September 9, 2025
The Hidden Price Tag of California’s AI Oversight Bill
The California State Legislature is rushing to pass bills before the session adjourns on September 12, 2025. One bill I have been closely tracking is AB 1018 Automated decision systems, which would regulate all automated decision systems that make consequential decisions. The underlying philosophy behind this bill and similar ones assumes that mandating human oversight automatically…
September 9, 2025
Proportionality and Framing: Unpacking Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton
The US Supreme Court concluded in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton that the government can force adults to disclose personal, age-verifying information to access sexual content they have a First Amendment right to view but that’s forbidden for minors. I previously criticized the majority for creating a workaround from the demanding strict scrutiny standard of…
September 8, 2025
Are Humans the Greatest Bottleneck to AI Progress?
We stand at the precipice of a technological revolution that could transform every aspect of business and society. Artificial intelligence promises unprecedented efficiency, accuracy, and innovation. Yet, as we survey the corporate landscape today, a troubling pattern emerges: Those who could benefit most from AI are systematically blocking its adoption. The greatest obstacle to our…
September 5, 2025
Antitrust Needs to Catch Up with the Pace of Technology
The White House has declared artificial intelligence “non-negotiable” for America’s future. Winning the AI race, the administration argues, is essential to the nation’s prosperity and security. But if the United States is serious about that goal, it needs to rethink how it approaches antitrust, letting fast-moving markets generally solve market power problems on their own….
September 5, 2025
Google Avoids Breakup but Faces New Data Sharing Requirements
This week, D.C. District Court Judge Amit Mehta delivered his long-awaited remedies decision in U.S. v. Google. In the 230-page document, Judge Mehta charted a middle course that reflects both the strength and limitations of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) case against the search giant. In part, he readily admitted that courts “must approach the…
September 4, 2025
Where Are the CHIPS Going to Fall?
Late last month, President Trump announced that the US government would be taking a 10 percent stake in Intel. The move makes the US government the single largest shareholder in the company, but more importantly, this represents a seismic shift in American industrial policy. To finance the acquisition, the administration is converting previously promised CHIPS…
September 3, 2025
First Amendment Problems with Removing Bias in Speech Marketplaces via Government Intervention
In an August 24 post on Truth Social, Donald Trump called ABC and NBC News “two of the worst and most biased networks in history.” The president said he’d support the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) revoking their licenses “because they are so biased and untruthful, an actual threat to our Democracy!!!” Setting aside the question…
August 27, 2025
Filling in the Blanks in NetChoice v. Fitch: Is First Amendment Doctrine in Danger?
Tracking the fate of Mississippi’s age-verification and parental-consent law for social media account holders in the face of a First Amendment challenge in NetChoice v. Fitch is like watching a ping-pong game between the trial and appellate courts. Observing the judicial back-and-forth also proves maddening because sometimes, when Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch prevails against…
August 22, 2025
Secrecy in Tension with Democracy and Privacy
When someone attacks your democracy, it tends to stick in your craw. I don’t know that democracy is the last, best way to arrange human affairs, but if we’re going to have a democracy, participants in it should stick to the rules. If they don’t, the tradition of tit for tat in politics suggests a…
August 22, 2025
AI Is Changing—Not Stealing—Our Jobs and Lives
There was much angst surrounding AI as it loomed as a potential part of daily life, even among the so-called AI experts. But is it warranted? Physicist Niels Bohr is famously reputed to have said, “prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.” And decision scientist Philip Tetlock confirms this sentiment, claiming that most experts…