Report from Bloomberg In Brief – The Culture Minister of Friedrich Merz’s German Government has revealed that they are drafting legislation for a national digital services tax (DST) targeting the biggest internet companies operating in country, in particular US giants...
Senate Budget Bill Includes Modified “Revenge Tax” to Counter DSTs
Report from the New York Times In Brief – The Senate version of the massive budget reconciliation bill includes a modified version of a tax provision included by the House of Representatives that penalizes foreign countries that impose “unfair” taxes on US companies....
Senate Version of State AI Regulation Moratorium Header to the Floor
Report from Politico In Brief – The budget reconciliation bill that will be considered by the full Senate will likely include a modified version of the 10-year moratorium on state laws regulating AI following a key decision by the Senate Parliamentarian. The...
Federal Judge Delivers Ruling That AI Training is Copyright Fair Use
Report from The Verge In Brief – Federal Judge William Alsup has ruled on summary judgement that artificial intelligence company Anthropic did not break the law when it used copyrighted books to train its AI chatbot without the consent of the authors or publishers,...
Judge Sides with Meta on AI Training Saying Plaintiffs Made Wrong Argument
Report from Reuters In Brief – In an order granting Meta summary judgement in an AI-training copyright infringement case brought by 13 authors, Federal Judge Vince Chhabria delivered an impassioned dissent to fellow judge William Alsup’s order released only a few days...
Apple’s Latest DMA Compliance Bid with New App Store Rules and Fees
Report from TechCrunch In Brief – Apple has announced more changes to its European app developer policies to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and avoid more fines from the European Commission. They expand the ability of developers to communicate with...
FTC’s Ad Company Merger Agreement Prohibits Viewpoint Boycotts
Report from the New York Times In Brief – The Federal Trade Commission has announced a consent decree with advertising companies Omnicom Group and Interpublic Group to allow their $13.5 billion merger after the companies agreed that they would not boycott media...
US Supreme Court Goes Easy on Age Checks for Online Porn Sites
Report from the Washington Post In Brief – The US Supreme Court has ruled that requiring online porn websites to use age verification tools to confirm that users are adults does not violate the First Amendment. Advocates for the porn industry argued that Texas’s...
AI Regulation Moratorium Stripped from Senate Budget Bill in Late Night Vote
Report from Bloomberg In Brief – The moratorium on state laws regulating AI was stripped from the massive budget reconciliation bill carrying the budget and spending priorities of President Trump and the Republicans. A broad 10-year version, backed by AI industry...
Paris Court Pauses French Law Imposing Age Checks on EU Porn Sites
Report from Euractiv In Brief – A French administrative court has paused the implementation of a national law enacted in 2024 that requires all websites displaying adult content to use technical age verification methods to block minors in France from accessing their...
Nvidia’s CEO Says China “Will Win” the AI Race
Report from Financial Times In Brief – The CEO of Nvidia, the leading AI-optimized chip maker and now the most valuable company in the world, is warning that “China is going to win the AI race” due to lower energy costs and looser regulation. Jensen Huang, in London...
Social Media Companies Sue to Block California Law Banning Personalized Feeds
Report from MediaPost In Brief – Google, Meta, and TikTok have filed federal lawsuits and urged a federal judge to temporarily block enforcement of California’s “Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act” that restricts personalized or “addictive” content...
Apple Loses UK Class Action Arguing Its Fees Were Too High
Report from Financial Times In Brief – The UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has ruled that Apple violated competition law by imposing excessive App Store commissions on developers, leading to overcharges being passed on to consumers. The decision requires Apple...
Apple Says It May Disable App Tracking Transparency Rules in Europe
Report from DPA International In Brief – Apple is saying that it might turn off its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature in Europe due to regulatory pressure that the iPhone giant attributes to lobbying from the advertising industry. ATT is the Apple policy that...
Character.AI Setting an 18-Year-Old Age Limit for Its Companion Chatbots
Report from New York Times In Brief – AI “companion” company Character.AI has announced that they will bar users under 18 from its chatbots in a sweeping move to address concerns over teen safety. The move follows mounting scrutiny over how AI chatbot companions can...
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