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We Need A More Serious Discussion About Suicide And AI Chatbots

1 week 4 days ago
As someone who thinks a lot about AI and suicide, I was disappointed with John Oliver’s recent episode of Last Week Tonight on “AI Chatbots.” The segment boiled down to this: chatbots exploit vulnerable people, drive them toward delusion and harm, and AI companies aren’t meaningfully trying to fix them. If anything, as John Oliver […]
Jess Miers

Daily Deal: Opusonix Pro Subscription

1 week 4 days ago
Opusonix is the workflow-first platform built for music producers and engineers who are tired of endless email chains and scattered files. By centralizing feedback, versions, and tasks in one structured workspace, it helps you cut email traffic by up to 90% so you can focus more on creating and less on chasing approvals. From time-coded […]
Daily Deal

US Citizens In ICE Detention Centers Is The New Normal In Trump’s America

1 week 4 days ago
Behold this utter bullshit, uttered by the Trump administration’s “border czar” Tom Homan: White House border czar Tom Homan said Thursday he’s “sure” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have detained U.S. citizens, “but we don’t deport them.” Homan told reporters outside the White House that U.S. citizens have “nothing to fear.” “We deport people […]
Tim Cushing

Rupert Murdoch Convinced Trump To Launch Dubious Antitrust Inquiry Into NFL

1 week 4 days ago
One recurring theme during the Trump era is that because he fundamentally doesn’t know how anything actually works, his beliefs and policies are broadly shaped by whatever terrible rich person was in his ear last. Even when it comes to stuff like streaming video. It’s all transactional cronyism, and by and large the public interest […]
Karl Bode

Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt

1 week 5 days ago
This week, our first place winner on the insightful side is Whoever with a response to one particular line in our post about John Roberts decimating faith in the Supreme Court’s consistency: In second place, it’s Stephen T. Stone with another comment on that post, this time in response to a comment asking if we […]
Leigh Beadon

Let’s Help Children, Not Trial Lawyers

2 weeks ago
The recent “internet addiction” verdicts against Apple, Meta, and YouTube drew applause from those eager to see big tech take a hit. But look behind the headlines and the result is something else entirely. These cases won’t help children. They will fuel a litigation plague that raises costs, chills innovation and hits smaller companies the […]
Michael Petricone

Daily Deal: Babbel Language Learning (All Languages)

2 weeks ago
Become a language expert with a Babbel Language Learning subscription. With the app, you can use Babbel on desktop and mobile, and your progress is synchronized across devices. Want to practice where you won’t have Wi-Fi? Download lessons before you head out, and you’ll be good to go. However you choose to access your 10K+ […]
Daily Deal

Bari Weiss Let Benjamin Netanyahu Pick His Own Softball Interviewer

2 weeks ago
What’s left of CBS News recently landed an interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It’s a bit of a doozy (transcript, video). There’s a part where Netanyahu tries to blame foreign social media bot farms for the rise in people disgusted by his government’s carpet bombing of children. There’s a part where he pretends […]
Karl Bode

HHS Is A Chaos Engine: Marty Makary Out At FDA

2 weeks ago
We’ve complained a great deal about RFK Jr.’s stint running HHS and its effects on the health of Americans in the short and long term because, well, there’s a lot to complain about. His anti-vaxxer stances have begun infecting national vaccine policy, of course, and his stance of essentially ignoring an ongoing 17 month measles […]
Timothy Geigner

Congress Narrowed The GUARD Act, But Serious Problems Remain

2 weeks 1 day ago
Following criticism, lawmakers have narrowed the GUARD Act, a bill aimed at restricting minors’ access to certain AI systems. The earlier version could have applied broadly to nearly every AI-powered chatbot or search tool. The amended bill focuses more narrowly on so-called “AI companions”—conversational systems designed to simulate emotional or interpersonal interactions with users.  That change does address […]
Joe Mullin

OpenAI’s KOSA Endorsement Is Regulatory Capture With A Smiley Face

2 weeks 1 day ago
Earlier this week, OpenAI became the latest tech company to publicly endorse KOSA, the Kids Online Safety Act. The company, conveniently, tries to frame this as being about its support of child safety. It’s not. It’s about political horse trading, desperation for good publicity, and building a regulatory moat. KOSA would help create stronger online […]
Mike Masnick

eBay To GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen: Um, No

2 weeks 1 day ago
It might be time to do a wellness check on GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen. We had just discussed Cohen’s announced bid to have GameStop buy eBay as part of an absolutely bizarre interview he did on CNBC’s Squawk Box. In that interview, Cohen attempted to explain how GameStop would buy the much more highly valued […]
Timothy Geigner

Daily Deal: InfoSec4TC Projects Hub: Learn Cybersecurity & GRC

2 weeks 1 day ago
The InfoSec4TC Projects Hub is a one-of-a-kind interactive platform where learning meets real-world practice. It enables learners to work on actual cybersecurity and compliance projects that simulate professional work environments and can help improve career readiness for roles like GRC Analyst, SOC Analyst, ISMS Consultant, or Cybersecurity Specialist. Each project is designed, reviewed, and evaluated […]
Daily Deal

Trump Administration: Anti-Fascists, Drug Dealers, And Trans People Are Terrorists

2 weeks 1 day ago
As was covered here last week, ProPublica’s Hannah Allam reached out to Trump’s “terrorism czar” Sebastian Gorka to ask him about the wreckage he’s caused since being elevated to a position of power he clearly has no expertise to handle. Gorka’s no expert in domestic security. While his resume may include occasional work for government […]
Tim Cushing

‘Christian’ Wireless Provider Promises To Censor All LGBTQ Content

2 weeks 1 day ago
A new “Christian” mobile phone provider named Radiant Mobile is promising to offer a wireless service that censors all LGBTQ+ content. The MVNO (mobile virtual network operator), which runs on the T-Mobile network, says it’s keen to deliver “faith-focused mobile service,” according to the company’s website. According to NIT Technology Review, the MVNO is working alongside […]
Karl Bode