Regulation

GOP’s 2024 platform would reinstate tech regulations on artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies

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GOP’s 2024 platform aims to boost cryptocurrencies, AI and Elon Musk.

For a party whose leaders, including the former president Donald Trumphave often lashed out against Big Tech, The New Republican Platform has relatively little to say about technology regulation. And what it does say signals a laissez-faire, if not downright dovish, approach to the emerging sectors that have attracted the Biden administration’s attention.

THE 16 Page Platformproposed by Trump and adopted by Republican delegates Monday ahead of next week’s Republican National Convention, calls for empowering rather than restricting cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence. “Republicans will pave the way for future economic greatness by leading the world in emerging industries,” it promises.

Critics counter that the platform’s policies could harm consumers while favoring the worst players in those emerging sectors, at the expense of true innovation.

According to the document, the Republican Party’s top technology priority appears to be promoting cryptocurrencies.

“Republicans will end Democrats’ illegal and anti-American crackdown on cryptocurrency and oppose the creation of a central bank digital currency,” the platform says. “We will defend the right to mine bitcoin and ensure every American has the right to self-custody of their digital assets and transact free from government oversight and control.”

Trump’s stance as a pro-crypto candidate could be a smart move, he argued Chris Mackenziesenior director of communications at the Chamber of Progress, a center-left trade group that receives funding from technology companies. In a open letter On Tuesday his group invited President Biden to support bipartisan cryptocurrency legislation that is widely regarded as industry-friendlynoting that 18 million Americans hold or trade cryptocurrencies.

“We see this as an opportunity for him to … take the mantle of crypto-positive candidate away from Trump, who has really worked to make that part of his campaign,” MacKenzie said.

According to some consumer advocates, this would be the wrong decision.

Boosting cryptocurrency is an odd goal for a major party, given the relatively minor role it plays in the broader economy, he said. Robert Weissmanpresident of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. He said his prominence in the Republican platform likely reflects the heavy lobbying effort by cryptocurrency interests, which he said is “obviously influencing politicians in both parties.”

“The current enforcement standards that Republicans are proposing to repeal or roll back are designed to protect Americans from scams, rip-offs, and fraud, which have been rampant in the cryptocurrency space,” Weissman said. “In effect, this should read as, ‘We’re aiming to promote more fraud on ordinary Americans.’”

The Republican platform also calls for repealing Biden’s executive order on artificial intelligence.

“We will revoke Joe Biden’s dangerous executive order that hinders AI innovation and imposes radical left-wing ideas on AI development,” the platform reads. “In its place, Republicans support AI development rooted in free speech and human flourishing.”

The radical order, which Biden signed in October 2023imposed new safety requirements on AI developers and called on federal agencies to mitigate the technology’s risks while encouraging responsible development. My colleagues Elizabeth Dwoskin, Designed by Harwell AND Zakrzewski Cat reported in May that an influential tech lobbying group was laying the groundwork for a possible future Trump administration dismantle those rules and instead channel money into grants and contracts for artificial intelligence.

But it’s unclear how many AI companies actually want the order revoked.

“For American companies to continue to grow and lead innovation domestically and globally, U.S. policymakers must help set global norms for AI,” he said. Julia Maximinusexecutive vice president for government affairs at the Information Technology Industry Council, a global technology trade association, in an emailed statement. He said the group is urging policymakers to prioritize policies that “build trust in technology” while supporting its beneficial uses.

Suresh Venkatas SubramanianBrown University computer science professor who has helped shape the Biden administration’s thinking on AI, told Tech Brief that a hands-off approach to AI development “might have made sense” in the technology’s formative years. But he said “we’re well past that point today.”

“We have mountains of evidence about why and how we need to govern AI systems that impact people’s rights, opportunities and access to vital services,” Venkatasubramanian said.

The GOP agenda includes another technology-related priority: supporting commercial space exploration.

“Under Republican leadership, the United States will build a robust near-Earth orbit manufacturing industry, send American astronauts to the Moon and Mars, and strengthen partnerships with the rapidly expanding commercial space sector to revolutionize our ability to access, live, and develop resources in space,” the document states.

A primary beneficiary of government investment in commercial space exploration would likely be Elon Muskthe billionaire who controls SpaceX, Tesla and X. In recent years, Musk has been increasingly vocal on his conservative views and in 2022 urged his huge following on X to vote republican in the midterm elections. He did not endorse a presidential candidate, although She said After an impromptu meeting with Trump in March, he said he was “moving away from Biden.”

The platform did not mention Section 230, the tech liability shield that Trump sought to repeal as president, or the antitrust enforcement against tech giants that intensified under the Trump administration before the Biden administration took an even tougher line.

Meta to remove more posts about ‘Zionists’ in bid to fight anti-Semitism

Meta is more aggressively removing some social media posts containing the word “Zionist” when it appears to be a substitute for Jew, in an effort to counter a wave of anti-Semitism online since the start of the war between Israel and Gaza, our colleague said. Naomi Nix report for Tech Brief.

Meta announced Tuesday that it is expanding its current hate speech policy to remove more content that attacks “Zionists” when it is not criticizing the political movement but appears to spread anti-Semitic stereotypes or call for harm against Jews or Israelis “under the guise of attacking Zionists,” the company said in a statement. blog post.

The social media giant currently bans all attacks on people based on race, religion, nationality, or sexual orientation, including posts that spread “harmful stereotypes” or dehumanize people. Under that policy, Meta has treated the word Zionist as a substitute for Jew or Israeli in limited circumstances, such as comparisons to rats, a well-known anti-Semitic trope.

Meta will now remove other content that includes the word Zionist, such as posts claiming that Zionists rule the world or control the media, or posts comparing Zionists to pigs, filth, or vermin.

Meta was discuss potential policy change with civil society groups for months. And while the change has already earned the company support from some Jewish groups, it is likely to draw criticism from some digital rights activists and pro-Palestinian groups, who have argued that the new approach will stifle legitimate criticism of the Israeli government and Zionism during a catastrophic war.

US, Allies Dismantle Russian AI-Powered ‘Bot Farm’ (Joseph Menn)

First, federal regulators ban messaging apps from hosting minors (Christian Lima)

US plans up to $1.6 billion in funding for computer chip packaging (New York Times)

Microsoft Increases Price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Launches New ‘Standard’ Tier (The limit)

Google No Longer Claims to Be Carbon Neutral (Bloomberg)

Amazon says it met climate goal seven years early (New York Times)

Microsoft, Apple Abandon OpenAI Seats Amid Antitrust Scrutiny (Financial Times)

Google Maps Speedometer Finally Comes to iOS and CarPlay (Interview)

Kamala D. Harris’ Awkward Quotes Are Turning Into Internet Memes (John Baptist Lorenzi)

Your partner wants your online passwords. Say no. (Tatum’s Hunter)

Tesla’s Secret: Elon Musk’s Car Gets VIP Treatment for Self-Driving AI (Business Insider)

Victor Pengpresident of Santa Clara, California-based semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices, has been selected to join the steering committee of the National Semiconductor Technology Center Consortium, where he will represent the private sector as a volunteer.

  • The Federalist Society host a chat in front of the fireplace with FTC’s Melissa Holyoak on Wednesday at noon.
  • Senate Commerce Committee holds a hearing“The Need to Protect Americans’ Privacy and the Acceleration of Artificial Intelligence,” Thursday at 10:00
  • The Congressional Internet Caucus Academy host an event“Technology Platforms and the First Amendment: The Impact of Supreme Court Rulings,” Friday at noon.

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