• In an appearance on 60 Minutes, Alphabet Inc. Chief Executive Sundar Pichai called for regulations on artificial intelligence technology to ensure it is being deployed in a beneficial way and to limit any potentially harmful effects. Pichai said there should be “consequences for creating deepfake videos which cause harm to society as an example, and said the rapid development of AI “absolutely” keeps him up at night. (Bloomberg)
• Google is building an all-new search engine powered by AI technology codenamed “Magi” that would offer a more personalized experience and conversational-style results, as well as upgrading its existing service with AI-powered features, according to internal documents reviewed by The New York Times. The rush to adopt AI has come after the company learned Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. was considering dropping Google in favor of Microsoft Corp.’s AI-powered Bing as the default search engine on its devices, according to the documents. (The New York Times)
• Elon Musk has incorporated a new business in the state of Nevada known as X.AI Corp., according to a state filing, which is believed to be the artificial intelligence lab that he promised to start in response to what he viewed as political bias exhibited by OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Musk is the only director listed for the privately held company, which has authorized the sale of 100 million shares. (The Wall Street Journal)
• Democratic Sens. Edward Markey (Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) wrote a letter to Musk questioning him about a recent Reuters investigation that found Tesla Inc. employees had internally circulated videos captured from cameras in Tesla vehicles. The letter, which was seen by Reuters, gives Musk until May 5 to answer questions about the videos, including whether Musk and other executives were aware of the practice, why internal policies failed to prevent the videos from being shared and whether the company will ensure camera recordings don’t identify the location of drivers. (Reuters)

Happening today: 

• Possible Miami, a major media and marketing conference, kicks off today and will feature an appearance from Elon Musk. Other speakers include Sofia Hernandez, global head of business marketing at TikTok; “futurist” David “Shingy” Shing; and Anthony Chavez, vice president of product management at Google.
• The flagship TED Conference starts today and runs through the week in Vancouver, British Columbia. Taking the stage at this year’s event will be K Allado-McDowell, co-editor of “The Atlas of Anomalous AI”; Greg Brockman, co-founder of OpenAI; Shou Chew, chief executive of TikTok; and Yejin Choi, MacArthur Fellow and natural language processing expert.

US manufacturing commitments double after Biden subsidies launched

Financial Times

Airman, Arrested for Leaks, Chatted in Groups Fascinated by Weapons and War

Yaroslav Trofimov et al., The Wall Street Journal

Jack Teixeira, charged with leaking classified documents, belonged to forums full of opinions and provocations.

Congress sees a rare window of opportunity to regulate Big Tech

Scott Wong, NBC News

Republicans and Democrats aren’t expected to cooperate on much this year, but legislation to protect kids online and crack down on TikTok has gained momentum.

Sega Nears Deal for ‘Angry Birds’ Mobile Game Maker

Ben Dummett et al., The Wall Street Journal

Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. is nearing a deal to acquire the company behind the “Angry Birds” mobile game for about $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Amazon Vow to Stop Seller Squeeze Was Fake, California Says

Malathi Nayak, Bloomberg

Amazon.com Inc. continued blocking sellers from offering lower prices on rival sites, despite assuring antitrust enforcers it ended its policy that artificially inflated prices for consumers, according to newly unsealed filings in California’s antitrust lawsuit against the e-commerce giant. 

GM Ditches Apple CarPlay on EVs as Fight for Your Car’s Screen Intensifies

Mike Colias, The Wall Street Journal

CarPlay, the app that allows drivers to use their iPhones through the car’s display, has become a staple in millions of cars and trucks sold each year and a mission-critical feature for some buyers. 

North Dakota Senator wants to see PlayStation’s exclusivity deals

Stephen Totilo, Axios

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) is the latest politician to call out Sony PlayStation over its exclusive gaming deals, adding to the bizarre side drama spinning out of Microsoft’s $69 billion attempt to buy Activision Blizzard.

AI-generated Drake and The Weeknd song goes viral

Mark Savage, BBC News

A song that uses Artificial Intelligence to clone the voices of Drake and The Weeknd has gone viral on social media. Called Heart On My Sleeve, the track simulates the two stars trading verses about pop star and actress Selena Gomez, who previously dated The Weeknd.

ChatGPT and Advanced AI Face New Regulatory Push in Europe

Sam Schechner, The Wall Street Journal

European Union lawmakers want to give regulators new powers to govern the development of technologies like those behind ChatGPT, the biggest push so far in the West to curb one of the hottest areas in artificial intelligence. 

Microsoft Looks to ChatGPT AI to Transform Its Digital Ad Business

Patience Haggin, The Wall Street Journal

As Kya Sainsbury-Carter takes the reins of Microsoft Corp.’s digital-advertising business, she has a shiny new toy to play with: artificial-intelligence chat.

Governments want to know the identity of AI developers

Diego Mendoza and J.D. Capelouto, Semafor

Do the government and public have a right to know the people who are developing and training artificial intelligence systems? As countries around the world scramble to craft safeguards for the exponential rise of AI, one common theme is rooted in the identities of people who program AI systems.

How AI Is Building the Next Blockbuster Videogames

Sam E. Needleman, The Wall Street Journal

Videogame companies say the kind of technology behind the viral chatbot ChatGPT is set to radically speed up game development, reduce costs and help players interact with characters in new ways.

Germany examining Chinese components in its 5G network, interior minister says

Riham Alkousaa, Reuters

Germany’s Interior Ministry is examining all Chinese components that are already installed in the country’s 5G network, Minister Nancy Faeser was quoted as saying on Sunday, as Berlin re-evaluates its relationship with top trade partner China.

CEO Dinni Jain says Google Fiber is growing up

Diana Goovaerts, Fierce Telecom

North Carolina native Dinni Jain doesn’t just run Google Fiber. In his spare time, he also helps oversee an equally complex business: a farm. Both endeavors have involved a lot of trial and error thus far. But with a winning formula for each now sorted out, the time has come for both businesses to mature from experimental adolescence to adulthood.

The Unexpected Reason Apple Is Dominating the U.S. Smartphone Market

Christopher Mims, The Wall Street Journal

It’s not just lavish marketing and the threat of green bubbles—Apple’s commitment to supporting old phones has allowed it to capture a part of the market once cornered by inexpensive Android devices.

How Bank Apps Know You’re You

Dalvin Brown, The Wall Street Journal

Banks run a lot of software in the background to make sure you’re really you. Among several factors considered during logins are: the time of day, location, device IP address, mobile carrier, and if any links prompted users to open the app

Google Chrome emergency update fixes first zero-day of 2023

Sergiu Gatlan, Bleeping Computer

Google has released an emergency Chrome security update to address the first zero-day vulnerability exploited in attacks since the start of the year.

US accuses Shein, Temu of data risks in latest action targeting Chinese-backed apps

Coco Feng, South China Morning Post

Chinese-backed digital platforms Shein and Temu have become the latest targets of the US government, after an official report raised concerns over their data risks and other business practices.

Thousands compromised in ChatGPT-themed scheme

Sam Sabin, Axios

Downloads of a fake ChatGPT browser extension have put thousands of Facebook accounts at risk of compromise, researchers at CybelAngel said in a report this week.

Georgia National Guard Will Use Phone Location Tracking to Recruit High School Children

Sam Biddle, The Intercept

Federal contract materials outline plans to geofence 67 different public high schools throughout the state and to target phones with recruitment ads.

How Discord became the place to leak US government secrets

Cristina Criddle et al., Financial Times

Classified Pentagon documents were first posted on the $15bn social network beloved of gamers, hackers and military staff.

Elon Musk just shut down automation for important public safety accounts

Matt Binder, Mashable

Since acquiring Twitter, Elon Musk maintained that one of his major objectives was to eliminate the bots. Last night, Twitter did just that. One problem, though: The bots blocked are the good ones.

Is Twitter finally dying?

Shirin Ghaffary, Vox

Twitter’s web traffic dropped by nearly 8 percent last month compared to the year before, and has been dropping for the past three months year over year, according to new estimates from data intelligence firm SimilarWeb.

The military loved Discord for Gen Z recruiting. Then the leaks began.

Drew Harwell, The Washington Post

Defense officials told service members not to ‘post anything in Discord that you wouldn’t want seen by the general public.’ But by then, hundreds of secret documents had already spilled out.

Twitter Clashes With Brazil Over School Violence Posts

Andrew Rosati et al., Bloomberg

Twitter is facing condemnation in Latin America’s largest economy for its laissez-faire approach on content suspected of inspiring violence in schools. 

New Twitter settings could hinder timely storm warnings: National Weather Service

Jared Gans, The Hill

The National Weather Service (NWS) is warning that Twitter’s limit on automated tweets could hinder its ability to post timely storm and other weather updates. 

Russians boasted that just 1% of fake social profiles are caught, leak shows

Joseph Menn, The Washington Post

The estimate is contained in a document that is part of a trove of top-secret material leaked in a Discord chatroom.

Oklahoma Businesses Recruit Tech Workers From Ukraine

Alicia Caldwell, The Wall Street Journal

Ukrainians looking for a new home following the Russian invasion of their country are being recruited by a Tulsa, Okla., nonprofit that is looking for workers for the region’s growing technology sector. 

The End of Faking It in Silicon Valley

Erin Griffith, The New York Times

Recent charges, convictions and sentences all indicate that the start-up world’s habit of playing fast and loose with the truth actually has consequences.

Amazon’s worker safety hazards come under fire from regulators and the DOJ

Katie Tarasov, CNBC

For years, Amazon warehouse staffers have complained about unsafe working conditions and the injury risks they face when rushing to fill packages and get them to customers in two days or less.

Panasonic says it may build EV battery plant in Oklahoma

Tim Kelly, Reuters

Japan’s Panasonic Holdings, a battery supplier to electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc, said on Sunday that it is considering building a battery plant in Oklahoma, its third in the United States.