Lingo Telecom, a Georgia-based VoIP service operator, has agreed to pay a $1 million fine for using AI-generated deepfake technology to spoof President Joe Biden’s voice in a series of robocalls. A Louisiana political consultant had previously been indicted for arranging and financing the calls, which targeted New Hampshire and encouraged Democrats to skip voting in the state’s primary. This action comes on the heels of the unanimous passage of the DEFIANCE Act by the U.S. Senate last month. As we reported previously, the DEFIANCE Act addresses deepfake pornography but is likely to open the door to additional legal action for bad actors using AI deepfakes.
Google has reached an agreement with California lawmakers to fund newsrooms and launch an AI accelerator intended to “support journalists’ work.” The plan commits the tech giant to $167.5 million over five years, with the state initially contributing an additional $30 million, and $10 million in each of the next four years. The state will in turn shelve the California Journalism Preservation Act, which would have forced Google and other major tech companies to pay news companies to distribute their content online. Governor Gavin Newsom remarked, “[The deal is] a major breakthrough in ensuring the survival of newsrooms and bolstering local journalism across California — leveraging substantial tech industry resources without imposing new taxes on Californians.” Journalism unions in California are significantly less enthusiastic. In a joint statement, Media Guild of the West, NewsGuild-CWA, and others wrote, “The future of journalism should not be decided in backroom deals. The Legislature embarked on an effort to regulate monopolies and failed terribly. Now we question whether the state has done more harm than good.”
Major record labels have asked the Supreme Court to overturn a decision that wiped out a $1 billion copyright infringement verdict against Cox Communications. In February 2024, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia overturned the jury verdict that determined Cox was vicariously liable for its users’ copyright infringement. If a higher court hears the case, the decision may be consequential for other copyright litigation. Read the petition in its entirety.
Since going public in March 2024, Reddit has taken a unique approach to advertising that it is betting will set the longtime social media giant apart from tech rivals like Google. As Reddit users are for the most part anonymous, demographic targeting by age, gender, or location isn’t a practical approach. Instead, an “interest-based” strategy positions ads within the site’s niche communities (known as subreddits) in a more conversational style. With the online advertising economy based so heavily on granular user data, pivoting to a more general dataset is a gamble the company is confident will pay off. It may also be effective to avoid some of the privacy concerns that Reddit’s rivals face with their more personalized approach. COO Jen Wong feels the site’s anonymity allows users to be much more open and honest in expressing interests, and she said, “When people come to Reddit, they reveal things about themselves that they would not reveal on other platforms.” Reddit’s stock price is up 57% from its $34 initial public offering price.