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Child online safety bills could languish in House
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When the Senate voted overwhelmingly this week to approve two measures creating new regulations on the technology features social media companies offer to minors online, privacy advocates cheered progress that had begun a few years ago in states like California and Texas.
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But those bills face a long road ahead — not least because Congress still has lots of must-pass work to do and just weeks to get it done before everyone goes home to campaign. It doesn’t help that the House hasn’t been operating on the same pace as the Senate: A markup scheduled for June was nixed over concerns about a separate bill, the American Privacy Rights Act.
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It is said that the most valuable commodity in Washington is floor time. With the House out until September and so much on the agenda still left to tackle, it’s unlikely members will match the Senate’s action before campaign season overwhelms everything else.
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Welcome to Tech Friday, a joint project of The Hill and Pluribus News covering tech policy across government.
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Image © Mark Schiefelbein
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Harris flexes Silicon Valley muscle
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More than 100 venture capitalists including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and television personality Mark Cuban are backing Vice President Kamala Harris’s bid for the White House, pushing back against the inroads former President Trump has made in Silicon Valley. Read more at The Hill.
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Apple seeks dismissal of antitrust suit
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Apple has asked the federal judge overseeing an antitrust lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice and 16 state attorneys general to dismiss the suit, arguing it does not maintain a monopoly over the smartphone market. The company said it is not doing anything to deter customers from switching to competitors like Google or Samsung. Read more at The Hill.
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TikTok to be removed from U.S. House
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TikTok and other platforms owned by the China-based ByteDance will be removed from phones managed by the House as of Aug.15, the House’s chief administrative officer (CAO) said this week. The CAO directed members and staffers to remove the TikTok app back in December 2022 over national security concerns. Read more at The Hill.
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Delta says tech outage cost company $500 million
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Delta CEO Ed Bastian said the mass cancellations caused by last month’s CrowdStrike outage had cost the company half a billion dollars. In an interview on CNBC, Bastian suggested the airline would sue CrowdStrike, though no lawsuit has yet been filed. Read more at The Hill.
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Lemon sues X over canceled show
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The former CNN host Don Lemon has filed suit against Elon Musk’s X over Musk’s decision to terminate an agreement to air a new show on the platform earlier this year. Lemon’s attorney alleged the social media platform used the former anchor’s name, image and likeness to prop up its struggling advertising business. Read more at The Hill.
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Chipmaking giant Intel will lay off 15% of its workforce as part of a $10 billion cost-reduction program. The company posted disappointing earnings in the second quarter while other chipmakers are posting more robust earnings. Intel plans to suspend dividends beginning in the fourth quarter. Read more at The Hill.
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Magnificent Seven performance this week
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AAPL +3.4%, MSFT -6%, NVDA -7.3%, TSLA -7.2%, GOOG -2.1%, META +3.8%, AMZN -8.5%. NASDAQ-100 Tech Sector index: -8.2%.
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Tech groups sue Texas over youth safety law
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Tech industry trade groups CCIA and NetChoice have sued to overturn a 2023 Texas law seeking to keep minors safe online. The groups said the law, which restricts what information companies can collect about children and bans targeted advertising at minors, violates free speech rights. Read more at Pluribus News.
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Meta has agreed to pay $1.4 billion to settle a Texas lawsuit alleging the company captured biometric data from users without their consent. Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) said Meta would pay the largest-ever settlement reached with the state over five years. Read more at The Hill.
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States aim to protect brain wave privacy
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Colorado lawmakers passed a first-in-the-nation law this year seeking to guard against tech companies mining data from a person’s brain waves. California lawmakers, coming back into session next week, are poised to pass a similar bill after the measure sailed through committees on unanimous votes. Read more at Pluribus News.
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August 5-7: The National Conference of State Legislatures holds its annual Legislative Summit in Louisville, Ky., with a heavy focus on artificial intelligence in the states. Stay tuned to Pluribus News for the latest.
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August 6: Uber, AirBnb and Reddit announce second quarter earnings.
August 7: Lyft, Robinhood and Shopify report second quarter earnings.
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The Perseid meteor shower will peak on the nights of Aug. 11 and 12 just as the moon sets around midnight, making for almost ideal viewing conditions. Viewers in clear areas can expect to see up to 100 meteors per hour. Read more at Big Think.
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Canadian officials have ordered Air Canada to pay damages to a passenger who received misleading advice from a customer service chatbot over the airline’s bereavement policy. The chatbot told the passenger he could apply to receive a bereavement discount after flying — in violation of the airline’s actual policy. The Canadian regulator said Air Canada was responsible for its chatbot’s incorrect information. Read more at Gizmodo.
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You’re all caught up! See you next week.
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