The company sent a statement to The Verge emphasizing that it doesn’t agree with some allegations in a lawsuit it’s paying millions to settle. It has admitted that Siri recordings were shared with Apple contractors — but it promised years ago that the system was changed.
The Supreme Court will consider TikTok’s case against a divest-or-ban law early next year, and a wave of filings has hit the docket this afternoon — from the parties involved as well as numerous institutions and public figures, including President-elect Donald Trump. If you want a firsthand look, the full list is linked below.
[www.supremecourt.gov]
My retro writing machine collection just got a fun new entry: the Smith-Corona PWP 7000LT, which The New York Times has called “a reasonable alternative to portable computers for people who are not comfortable with more powerful machines.” Somewhat incredibly, it actually works.
Microsoft is still asking a judge in its AI copyright tussle to produce discovery on how New York Times reporters use chatbots, and it introduced an interesting 2023 Slack chat in a memorandum: apparently the Times product team told developers to avoid using other LLMs because it was rolling out its own. It’s not clear if this would become one of the tools the company has since announced.
Incoming FCC chair Brendan Carr is excited to start using the spectrum licensing system to punish broadcasters for airing criticism of his boss, and now he wants Disney CEO (and ABC owner) Bob Iger to know it. Nice TV network you’ve got there, Bob. Sure would be a shame if something happened to it.
The House is focused on averting a government shutdown, and there’s no sign of KOSA — a bill that, as my colleague Lauren Feiner recently wrote, has exhausted just about everyone:
“I personally am not going to feel bad if KOSA doesn’t pass this year,” [Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen] tells me on Monday. “And that’s because my expectations for what is possible in the United States anymore are really, really low.”
But they’re not passing anything yet, after Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) blocked Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) attempt at drone investigation legislation:
“The Biden administration keeps saying, well, it’s all normal stuff,” he said. “Why don’t we actually get to the truth of the matter of what actually exists and what the threat is before we propose legislation?”
