Chase DiFeliciantonio / Politico: California AG Rob Bonta is investigating OpenAI over the July Hugging Face hack; more than a dozen states joined Alabama in its investigation — SAN FRANCISCO — California Attorney General Rob Bonta is investigating OpenAI over the recent hack its programs carried out on their own …
Politico: Sources: the Trump administration is weighing sweeping new tariffs on chips and other products like laptops and consoles, despite warnings from tech companies — The Trump administration is weighing a new round of sweeping tariffs on semiconductors, eight people familiar with discussions told POLITICO …
Chase DiFeliciantonio / Politico: OpenAI says California should amend SB 53 to expand safeguards, including requiring monitoring of frontier models under training, following AI agent hacks — SAN FRANCISCO — OpenAI urged its home state of California on Friday to “strengthen” its landmark AI law following recent autonomous hacks …
Jasper Goodman / Politico: The Clarity Act faces uncertainty after Senate Republicans delayed a vote until after their August recess, pushing it to September, just weeks before midterms — The cryptocurrency industry's top Washington priority has run into a stinging setback in the U.S. Senate.
Politico: Bipartisan House lawmakers introduce the AI Kill Switch Act, which would grant the US DHS authority to shut down or throttle AI models that it deems dangerous — A bipartisan House bill slated to be introduced on Thursday would give the Department of Homeland Security the authority …
Politico: Sources detail AI companies' engagement with US FERC as the energy regulator readies a June proposal to speed up data center connections to regional power grids — “The hyperscalers, when they do come speak to us, they don't speak FERC,” Swett said. “Their complaints about the utilities …
Sophia Cai / Politico: A look at a copy of the AI EO that President Trump was expected to sign on Thursday; the unsigned EO emphasized that government AI reviews would be voluntary — The draft also includes language aimed at bad actors. It directs the attorney general to enforce the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and …
Sophia Cai / Politico: A look at a copy of the AI EO that President Trump was expected to sign on May 21; the unsigned EO emphasized that government AI reviews would be voluntary — The draft also includes language aimed at bad actors. It directs the attorney general to enforce the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and …
Politico: Sources: David Sacks told President Trump that federal reviews of AI models before release would slow down innovation and hurt the US in its AI race with China — But during a conversation with Trump, Sacks told the president that companies were already cooperating, and that having …
Mike Lee / Politico: Hill County, which faced eight new data centers, passed what may be Texas' first county-wide ban on them, for one year; the state trails only VA in data centers — Opposition to data centers is spreading in regions led by both Democrats and Republicans, as politicians try to balance economic development …
Jason Beeferman / Politico: US Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Dave McCormick introduce a bill banning members of the legislative and executive branches from trading on prediction markets — The bill comes two days after a U.S. soldier was arraigned in federal court on charges he used insider knowledge of the military's plans …
John Sakellariadis / Politico: The CIA says it recently used AI to create its first-ever autonomous intelligence report, and plans to build “AI co-workers” into all of its analytic platforms — Ellis revealed that the agency recently used AI to create its first-ever autonomous intelligence report …
Politico: The White House's latest effort to enact legislation that would preempt state AI laws stalls as multiple Democrats dismiss the proposal as a partisan play — The resistance on Capitol Hill raises fresh doubts about whether Congress can pass any national laws for the rapidly advancing technology as states move ahead on their own.
John Sakellariadis / Politico: Sources: DHS clears seven CISA staffers of wrongdoing; the staffers had been accused of misleading CISA's former acting director into taking a polygraph test — Former DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin previously told POLITICO the staffers were under investigation for “misleading” …
Brendan Bordelon / Politico: Despite Anthropic winning a ruling against the DOD in California, it must still convince the DC Circuit Court of Appeals to lift the supply chain risk label — But while Thursday's decision is a win for Anthropic, several lawyers and lobbyists said it will do little to lift the cloud …
Tyler Katzenberger / Politico: Q&A with New Mexico AG Raúl Torrez about the New Mexico and LA social media trials, Big Tech's “Big Tobacco” moment, what it means for Congress, and more — Presented by With help from Aaron Mak — New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez spent his early days …
Politico: The White House releases an AI policy framework, explicitly calling on Congress to preempt state AI laws, create age-gating requirements for AI models, and more — The framework explicitly calls on Congress to preempt any state laws that regulate the way models are developed or that penalize companies …
Carrie Budoff Brown / Politico: Q&A with Ted Sarandos on his visit to Brussels, Netflix's European investments, EU regulation, YouTube, TikTok, WBD, Trump's Susan Rice criticism, AI, and more — Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos arrives in Brussels on Tuesday with a clear message for EU regulators ahead of a looming review …
Nancy Scola / Politico: Leading the Future, a pro-AI PAC backed by Palantir-cofounder Joe Lonsdale, hit pro-regulation Democrat Alex Bores with attack ads over Bores' work for Palantir — NEW YORK CITY — Alex Bores had known for a while that a political operation called Leading the Future, funded …
Jasper Goodman / Politico: Sources: President Trump met with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong on March 3 before publicly admonishing banks over the GENIUS Act, echoing Coinbase's position — President Donald Trump met privately on Tuesday with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong before publicly backing the company's position …
Mickey Djuric / Politico: OpenAI says it will overhaul safety protocols and establish direct contact with Canadian police, after not alerting authorities about the Tumbler Ridge suspect — Following meetings with the governments of Canada and British Columbia this week, OpenAI says it is committed “to help prevent tragedies like this in the future.”
Tyler Katzenberger / Politico: California Governor Gavin Newsom says he will launch a review into whether TikTok is violating state laws by censoring content critical of President Trump — In a separate X post Monday, the governor's press account said Newsom was launching the review after his office “received reports …
John Sakellariadis / Politico: Sources: political appointees at the US CISA blocked Acting Director Madhu Gottumukkala's attempt to oust the agency's Chief Information Officer Robert Costello — The personnel spat began late last Thursday afternoon after Costello was given a so-called management-directed reassignment …
Alfred Ng / Politico: Federal records show ICE has increased its surveillance tech spending to $300M+ under Trump, as the White House lowered privacy guardrails around citizens' data — The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is buying millions of dollars' worth of new surveillance tools at the same …
Politico: Over the past month, the US paused talks on a tech pact with the UK, canceled a South Korea trade meeting, and threatened the EU over Big Tech regulations — “It's telegraphing that we've looked at this deeply, we think there's a problem, we're looking at tools to address it and we're looking …
Tyler Katzenberger / Politico: California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs a law banning excessively loud ads on streaming platforms like Netflix, the first such law in the US, modeled on a 2010 law — “We heard Californians loud and clear, and what's clear is that they don't want commercials at a volume any louder than the level …
Ruth Reader / Politico: Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O'Neill says the Trump administration doesn't support CHAI, an effort by OpenAI, Mayo Clinic, and others to vet AI tools for healthcare — AI is transforming care. Hospitals are adopting high-tech systems to improve diagnoses and recommend treatments, but there's little formal regulation.
Alfred Ng / Politico: A US judge temporarily orders Meta not to respond to DHS subpoenas seeking Instagram users' info after their accounts posted an ICE agent's name — Activists have been posting the names and photos of officers involved in immigration enforcement operations online in efforts to publicly shame officers.
Yasmin Khorram / Politico: Tech executives say the Trump administration's stake in Intel and its intervention into other private businesses have had a chilling effect on decision-making — In one case, a tech executive turned down a dinner invitation to the White House earlier this month — and sent a deputy instead.
Declan Harty / Politico: CFTC nominee Brian Quintenz says the Winklevosses asked Trump to pause his confirmation after he refused to make promises “rectifying” a prior Gemini settlement — “Our complaint raises serious questions and concerns about the culture of the agency that you are about to chair …
Politico: A look at OpenAI's campaign over the past year to turn its for-profit arm into a public benefit corporation, led by a team of Democratic insiders in California — SAN FRANCISCO — Sam Altman, the driving force behind ChatGPT's meteoric rise, is running a team of veteran political operatives …
Aaron Mak / Politico: The AI Action Plan suggests Trump wants to inculcate a “try-first” culture through regulatory sandboxes for AI, which have already popped up in some US states — Among the many, many ambitious ideas baked into his AI Action Plan, President Donald Trump wants to inculcate a “try-first” culture for innovation in the U.S.
Ruth Reader / Politico: After lobbying US Congress to shelve the Senate-passed KOSA bill in 2024, Meta has now made headway in lobbying for an app store age-verification bill — The Facebook founder is lobbying Congress to leave his firm alone — and making headway. — To protect kids online …
Politico: Supporters and skeptics of the TikTok ban in Congress say Trump's US ownership proposal bewilders them, claiming it doesn't comply with the divest-or-ban law — Members of Congress are declaring themselves bewildered by Donald Trump's latest proposal to save TikTok by brokering a joint-ownership deal.
Politico: Although Trump downplayed Elon Musk's Stargate criticism, assuring reporters “they're putting up the money”, key White House sources say they're furious at Musk — “It's clear he has abused the proximity to the president,” said one ally of the president.
Politico: CoinGecko: despite tanking, Trump's memecoin, with a $55B+ market cap, is the 21st most valuable cryptocurrency; some in crypto call the coin a “horrible look” — Trump's memecoin has taken off since debuting late Friday night. Not everyone in crypto is thrilled.
Politico: Congressional leaders seem flummoxed by the growing popularity of Chinese-owned apps Xiaohongshu and Lemon8, an unintended consequence of the TikTok ban — The Chinese apps RedNote and Lemon8 have exploded in popularity as TikTok faces an imminent ban and the Supreme Court upheld the law forcing its sale.
Jasper Goodman / Politico: Leading crypto firms have given at least $10M to the Trump inaugural fund; Ripple, a major target of SEC enforcement action, donated $5M in digital tokens — Crypto executives and their lobbyists are scrambling to gain sway over the incoming administration.
Mohar Chatterjee / Politico: OpenAI is tripling the size of its DC policy team to 12 and beefing up its lobbying as it tries to promote a sweeping plan for cheaper energy to data centers — The AI industry wants Trump's Washington to embrace it as a bulwark against China. OpenAI is trying to lead the pack.
Brendan Bordelon / Politico: Tech lobbyists see new opportunities to expand access to high-skilled H-1B visas and green cards by leveraging the sway of Elon Musk over the GOP — A holiday blowup over immigration between Trump's tech advisers and the GOP base suggests the road may be littered with obstacles.
Ruth Reader / Politico: US federal lobbying disclosure forms reveal how Meta, with a team of 14 directly employed lobbyists, led efforts to block the passage of KOSA in Congress — The billionaire and his company needed Speaker Mike Johnson's help to stop legislation that would have regulated social media for the first time.
Politico: Examining Biden's tech legacy and the CHIPS Act, as the White House says $446B has been announced for chips and electronics manufacturing since he took office — President Joe Biden had just a single term to try to transform the nation's approach to energy, climate change, technology and jobs.
Politico: Donald Trump plans to appoint Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes to lead the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, which oversees the US intelligence community — Nunes is CEO of Truth Social and will continue leading Trump Media & Technology Group, a public company with a nearly $8 billion market cap.
Steven Overly / Politico: Q&A with US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on what happens to the $50B CHIPS program under the Trump administration, the future of AI safety, China, and more — With a massive legacy program hanging in the balance, the Commerce secretary wants to get billions in microchip money out the door in the next two months.
John Hendel / Politico: Trump taps Carr to chair FCC — Carr can assume control of the agency once Trump takes office in January. — President-elect Donald Trump has named conservative Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr to chair the agency, he announced on Sunday night.
Politico: A single grant of $123M has been finalized from $33B+ announced so far under the US CHIPS Act, which is facing criticism on both sides of the political aisle — The $39 billion high-tech subsidy plan was supposed to come with guardrails. Progressives worry those are dissolving before their eyes.
Politico: Biden plans to sign a new bill that weakens some environmental rules on federally funded chip projects, breaking with environmental groups and House Democrats — The White House's environmental and manufacturing goals are now on a collision course, after Congress voted and Biden approved …
Alfred Ng / Politico: A profile of lobbyist Andrew Kingman, who has exerted immense influence on US tech policy by helping large companies that want lax rules on data privacy — Lobbyist Andrew Kingman has reshaped American policy on a key tech issue — without ever setting foot on Capitol Hill.
Daniel Lippman / Politico: Sources: LobbyMatic, which offers AI tools for lobbying, is covertly run by far-right conspiracy theorists and convicted felons, including Jacob Wohl — Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman are operating under the pseudonyms Jay Klein and Bill Sanders. — A Washington startup pitched as a service …
Alex Isenstadt / Politico: In his upcoming book, Trump says Mark Zuckerberg plotted against him during the 2020 election and he'd “spend the rest of his life in prison” if he did it again — The Meta CEO earlier this week asserted that Biden administration tried to “pressure” the company to downplay content about Covid.