Author: Matt O’Brien
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White House soft-launches COVID-19 test request website
WASHINGTON • The Biden administration on Tuesday quietly launched its website for Americans to request free at-home COVID-19 tests, a day before the site was scheduled to officially go online. The website, COVIDTests.gov, now includes a link for Americans to access an order form run by the U.S. Postal Service. People can order four at-home…
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Facebook board upholds Trump ban, just not indefinitely
WASHINGTON • Four months after Facebook suspended former President Donald Trump’s accounts, having concluded that he incited violence leading to the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the company’s quasi-independent oversight board upheld the bans. But it told Facebook to specify how long they would last, saying that its “indefinite” ban on the former president was…
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Social platforms flex their power, lock down Trump accounts
After years of treating President Donald Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric with a light touch, Facebook and Instagram are silencing his social media accounts for the rest of his presidency. The move, which many called long overdue following Wednesday’s deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, is also a reminder of the enormous power that social-media platforms can…
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White House proposes guidelines for regulating the use of AI
WASHINGTON (AP) The Trump administration is proposing new rules to guide future federal regulation of artificial intelligence used in medicine, transportation and other industries. But the vagueness of the principles announced by the White House is unlikely to satisfy AI watchdogs who have warned of a lack of accountability as computer systems are deployed to…
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Microsoft uncovers more Russian hackingahead of midterms
WASHINGTON • Microsoft has uncovered new Russian hacking efforts targeting U.S. political groups ahead of the midterm elections. The company said Tuesday that a group tied to the Russian government created fake websites that appeared to spoof two American conservative organizations: the Hudson Institute and the International Republican Institute. Three other fake sites were designed…
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Advocates condemn psych techniques used to keep kids online
CHICAGO • Children’s advocates want the American Psychological Association to condemn the tech industry’s practice of using persuasive psychological techniques to keep kids glued to their screens. The advocates, citing research that links excessive use of social media and video games with depression and academic troubles, say it’s unethical for psychologists to be involved in…
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Robot fast-food chefs: Hype or a sign of industry change?
BOSTON — Robots can’t yet bake a souffle or fold a burrito, but they can cook up vegetables and grains and spout them into a bowl — and are doing just that at a new fast casual restaurant in Boston. Seven autonomously swirling cooking pots — what the restaurant calls a “never-before-seen robotic kitchen” —…
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Indictment: Social media firms got played by Russian agents
Friday’s election-interference indictment brought by Robert Mueller, the U.S. special counsel, underscores how thoroughly social-media companies like Facebook and Twitter were played by Russian propagandists. And it’s not clear if the companies have taken sufficient action to prevent something similar from happening again. Thirteen Russians, including a businessman close to Vladimir Putin, were charged Friday…
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Wooing Amazon with sun, fun … and giant buttons
BOSTON — Mayors from Toledo to Tulsa are so eager to woo Amazon’s much-vaunted second headquartersthat they’ve been brandishing bourbon, selling the sun, whispering sweet nothings to the company and even pushing its buttons. Literally. The Associated Press talked to the leaders of more than 50 cities or metropolitan regions about the different ways they’re showcasing…
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Leaked email shows HBO negotiating with hackers
BOSTON — Hackers this week released an email from HBO in which the company expressed willingness to pay them $250,000 as part of a negotiation over data swiped from HBO’s servers. The July 27 email was sent by John Beyler, an HBO executive who thanked the hackers for “making us aware” of previously unknown security…