Source: The Verge · AI

7 stories in the last 30d

The Verge chronicles the history of AI executives, from Samuel Butler and Turing-era warnings to Altman and Musk, publicly calling for AI regulation.

The article traces recurring calls for AI regulation, from Samuel Butler's 1863 warnings and Alan Turing's 1951 lecture to Bill Joy's 2000 essay and Microsoft's 2018 facial recognition stance. Modern examples include Elon Musk's 2017 remarks to US governors, the 2023 Future of Life Institute pause letter, and Sam Altman's 2023 Senate testimony. It argues such appeals from industry leaders who profit from AI warrant skepticism.

The Verge · AISep 16, 12:00 UTC · 1d agoAI policy1

Voters mostly don’t like AI and data centers, but neither party seems to have an edge

NYT/Siena poll of 1,503 likely voters finds 61% oppose AI data center construction, yet the issue ranks below 1% among midterm priorities.

A New York Times/Siena University poll of 1,503 likely voters conducted in early September found 61% oppose constructing data centers to power AI, with only 14% strongly supportive. Opposition drivers include environment/water usage (32%), local community impact (21%), and general distrust of AI (18%); 56% of opponents favor limits while 38% want a total ban. Trump 2024 voters split nearly evenly (49% support vs 45% oppose) while Harris voters opposed at 74%. Despite the sentiment, AI and data centers registered under 1% as a top midterm issue for most demographics, and neither party holds a clear trust advantage (42% Republicans vs 40% Democrats).

The Verge · AISep 15, 23:34 UTC · 1d agoAI policy

Trump and Mike Johnson think the AI industry is overreacting

Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson reject AI executives' calls to slow development, warning restrictions could let China win the AI race.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an open letter urging labs to 'pace the frontier' and slow AI development, drawing public support from OpenAI's Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and Alphabet's Demis Hassabis. Trump told the Financial Times the US leads China in AI and that 'whoever wins AI, wins.' House Speaker Mike Johnson told CNN that rushing AI regulation could itself be a 'national security threat' and urged against panic-driven congressional action.

The Verge · AISep 13, 19:41 UTC · 3d agoAI policy3

Trump is giving data centers a pass to pollute

Former EPA officials warn that Trump-era deregulation to speed AI data center construction worsens pollution, citing 30 federal policy changes.

The Environmental Protection Network, a group of former EPA employees, released a report identifying 30 federal actions since January 2025 — 17 of which specifically mention AI or target data centers — that they say increase health risks from data center pollution. Trump's July 2025 AI Action Plan recommended streamlining regulations under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Superfund law to expedite data center and chip factory permitting. A cited study from UC Riverside, Caltech, and Rochester Institute of Technology projects AI-related air pollution could cause up to 1,300 premature deaths and more than $20 billion in public health costs by 2028.

The Verge · AISep 12, 14:41 UTC · 4d agoAI policy2

Microsoft has new AI privacy rules for schools

Microsoft agreed to enforceable AI safety and privacy principles with the AFT and UFT after New York City and Los Angeles imposed one-year bans on student-facing AI.

Microsoft committed to ten contractually enforceable principles covering AI use in schools, including not training models on student or educator data, limiting data collection, plain-language disclosure to families, prohibiting AI companions, and requiring human review for high-risk decisions. The agreement with the American Federation of Teachers and its NYC affiliate comes after NYC and LA implemented one-year bans on student-facing AI. Districts can adopt the terms into new or existing contracts starting in November.

The Verge · AISep 9, 17:07 UTC · 7d agoAI policy1

Seattle Times and Newsday sue OpenAI and Microsoft for infringement

The Seattle Times and Newsday sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement, seeking destruction of datasets and models trained on their journalism.

The Seattle Times and Newsday allege OpenAI used their journalism as training data without permission and that its chatbots reproduce passages of their reporting, seeking destruction of copies of their works, training datasets, and AI models that incorporate them. Microsoft is named as co-defendant because Copilot is built on OpenAI technology. The suit follows similar actions by The New York Times, Ziff Davis, Merriam-Webster, Encyclopedia Britannica, and nearly 400 local newspapers.

The Verge · AISep 6, 23:36 UTC · 10d agoAI policy1

Microsoft says virtually nobody was grabbing NYT articles through its chatbot

Microsoft files summary judgement briefs in NYT copyright lawsuit, arguing only 59,545 of 8.2M Copilot logs show substantial overlap with news content.

Microsoft filed new legal filings in the consolidated copyright lawsuit brought by The New York Times, authors, and publishers against Microsoft and OpenAI, arguing for summary judgement. Analysis of 8.2 million Copilot chat logs found only 59,545 contained at least 16 words in common with news content, with just 24 responses showing at least 30 matching words in the authors' case. Microsoft argues the numbers support fair use, claiming Copilot rarely reproduces substantive chunks; the Times says discovery shows Microsoft and OpenAI stole from it, and the Trump administration filed a statement of interest supporting OpenAI.

The Verge · AISep 4, 16:05 UTC · 12d agoAI policy2