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U.S. Mulling New Rules to Curb Investment in Chinese Tech

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June 01, 2023 | June 01, 2023 | TECH By AJ Dellinger | Twitter  Email   Top Stories Americans Don’t Trust Social Media Companies With Their Data but Rarely Quit Using the Platforms A Morning Consult survey found just 38% of users trust social media platforms with their personal information, but a relatively small share of users have quit using a social network, pointing to the convenience it provides and the challenges to ensuring personal privacy. Among the findings: Just 1 in 5 social media users say they have quit a platform in the past 12 months, with nearly 3 in 4 of those who have quit citing no longer trusting the platform with their personal data as a reason for leaving. For users who have continued using social platforms despite their lack of trust in data privacy, about 3 in 4 cited the feeling that it is too difficult to protect their personal data on the internet regardless of what services they do or don’t use as a reason for continuing to use the services. Read more here: Why Americans Keep Giving Social Media Platforms Their Data — Even if They Don’t Trust Them With It. And now for today’s news: U.S. considers new rules to limit investment in China: U.S. Treasury official Paul Rosen told the Senate Banking Committee that the Biden administration is considering new rules that would limit U.S. investment into Chinese companies that are working on technologies including advanced semiconductors, artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Commerce Department Assistant Secretary Thea Rozman Kendler said during the hearing that the administration is also under "deep analysis" on potential efforts to restrict the supply of U.S. goods to Chinese telecommunications company Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (Reuters) Nearly half of voters support bans that would prevent American companies from doing business or exporting goods to China if doing so would give the country access to advanced technology, according to Morning Consult data. NASA talks UFOs ahead of study publication: One year after launching a study into sightings of unexplained anomalous phenomena, NASA held its first public meeting on unidentified flying objects, during which the agency insisted there is "no convincing evidence" that the sightings are associated with extraterrestrial life. The meeting was held in advance of a final report on reported UFO sightings, which NASA said it plans to publish by the end of July. (The Associated Press) About 3 in 5 voters believe extraterrestrial life exists, and of those, nearly 4 in 5 said the government has concealed information about unidentified flying objects, according to a Morning Consult survey. Meta threatens to pull news from California: Meta Platforms Inc. communications director Andy Stone threatened that the company would remove all news content from its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, for users in California if the state moves forward with a bill that would require big tech firms to pay news outlets for their content. The proposed bill would require companies to pay a "journalism usage fee" any time a publication's content is shared on a platform, and would require publications to invest 70% of profits from these fees into journalism jobs. (CNN) App Store broke $1 trillion in annual sales: Apple Inc. said its App Store handled $1.1 trillion in transactions over the course of 2022, including the sale of subscriptions, in-app advertising, physical goods and services. The figure represents a 29% increase from the year prior and represents more than 80% growth in sales since 2019, as Apple seeks to make the case that its App Store generates significant value for developers despite Apple’s practice of taking up to 30% commission on sales made through the platform. () HAPPENING TODAY: The 2023 Forbes Future of Work Summit will take place today with a theme of “Work, Disrupted.” Speakers include Lidiane Jones, chief executive of Slack Technologies LLC; Nickle LaMoreaux, chief human resources officer at International Business Machines Corp.; and Jaime Teevan, chief scientist at Microsoft Corp. Meta Platforms Inc. will host its Meta Quest Gaming Showcase, which will highlight new developments across the company’s Meta Quest virtual reality platform. The event will be hosted by Oculus Studios Executive Producer Ruth Bram.   Chart Review Why Americans Keep Giving Social Media Platforms Their Data — Even if They Don’t Trust Them With It Morning Consult The Reasons Why Social Media Users Who Distrust Platforms With Their Personal Data Stay Anyway Share of respondents who said they continue to have social media accounts despite distrust in how their personal data is handled because ... B Major reason M Minor reason l Not a reason It feels too difficult to protect my data l on the internet regardless of what services do or do not use Pra 24% My personal data already does not feel private 1 iy enjoy the content on social media iy L A majority of the people know use social media and want to feel included 43% V. MORNING CONSULT A MESSAGE FROM MORNING CONSULT SPECIAL REPORT MOST TRUSTED BRANDS plopic DOWNLOAD Most Trusted Brands 2023 15 brand rankings. 24 case studies. 57 pages of insights. Morning Consult’s fourth annual Most Trusted Brands report highlights the brands that have secured top spots in consumer trust around the world, within the United States and among their respective industries. Download now.   What Else You Need To Know GENERAL Elizabeth Holmes’s Victims Likely Won’t Get Much Restitution for Theranos Fraud James Fanelli and Corinne Ramey, The Wall Street Journal Convicted fraudsters Elizabeth Holmes and Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani are on the hook to pay $452 million in restitution for lying to investors about Theranos, but the chances of victims getting all their money back are slim. Salesforce Earnings Rise as Margins Grow Denny Jacob, The Wall Street Journal Salesforce on Wednesday posted higher first-quarter profit as margins came in ahead of the company’s expectations, a sign that cuts from its nascent turnaround plan are taking hold. The big question of how small chips can get Tim Bradshaw and Annie Gross, Financial Times For decades, ever-tinier semiconductors have allowed huge leaps in computing progress. Not for much longer, warn experts. ANTITRUST AND COMPETITION IKEA Looks to Speed Up E-Commerce With Software Acquisition Trefor Moss, The Wall Street Journal IKEA said it would buy U.S. supply-chain software provider Made4net, as the furniture giant aims to make its growing e-commerce business faster and more precise.  Google Invests in AI Startup Runway to Wrest Cloud Business From AWS Kate Clark et al., The Information Google is investing in Runway, a New York–based startup that lets customers generate video from text descriptions using artificial intelligence it pioneered, at a valuation of around $1.5 billion including the new capital, according to two people familiar with the matter. US, EU agree firm stance on China at trade, tech meeting Philip Blenkinsop, Reuters The United States and the European Union pledged on Wednesday to join forces to counter China's non-market economic practices and disinformation, particularly over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. EU's Vestager sees draft code of conduct on AI within weeks Philip Blenkinsop and Bart Meijer, Reuters European Union tech chief Margrethe Vestager said she believed a draft voluntary code of conduct for generative AI could be drawn up "within the next weeks", with a final proposal for industry to sign up "very, very soon". Nvidia’s CEO Plans Trip to Meet China Executives Despite US Curbs Jane Zhang et al., Bloomberg Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang is heading to China to meet with tech executives in the world’s biggest chip market, despite rising tensions between Washington and Beijing, according to people familiar with the matter. As U.S. Races Ahead, Europe Frets About Battery Factory Subsidies Jack Ewing and Melissa Eddy, The New York Times The European Union is trying to assemble the building blocks to produce electric cars, but subsidies are luring companies to the United States. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/AUTOMATION U.S. Auto-Safety Regulators Urge Automatic Emergency Braking in Future Vehicles Ryan Felton, The Wall Street Journal The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed Wednesday a new regulation that would require automakers to sell cars with the advanced safety technology, which uses a combination of sensors and software to detect roadway dangers and brake the car itself if the driver doesn’t act fast enough. Musk discusses EVs, ‘intelligent networked’ vehicles with Chinese official Julia Shapero, The Hill Tesla CEO Elon Musk discussed electric and “intelligent networked” vehicles with China’s industry minister during a Wednesday visit to Beijing. OpenAI is pursuing a new way to fight A.I. ‘hallucinations’ Hayden Field, CNBC OpenAI is taking up the mantle against AI “hallucinations,” the company announced Wednesday, with a newer method for training AI models. Amazon Turns to AI to Weed Out Damaged Goods Liz Young, The Wall Street Journal Amazon.com is rolling out artificial intelligence across a dozen of its largest warehouses to screen items for damage before orders are shipped to customers. China warns of ‘complicated and challenging circumstances’ posed by AI risk Lauren Sforza, The Hill China is warning about the threat of artificial intelligence (AI) and has called for increased security measures.  Eating Disorder Helpline Disables Chatbot for 'Harmful' Responses After Firing Human Staff Chloe Xiang, Motherboard The National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) has taken its chatbot called Tessa offline, two days before it was set to replace human associates who ran the organization’s hotline. AI Is Writing Code Now. For Companies, That Is Good and Bad. Isabelle Bousquette, The Wall Street Journal Chief information officers could see their job getting more complex even as generative AI makes software development easier. More Artists Are Embracing Artificial Intelligence, Not Fighting It Jackie Davalos et al., Bloomberg Even as artificial intelligence tools like Midjourney, Stable Diffusion and DALL-E that turn text into images draw lawsuits from copyright-holders who claim the apps are stealing their work to train algorithms, AI-generated art is being legitimized by mainstream institutions. TELECOM, WIRELESS AND INTERNET ACCESS FCC reauthorizes FirstNet’s use of Band 14 Monica Alleven, Fierce Wireless The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) of the FCC last week granted the use of the 700 MHz Band 14 to FirstNet for 10 more years, although that’s contingent on Congress extending FirstNet’s authorization. Separately, efforts are underway in Congress to make FirstNet’s authorization permanent. MOBILE TECHNOLOGY China’s Oppo debuts ‘mixed reality’ headset as Apple, Microsoft explore similar devices Arjun Kharpal, CNBC Chinese electronics giant Oppo debuted a mixed reality headset on Wednesday, pushing into an area in which U.S. technology companies Microsoft and Apple have taken a keen interest. Apple’s Learning Curve: How Headset’s Design Caused Production Challenges Wayne Ma, The Information If Apple unveils its long-awaited mixed-reality headset next week as expected, it will represent the company’s riskiest gamble on a new product since the iPhone. It will also test the company’s prowess in design and manufacturing like nothing before. CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY North Korean IT Workers Help Spy from UAE and Russia, UN Says Jeff Stone, Bloomberg Oh Chung Song was working in the tech industry in Dubai, developing IT systems he found through the freelancing marketplace Upwork, when his boss found out he was a North Korean.  Amazon to Pay $25 Million to Settle Children’s Privacy Charges Natasha Singer, The New York Times Regulators said the tech giant kept children’s Alexa voice recordings “forever,” violating a children’s privacy law. Amazon Settles FTC Claims Ring Doorbell Spied on Users Leah Nylen and Andrea Vittorio, Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc.’s Ring unit agreed to pay $5.8 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations Wednesday its doorbell cameras spied on users. Russia says U.S. accessed thousands of Apple phones in spy plot Guy Faulconbridge, Reuters Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday it had uncovered a U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) plot using previously unknown malware to access specially made so-called backdoor vulnerabilities in Apple phones. Meta Seeks to Force FTC Into Court to Change Privacy Settlement Leah Nylen, Bloomberg Meta Platforms Inc. is asking a federal court to bar the Federal Trade Commission from moving forward with an agency proceeding to revise its 2020 privacy settlement. SOCIAL MEDIA AND CONTENT MODERATION Russia fines WhatsApp for first time for not deleting banned content Alexander Marrow, Reuters A Russian court on Thursday fined messenger service WhatsApp three million roubles ($37,080) for not deleting banned content, its first fine in Russia for that offence. Musk Stays Off Twitter for Longest in a Year During China Trip Linda Lew and Jinshan Hong, Bloomberg Elon Musk, a prolific presence on Twitter and owner of the social media platform, didn’t send any tweets while he was in China for his first visit since the pandemic. Instagram tests new user control for recommended posts, transparency tool for creators Aisha Malik, TechCrunch Instagram announced today that it’s testing a new feature that gives users more control over what they see on the social network, along with a new transparency tool for creators. Now, when users see recommended posts, they can select a new “Interested” button that will inform the app that they want to see more of that type of content. TECH WORKFORCE Bobby Kotick Breaks His Silence: Embattled Activision CEO Addresses Toxic Workforce Claims as Microsoft Deal Hangs in Balance Cynthia Littleton, Variety The executive says he has been both humbled and outraged by what he considers malicious distortions about the company that he has taken to great heights over 32 years. He makes no apologies for Acti­vision or its culture.  Amazon workers plan to walk out over ‘lack of trust’ in leadership Annie Palmer, CNBC Amazon employees plan to walk off the job Wednesday in protest of the company’s recent return-to-office mandate, layoffs and its environmental record. Firaxis is latest video game studio hit by layoffs Stephen Totilo, Axios Firaxis Games, the video game studio behind Civilization, has laid off about 30 developers, a source familiar with the studio tells Axios. Amazon workers planning walkout at Seattle headquarters Olafimihan Oshin, The Hill Amazon employees are planning a walkout at the company’s Seattle headquarters Wednesday in protest of a slew of moves the company made in the past year. OPINIONS, EDITORIALS AND PERSPECTIVES Lisa Su Saved AMD. Now She Wants Nvidia's AI Crown Iaian Martin and Richard Nieva, Forbes AMD's CEO orchestrated one of the great turnarounds in Silicon Valley history, driving the dying semiconductor maker's stock price up nearly 30-fold in less than a decade. Next, she's preparing for battle in the coming AI revolution—and she expects to keep winning. How We’ll Know If the CHIPS Act Is Working Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway, Bloomberg The US government is spending billions of dollars to build out state-of-the-art domestic semiconductor manufacturing capacity. But spending money is no guarantee of success.  8 Big Questions About A.I. Phoebe Lett and Jeremy Ashkenas, The New York Times Interest in artificial intelligence has exploded over the past six months. But the technology has been steadily improving for years. So why now? NING C NG CONSIL This email was sent to: [email protected] by: Morning Consult 1025 F Street NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20004
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