inquiry into alleged censorship online, saying it wants “to better understand how technology platforms deny or degrade users’ access to services based on the content of their speech or affiliations, and how…
AI making up cases can get lawyers fired, scandalized law firm warns
“As all lawyers know (or should know), it has been documented that AI sometimes invents case law, complete with fabricated citations, holdings, and even direct quotes,” his letter said. “As we previously instructed you, if you use AI to identify…
Trump order declares independent US agencies aren’t independent anymore
The White House fact sheet said the goal of this provision is to ensure that the president and attorney general “interpret the law for the executive branch, instead of having separate agencies adopt conflicting interpretations.” John Bergmayer, legal director of…
OpenAI board considers special voting powers to prevent Elon Musk takeover
Poison pill another option OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit in 2015 and created an additional “capped profit” entity in 2019. Any profit beyond the cap is returned to the nonprofit, OpenAI says. That would change with OpenAI’s planned shift…
Acer CEO says its PC prices to increase by 10 percent in response to Trump tariffs
PC-manufacturer Acer has said that it plans to raise the prices of its PCs in the US by 10 percent, a direct response to the new 10 percent import tariff on Chinese goods that the Trump administration announced earlier this…
Despite court orders, climate and energy programs stalled by Trump freeze
“The executive does not have the authority to change policies simply because they don’t like them,” Blanchard said at a virtual briefing for reporters on Friday. “Congress makes the law, not the president and certainly not Elon Musk,” she said,…
CenturyLink nightmares: Users keep asking Ars for help with multi-month outages
Separately, a CenturyLink customer named David Stromberg in Bellevue, Washington, told us that his phone service had been out since September 16. He repeatedly scheduled repair appointments, but the scheduled days went by with no repairs. “Every couple weeks, they…
DOGE’s .gov site lampooned as coders quickly realize it can be edited by anyone
“An official website of the United States government,” reads small text atop the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) website that Elon Musk’s team started populating this week with information on agency cuts. But you apparently don’t have to work in…
Trump has thrown a wrench into a national EV charging program
In December, MDOT issued a new call for proposals for building up to 29 additional highway charging stations, expecting stable federal support. At the time, senior MDOT officials told Inside Climate News they were confident in the program’s security since…
Man offers to buy city dump in last-ditch effort to recover $800M in bitcoins
Howells told The Times that he envisions cleaning up the site and turning it into a park, but the council’s analysis seems to suggest that wouldn’t be a suitable use. Additionally, the council noted that there aren’t viable alternative sites…
No penalties even when deputies share a woman’s nudes after an illegal phone search
Carpenter, for his part, insisted that he was never willing to give the flash drive to Palmer or to show him its contents. He told Olson in his letter that he merely “took a quick look at the flash drive,”…
What you need to know about the T-Mobile Starlink mobile service
A Verizon or AT&T customer can use T-Mobile Starlink by activating a second eSIM on their device. “They will technically be assigned a T-Mobile number, but that’s just to provision the device to access the constellation. And then the second…
Condé Nast, other news orgs say AI firm stole articles, spit out “hallucinations”
Condé Nast and several other media companies sued the AI startup Cohere today, alleging that it engaged in “systematic copyright and trademark infringement” by using news articles to train its large language model. “Without permission or compensation, Cohere uses scraped…
Queer-friendly data on car crash deaths removed from NHTSA website
NHTSA has not directly confirmed if the dataset is being changed to remove this data or if other “minor corrections” were needed. More will be revealed once the dataset comes back online, supposedly within the next few days. Karl Brauer,…
“Largest data breach in US history”: Three more lawsuits try to stop DOGE
All of these plaintiffs had personal data “improperly disclosed to DOGE representatives in a manner completely divorced from the legitimate purposes for which it was maintained and in violation of their privacy rights,” the lawsuit said. The plaintiffs are said…
Verizon beats lawsuit from utility worker who said lead cables made him sick
However, Ranjan found that Tiger lacked standing to bring the lawsuit. It is not clear that Tiger’s symptoms were caused by working with lead-covered cables, and everyone is exposed to lead to some degree, the ruling said. “Given the naturally…