Following this week’s election, several news outlets ran stories about how the results could impact tech policy—from AI regulation to competition policy, broadband, data privacy, and more. Analyses of the potential new tech policy landscape include pieces from the New York Times, Roll Call, GovTech, Fortune, and Axios.
We also want to draw your attention to a recent blog from Microsoft and Andreessen Horowitz leaders that offers policy ideas to help AI startups innovate and compete. Please check out, “AI for Startups.”
Thank you for reading. We’ve rounded up additional tech policy news and a featured podcast below.
This Week in Washington
- Fierce Telecom: President-elect Trump’s reentry into the White House means the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will be Republican-led. While he has not yet specified his choice for FCC chair, Commissioner Brendan Carr is a likely pick. Carr previously indicated that policies allowing broadband funding to be used for overbuilding should be eliminated and has opposed political ad regulations on AI.
- Washington Post: The Supreme Court is closely divided over whether to allow shareholders to proceed with a lawsuit against Meta’s Facebook for allegedly misleading investors about the risks of a massive data privacy breach. Determining how much information public companies must disclose about potential investment risks has been an issue for the justices.
Article Summary
- Wall Street Journal: Elon Musk spent over $100 million on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Now that he won, Musk could reap enormous financial benefits that potentially pose a conflict of interest at the highest levels of government. Musk has been promised a role auditing federal expenditures and regulations, making it possible for him to tailor policies to adhere to his personal financial interests and aid his tech businesses including X, Tesla, and SpaceX.
- WDBJ: Researchers at Virginia Tech are using ChatGPT to help the urban planning process by identifying which areas of Blacksburg need maintenance and which are safe for pedestrians. Based on the current success of their findings, the AI tool could help decrease the amount of manual labor that goes into traditional and manual city planning.
- UC Berkeley News: A research team at the University of California, Berkeley is leveraging AI to determine if Hollywood films have increased their representation and diversity. The team used facial recognition technology to track how long each actor appears on-screen across more than 2,300 films released between 1980 and 2022.
- CNBC: Year after year, the global population continues to increase and so does the demand for food production. However, increased food production can compromise food quality and impact the environment. One Singapore-based company, ProfilePrint, developed new tech to address these issues.
Featured Podcast
- TED Tech
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is tasked with the research and development of emerging technologies for U.S. military use. One of these emerging technologies is AI, which can have a profound effect on hardware, especially when it comes to national security and military capabilities. Tune in and hear Kathleen Fisher, an office director at DARPA, discuss the strategies needed to embrace the possibilities and challenges of AI. (“The TED AI Show: How AI is changing national security with Kathleen Fisher” – November 5, 2024)