AI is transforming many areas of research and applied science—and it will be an increasingly valuable tool for researching climate change and driving innovations in energy. In advance of Earth Day, NASA highlighted how it is developing new AI foundation models for earth, climate, and atmospheric research. You can also explore Microsoft’s vision for using AI for sustainability here.
Thank you for reading. Please check out this week’s tech policy news highlights below.
This Week in Washington
- USA Today: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted this week to reinstate landmark net neutrality rules and assume new regulatory oversight of broadband internet.
- The Hill: Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo touted the U.S.’s achievements from the CHIPS Act, stating that we have “out-innovated” China in the race to advance domestic technology manufacturing.
- NPR and The Hill: President Joe Biden signed a law on Wednesday that will force the divestment or ban of TikTok in the U.S. The law is not expected to cause an immediate disruption to the social media app, as a forthcoming legal challenge, and various hurdles to selling the app, will most likely cause months of delay.
- StateScoop: The FCC is investigating widespread outages to 911 services that impacted parts of Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota, and Texas this week.
- Bleeping Computer: The Federal Trade Commission is issuing $5.6 million in refunds to Ring users who had their private video feeds accessed without consent by Amazon employees and contractors.
- Washington Post: Political campaigns are adapting their strategies to overcome Meta’s ad targeting limitations ahead of the election in November, potentially transforming the landscape of how politicians reach voters.
- FedScoop: According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the cybersecurity requirements from a 2021 executive order have nearly all been implemented by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
- CyberScoop: CISA plans to launch an automated vulnerability alert program that would warn organizations running software or hardware with vulnerabilities being exploited by ransomware gangs. The program is mandated by the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 and aims to reduce the prevalence of ransomware attacks.
Article Summary
- CBS News: An Earth Day highlight from CBS showcases how humans are leveraging AI and innovative technologies to protect ocean life.
- ABC News: The International Olympic Committee outlined its agenda for utilizing AI to help identify promising athletes, personalize training, and improve judging to create fair competition.
- StateScoop: A new report from the Open Technology Institute found that some state’s age verification requirements designed to keep underage users from accessing “adult” content online may bear more risks than benefits.
Featured Podcast
Wall Street Journal
- WSJ Tech News Briefing
This week, companies that make artificial intelligence tools including Open AI, Google and Meta agreed to incorporate new safety measures to protect children from exploitation and plug holes in their current defenses. A new alliance, led by a nonprofit called Thorn, is leading the charge. [Microsoft has also joined the Thorn effort.] WSJ tech reporter Deepa Seetharaman tells host Alex Ossola about the problem, and how technology might help solve it. (OpenAI, Meta and Google Agree to New Measures to Protect Children – April 25, 2024)