Justin Hendrix

The pursuit of 'superintelligence' is a project that should immediately lead people to question the motives of the techno-optimists and their political objectives, writes Cole Donovan. Their political project has clear goals; their emerging technology does not. https://www.techpolicy.press/what-happens-when-superintelligence-doesnt-appear-in-a-few-months/

The Pentagon wants AI that can fight wars without limits. Anthropic says there are lines it won't cross. And this week, that standoff turned into an all-out confrontation. To unpack the news, I spoke to Kat Duffy from the Council on Foreign Relations and Amos Toh from the Brennan Center:https://www.techpolicy.press/how-to-think-about-the-anthropic-pentagon-dispute/

In what Reuters called a "mass digital undressing spree,” Elon Musk is provoking outrage after his Grok chatbot answered user prompts to remove clothing from images of women and to create "sexualized images of children" to post on X. I spoke to Stanford HAI's Riana Pfefferkorn about it: https://www.techpolicy.press/the-policy-implications-of-groks-mass-digital-undressing-spree/

A California teen sought advice from OpenAI's GPT-4o on how to end his life. The chatbot gave him explicit instructions and encouragement. His parents are suing the company and its CEO, Sam Altman, alleging “it was the predictable result of deliberate design choices." https://www.techpolicy.press/breaking-down-the-lawsuit-against-openai-over-teens-suicide/

As protests surge nationwide, AI surveillance tools, biometric identification, and mask bans are creating new barriers for disabled people seeking to safely exercise their First Amendment right to peacefully assemble, argues Tech Policy Press Fellow Ariana Aboulafia. https://www.techpolicy.press/surveillance-tech-heightens-chilling-effects-for-disabled-protestors/

Grok stands as an indictment of our current laissez-faire approach to AI governance, write Gabrielle Beacken and Matthias J. Becker. We urgently need independent oversight, enforceable ethical frameworks, and above all, accountability, they write. https://www.techpolicy.press/chatbot-grok-doesnt-glitch-it-reflects-x/

“Who gets to be seen as fully human in this world? Our job is to expand that and to push and make that as wide as it can possibly be.” Artist Mimi Ọnụọha's work questions the contradictions of technological progress. Anika Collier Navaroli spoke to her for a special podcast series: https://www.techpolicy.press/through-to-thriving-connecting-art-and-policy-with-mimi-onuoha/

To resist hype and the ways in which it rewards the powerful and abets authoritarianism, we must recognize hype not just as an economic or a technological phenomenon, but as a political one, write Andreu Belsunces Gonçalves and Jascha Bareis.
https://www.techpolicy.press/expanding-hype-literacy-to-protect-democracy/

Big Tech firms have been complaining about the “patchwork” of state laws ever since Californians adopted their landmark privacy law in 2020, Alan Butler writes. Trump's AI executive order is thus an escalation of a fight that has been brewing for years. https://www.techpolicy.press/the-preemption-fight-goes-far-beyond-ai-states-must-persist/

When the deal to sell it closes, TikTok’s share distribution may be consequential for the platform's future content policies. Tim Bernard draws insights from Paddy Leerssen's recent paper, "From Murdoch to Musk: Platform ownership and the political economy of online content governance." https://www.techpolicy.press/who-will-own-tiktok-in-the-us-and-why-it-matters-for-democracy/ (

'Darkfakes,' 'Foefakes,' 'Fanfakes,' and 'Glowfakes': Morgan Wack, Christina Walker, Alena Birrer, Kaylyn Jackson Schiff, Daniel Schiff, and JP Messina systematically analyzed political deepfakes and developed a classification that categorizes them along key dimensions. https://www.techpolicy.press/scrutinizing-the-many-faces-of-political-deepfakes/

Digital Services Act's Article 40(12). The examination begins with a legal analysis, continues with a comparison to other relevant laws, and concludes with a review of specific data categories for research. https://www.techpolicy.press/how-the-meaning-of-publicly-accessible-shapes-researcher-data-rights-under-the-dsa/

A “woke-free” AI plan is not neutral; it is a blueprint for perpetuating the inequities the US has long struggled to overcome, writes Danielle A. Davis, director of technology policy at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. https://www.techpolicy.press/the-false-neutrality-of-trumps-woke-free-ai-plan/

Earlier this week, Mark Zuckerberg posted a new online mini-manifesto, titled “Personal Superintelligence,” setting the direction for Meta’s AI program. The one strong prediction we can make right now is that the future of AI will be a gigantic mess, with huge social costs, writes Dave Karpf. https://www.techpolicy.press/mark-zuckerberg-is-out-of-ideas/

Twitter API Changes Set to Disrupt Public Interest Research

If Twitter follows through with an announced change to API access on Thursday, thousands of projects on topics ranging from national security to mental health to disaster preparedness are in jeopardy:
https://techpolicy.press/twitter-api-changes-set-to-disrupt-public-interest-research/

The federal budget headed to President Trump’s desk today will dramatically expand surveillance and bolster the wealth and power of the tech oligarchy, writes MediaJustice senior research specialist Jai Dulani. https://www.techpolicy.press/how-trumps-budget-bill-sells-out-the-future-to-big-tech/

New podcast! I discussed whether the AI investment boom is an unsustainable bubble and how a potential crash could reshape policy and public sentiment with Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research's Ryan Cummings, AI Now Institute's Sarah West, and Blood in the Machine's Brian Merchant. https://www.techpolicy.press/what-are-the-implications-if-the-ai-boom-turns-to-bust/

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To advance the Trump administration’s deportation and immigration enforcement priorities, the Republican budget bill is set to fund a substantial expansion of federal surveillance, with broad implications for the rights and privacy of all Americans. Dean Jackson and I spoke to experts about what to expect: https://www.techpolicy.press/republican-budget-bill-signals-new-era-in-federal-surveillance/

🎙️Today, Reuters tech reporter Jeff Horwitz published two pieces detailing new revelations about Meta’s approach to AI chatbots and the risks they pose to vulnerable people and children. I spoke to him about his findings for the Tech Policy Press podcast. https://www.techpolicy.press/a-conversation-with-jeff-horwitz-on-metas-flawed-rules-for-ai-chatbots/