The OpenAI logo is seen on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen displaying output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston.
Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter
{beacon}
Technology
Technology
The Big Story
FTC probes relationships between AI firms, tech giants
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is launching an inquiry into several multibillion-dollar investments by major technology companies into generative artificial intelligence (AI), the agency announced Thursday.
The FTC said it is seeking information about the partnerships between Microsoft and OpenAI, Amazon and Anthropic, and Google and Anthropic.
All five companies were issued orders requesting more information about their investments and partnerships, the agency said.
“History shows that new technologies can create new markets and healthy competition,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement.
“As companies race to develop and monetize AI, we must guard against tactics that foreclose this opportunity.”
Microsoft’s close partnership with OpenAI has drawn increased scrutiny in the wake of the high-profile ousterand return of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman late last year.
After the AI firm’s board of directors fired Altman in November, Microsoft offered him a position leading a new AI research team.
However, after he was brought back just days later to lead OpenAI, the company announced Microsoft would now have a non-voting position on the board.
PayPal announced Thursday it would be launching products powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline and expedite transactions for its customers. In its Thursday announcement, PayPal revealed that it will be launching six additional features on its platforms that will utilize AI to help merchants increase sales, make the checkout process more efficient and give personalized offers to each customer. One of the new …
Snap Inc., the developer of Snapchat, endorsed the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a proposal that would add regulations to the social media company and its industry peers, a company spokesperson confirmed Thursday. The endorsement comes roughly a week before Snap CEO Evan Spiegel is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about protecting children online. The CEOs of Discord, TikTok, Meta, and X, the company …
Microsoft is laying off around 1,900 workers in its gaming unit, extending tech job losses in early 2024. The cuts represent roughly a 9 percent reduction at Activision Blizzard and Xbox from the 22,000 employees. The president of Blizzard Entertainment, Mike Ybarra, is leaving the company, according to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Activision Blizzard is the developer and publisher of massive gaming franchises, …
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday that Chinese electric vehicle companies will “demolish” their competitors elsewhere in the world without trade barriers. “Our observation is generally that the Chinese car companies are the most competitive car companies in the world, so I think they will have significant success outside of China, depending on what kind of tariffs or trade barriers are established,” Musk said on Tesla’s fourth-quarter …
News we’ve flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:
Apple to allow third-party app stores in EU
Apple will soon allow iPhone users in the European Union (EU) to download apps from third-party app stores in response to the bloc’s new Digital Markets Act (DMA), The Verge reported.
How Swift fans fought back deepfakes on X
Taylor Swift fans flooded X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, with posts to bury nonconsensual deepfake porn of the pop star when users searched for terms like “taylor swift ai” or “taylor swift deepfake,” TechCrunch reported.
In Other News
Branch out with other reads on The Hill:
Ring no longer allowing police to request users’ doorbell video footage
Peter Navarro, a onetime adviser to former President Trump, was sentenced Thursday to four months in prison for refusing to comply with a congressional … Read more
