Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is deepening the state’s embrace of artificial intelligence by signing a deal with San Francisco-based Anthropic that will make Claude the first generative AI platform available across state agencies and local governments. The deal comes at a politically charged moment. While the Trump administration has moved to restrict the rollout of […]
President Trump surprised tech CEOs by suddenly pushing the idea of the U.S. taking a small ownership stake in AI giants, so the American people share in the upside of what will be trillion-dollar companies. "There's something very interesting about it, where it almost becomes a partnership with the American public," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One yesterday. "It's like you make them [partners] in this revolution. It would be a beautiful thing. It would make 'em rich." Why it matters: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has pushed this idea with the Trump administration over the past year. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) reignited the conversation this week when he proposed giving the public a "direct ownership stake" in top AI companies via a one-time 50% tax, paid in stock. Of course, industry advocates of the idea would favor giving up much less for an AI public wealth fund — 1-5% stakes have been kicked around. Between the lines: AI is broadly unpopular in the U.S. Some industry leaders, and now clearly Trump, think the technology's image would improve if all Americans participated in this mind-boggling wealth creation. Ahead of the expected stock offerings by Anthropic, SpaceX and OpenAI, Trump said there's "so much money, and it's so big, that there are concepts where pieces could be given to the American public, where the American public essentially becomes a partner . with the companies." "We'll look into that," Trump said. "We're talking about it, where the American people can benefit from the success of AI. And by doing that, they're gonna like it better . We're leading China. We're leading everybody in the world with AI, and we want to keep it that way." The backstory: Altman has pushed the concept in private conversations with administration officials, then in a proposal for an AI New Deal, then on Capitol Hill this week when he visited Sanders and leaders of both parties. A "Public Wealth Fund" was one of the provocative ideas in OpenAI's "Industrial Policy for
Here is the draft executive order on cybersecurity and AI as it stood before President Trump pulled the plug on it Thursday. State of play: The industry and administration are scrambling to figure out what's next as key questions remain unanswered on the future of government access to top AI models and general AI safety
The Trump administration's highly-anticipated recommendations for Congress on AI offer lawmakers a list of priorities rather than a concrete legislative plan. Why it matters: Though the framework marks a starting point from the White House, it will be incredibly hard for Congress to pass anything like it — even with Republicans in control. Disagreements over AI policy go well beyond Republican vs. Democrat, and they overlap with broader tech policy debates that Congress has never been able to solve. Friction point: The four-page framework calls on lawmakers to limit the ability of states to set their own rules for the technology, setting up a renewed clash with states and Congress over the future of AI regulation. It's not tied to any specific bills and doesn't resolve longstanding issues around protecting kids and overriding state law. What's inside: The framework says Congress should "preempt state AI laws that impose undue burdens to ensure a minimally burdensome national standard consistent with these recommendations, not fifty discordant ones." The proposal calls on Congress to: Address the use of AI replicas that simulate someone's likeness or voice.Codify President Trump's pledge to require tech companies to pay for their increased energy demands.Establish "regulatory sandboxes" to allow developers to experiment with AI under relaxed rules. It also focuses on kids' online safety: "AI services and platforms must take measures to protect children, while empowering parents to control their children's digital environment and upbringing," the framework states. Our thought bubble: It's a sign that this move is about the White House staking out a position and pointing to the framework as a demonstration it tried to set the rules of the road, rather than advancing a bill. The White House's biggest efforts on AI policy are focused on squashing state efforts to regulate the technology. Between the lines: The framework says the Trump administration "believes that traini
FBI director Kash Patel told lawmakers that the agency is actively purchasing commercially available location data, which can track Americans without needing a warrant
A highly sophisticated set of iPhone hijacking techniques has likely infected tens of thousands of phones or more. Clues suggest it was originally built for the US government