Posts by Riah Marton
Reining in Big Tech: How California lawmakers plan to regulate AI and social media
SACRAMENTO — Long the epicenter of the global tech industry, California is taking more action to shield its children, communities and workers from the threats posed by the very industry that’s become central to the state’s identity and enviable economy. State lawmakers on Monday passed new safeguards around social media, artificial intelligence and data centers at a…
Read MoreGoogle Changes EU Spam Policy to Avert Antitrust Fine
Google is loosening one of its search spam rules in Europe, giving publishers a little breathing room while easing some of the heat from its antitrust fight with EU regulators. Alphabet-owned Google said Friday that, starting Aug. 30, manual actions under its site reputation abuse policy will no longer affect search results for users in…
Read MoreHollywood studios have sued over AI. Now Google is courting them to use its tools
Tech giant Google has been quietly making overtures to the major studios as it tries to find ways to entice Hollywood to use its artificial intelligence technology. Google executives have approached representatives at Disney, Universal, Warner Bros. Discovery and other studios about licensing intellectual property to be used in AI models, according to three people…
Read More‘We’re not changing it’: SoCal-based Mapquest takes stand against Trump’s ‘Lake America’
Within days of President Trump’s executive order renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America,” Google Maps quietly fell in line. Searches for the international boundary water in Google Maps now direct U.S. users to a renamed “Lake America.” The president’s preferred name for the smallest Great Lake isn’t yet reflected on Apple Maps, but it may…
Read MoreWhat Meta’s $17-billion settlement revealed about the harms of social media
After months of hype and mere hours in front of the jury, California’s blockbuster suit against Meta ended on Wednesday with a sweeping $17-billion settlement and 130 pages of promised changes to the platforms. Witnesses at the blink-and-you-miss-it Oakland trial echoed much of what had already been heard this year by juries in Los Angeles,…
Read MoreAstrologer Aliza Kelly Reveals Exactly How the Solar Eclipse Will Affect Your Zodiac Sign
Once upon a time there was light in our lives. But now there's only love in the dark. OK, the totality of the Aug. 12 solar eclipse, in which the moon crosses in front of the sun, briefly…
Read MoreFrench Publishers Challenge Google AI Search Over Content Licensing – TechRepublic
French publishers have escalated their dispute with Google over AI search, asking France’s competition watchdog to decide whether AI Overviews and AI Mode require separate licensing negotiations. The Alliance de la Presse d’Information Générale, or APIG, filed the complaint on Aug. 11. Google launched both features in France on July 22. APIG argues the rollout…
Read MoreRod Stewart Undergoes Heart Procedure, Cancels His Remaining Tour Dates
Emilia Clarke’s Brain Aneurysm Emilia Clarke filmed battle scenes for Game of Thrones, but in 2019, she published an essay in The New Yorker titled “A Battle for My Life.” Having a bad headache at the gym, “I reached the toilet, sank to my knees, and proceeded to be violently, voluminously ill,” the actress wrote.…
Read MoreGoogle co-founder Sergey Brin spending more than $100 million fighting California wealth tax
The fight over a proposal to tax the assets of California billionaires to fund healthcare is getting more expensive. Google co-founder Sergey Brin has poured $102 million this year into Building a Better California, a group that’s funding two ballot measures that could block a billionaire tax, data from the California Secretary of State show.…
Read MoreHeather Dubrow’s Son Nick Dubrow Teases Joining Reality TV Amid Next Gen LA Rumors
Put the champs on ice: Nick Dubrow might be headed to reality TV. The 22-year-old—son of RHOC star Heather Dubrow and Botched plastic surgeon Terry Dubrow—teased that he might soon be taking on both family businesses, seemingly alluding to pursuing reality TV and medicine. As Nick hinted during an exclusive interview with E! News, “There’s…
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