May 29, 2024
Managers of Large Public Retirement Funds Need to Grow a Backbone
Oh, what a tangled web they weave when first the managers of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the New York State Common Retirement Fund practice to have it both ways. The problem is the demand from the environmental Left that the retirement funds divest from fossil fuel producers. On the one hand, the fund managers have legally enforceable fiduciary…
May 29, 2024
New York Tests FCC’s “No Rate Regulation” Pledge
Reclassification opponents have long warned that net neutrality could be a Trojan horse for broadband rate regulation. Partly in response to this criticism, the Federal Communications Commission’s recent Title II reclassification order expressly reiterated its commitment to the agency’s long-standing, bipartisan commitment to keeping the Internet free from price controls. But even before the order…
May 28, 2024
Cambridge Analytica, a Redux
I recently listened to Jacob Siegel’s interview on The Fifth Column podcast and couldn’t help but reflect on the power of stories. I now recognize, some six years later, that the Cambridge Analytica scandal galvanized me—but not like it did so many others. For many, the story concretized the power of political advertising and targeted data, essentially kicking…
May 27, 2024
How Crypto Cuts Through Red Tape
Blockchain technology has revolutionized global finance, playing a crucial role in bypassing traditional intermediaries to facilitate humanitarian aid in conflict zones like Ukraine. This financial transformation paves the way for a more inclusive and transparent global ecosystem, offering new opportunities for the unbanked, underbanked, and displaced populations. Below are the highlights of my conversation with…
May 24, 2024
Who Should Be Responsible for Election Content Authentication?
As forthcoming elections loom large, the question of artificial intelligence (AI) generated deepfakes disseminating misleading messages purportedly from or about political candidates has become pressing. As illustrated in a recently published academic study on the use of election deepfakes in eleven countries in 2023, it’s an international challenge of Herculean proportions that has the potential to threaten democracies across the…
May 22, 2024
Charting a Bipartisan Course: The Senate’s Roadmap for AI Policy
The Bipartisan Senate AI Working Group, comprising Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sens. Mike Rounds (R-SD), Todd Young (R-IN), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) have released their long-anticipated Roadmap for Artificial Intelligence Policy based on nine forums held throughout 2023, involving 150 experts from across the AI ecosystem. The roadmap covers a wide range of topics,…
May 21, 2024
Addictive Speech-Centric Technologies: The Allegation Du Jour for Lawsuits and Legislation
Safeguarding minors from harms ostensibly caused by allegedly addictive speech-based technologies: That’s the impetus stoking a nationwide wave of lawsuits and legislation that collectively seek to compensate minors for injuries and limit their access to certain media. Unpacking the first part of that sentence––the pre-colon portion––reveals a combustible combination of four factors rendering the situation…
May 21, 2024
What’s Next for the Affordable Connectivity Program?
This month, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began formally winding down the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), thus ending a subsidy program that supported 23 million households in paying for internet service. Although a bipartisan push to extend the program failed when the funding wasn’t attached to the reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration, there’s still…
May 20, 2024
Australia Rules Social Media, OK?
A recent Australian court battle between the country’s eSafety commissioner (overseeing Australia’s self-professed “world leading” Online Safety Act) and Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) reveals issues about internet content and free speech. Should the laws, interpretations and enforcement of one country’s view of “internet safety” be able to trump platforms’ content management decisions to allow the content to be seen in other parts…
May 17, 2024
Regulating AI: My Long-Read Q&A with Bronwyn Howell
When it comes to deploying a new technology, there are no guarantees. While developers and policymakers do their best to minimize risk, innovation always requires a leap of faith. The policy debate around artificial intelligence seems to be a guessing game on all sides. Today, I talk with Bronwyn Howell about how we should be thinking about…