Competing draft privacy bills are circulating in Congress, with Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) breaking from her colleagues and drafting a separate version of a bill that aims to bring the U.S. closer to global data privacy regulations.
We’ll also take a look at Elon Musk’s views on the state of the economy, and President Biden’s response.
This is Hillicon Valley, detailing all you need to know about tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. Send tips to The Hill’s Rebecca Klar, Chris Mills Rodrigo and Ines Kagubare. Someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.
Cantwell diverges on privacy draft
Three key congressional lawmakers released a draft of a comprehensive data privacy bill on Friday, but the proposal lacks support from Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and the top House Commerce Committee Reps. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) unveiled details of their draft privacy bill, which would require companies to design products with privacy in mind and includes even stricter regulations for dealing with customers under the age of 17.
Cantwell drafted her own data privacy bill, breaking from her colleagues and posing additional hurdles for a federal data privacy law moving forward.
A key difference between the two versions revolves around the degree to which individuals can pursue legal challenges against companies over data privacy breaches under the new law.
Read more about the proposals here.
Musk vs. Biden
President Biden on Friday shrugged off Elon Musk’s pessimistic outlook on the economy, wishing the Tesla and SpaceX founder “lots of luck on his trip to the moon.”
Musk reportedly wrote in an email to Tesla executives that he has a “super bad feeling” about the economy and that the company would need to slash 10 percent of its workforce. Biden was asked to respond to Musk’s comments after giving remarks on the May jobs report from Delaware.
The president pointed to new investments in electric vehicles from Ford that will create 6,000 new union jobs, as well as investments from Chrysler in electric vehicles and Intel in developing computer chips at a new factory.
“So, you know, lots of luck on his trip to the moon,” Biden said.
“Thanks Mr. President!” Musk responded on Twitter, linking to a story about NASA choosing SpaceX to take Americans to the moon.
ONE HURDLE DOWN
Elon Musk’s bid to buy Twitter for $44 billion has cleared a regulatory step with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Twitter said Friday.
The waiting period under the HSR Act, or the Hart-Scott-Rodino Improvements Act, for the bid expired late Thursday night. The HSR Act requires parties to report large mergers and acquisitions to the FTC and the Department of Justice’s antitrust division for review.
Musk’s deal to take over the social media platform is still subject to remaining customary closing conditions, including approval by Twitter stockholders and receipt of remaining applicable regulatory approvals, Twitter said.
BITS & PIECES
An op-ed to chew on: To survive in this economic climate, Democrats must fight monopolies, not flirt with them
Lighter click: enjoy Frank
Notable links from around the web:
Why Sheryl Sandberg Quit Facebook’s Meta (The Wall Street Journal / Salvador Rodriguez, Emily Glazer, Deepa Seetharaman, and Jeff Horwitz)
New York just passed a bill cracking down on bitcoin mining — here’s everything that’s in it (NBC News / MacKenzie Sigalos)
One more thing: Amazon exec steps down
Amazon’s CEO of worldwide consumer business Dave Clark is resigning from the company after 23 years, Clark announced on Friday.
Amazon said in a statement that Clark began at the company in May 1999 and his last day is July 1.
“I’ve had an incredible time at Amazon but it’s time for me to build again,” Clark said in a tweet.
That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s Technology and Cybersecurity pages for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you next week.