• OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman will testify to Congress next Tuesday as part of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing that will discuss efforts to regulate artificial intelligence technology. It will be Altman’s first appearance before Congress, and he will be joined by International Business Machines Corp. vice president Christina Montgomery and Gary Marcus, AI researcher and professor emeritus at New York University. (The Washington Post)
• Amazon.com Inc. introduced Amazon Anywhere, which will allow people on gaming platforms, mobile devices and augmented reality applications to purchase items through Amazon’s online store without leaving the experience they are in. The service will debut inside an AR game called Peridot and will seek to funnel more users through Amazon’s marketplace as it faces increased competition within the e-commerce space. (Bloomberg)
• Cloud service providers that operate outside of the European Union — including Amazon, Alphabet Inc. and Microsoft Corp. — will only be allowed to handle sensitive E.U. data if done through a joint venture with an E.U.-based company, according to a draft document seen by Reuters. The arrangement proposed in the document would require outside cloud providers to hold only a minority state in the joint operation, limit data access to employees who are located in the European Union and ensure that the cloud service is operated and maintained from the bloc. (Reuters)
• Meta Platforms Inc. announced it will test a new payment model with its short-form videos, called Reels, that will offer creators payments based on the number of views a video gets rather than a split of earnings solely from advertisements served to viewers. The move, designed to make payouts on Facebook and Instagram more competitive with TikTok, will aim to encourage better quality content from creators that might lead to more user time spent on the company’s apps. (Bloomberg)

Happening today: 

• Alphabet will host Google I/O with expectations that the company will reveal its next line of mobile devices and AI tools.
• The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will hold a hearing to consider the Securing Semiconductor Supply Chains Act of 2023, which would encourage foreign investment in U.S.-based semiconductor manufacturing; the House Oversight Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology and Government Innovation will host a hearing titled “Risky Business: Costly Inaction on Federal Legacy IT”; and the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing titled “Closing the Digital Divide: Overseeing Federal Funds for Broadband Deployment.”
• The Future of Privacy Forum will hold its third-annual Research Data Stewardship Award ceremony, which will celebrate the privacy-focused partnerships between academic institutions and companies. Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) will provide opening remarks.
• The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation will host an event titled “Assessing the State of Transatlantic Tech-Trade Relations” that will feature speakers Tyson Barker, senior adviser at the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs; and Eva Maydell, a member of the European Parliament.

Consumers Want Companies to Invest in Climate Tech

Morning Consult

Online Prices in the US Fall for Eighth Consecutive Month in Adobe Data

Alexandre Tanzi, Bloomberg

Online prices fell for the eighth straight month from a year earlier, with declines for appliances and electronics. Prices of goods sold online fell 1.8% in April from the previous year and declined 0.7% from March, according to data from Adobe Inc. released Tuesday.

Metaverse could contribute up to 2.4% of US GDP by 2035 – study

Akash Sriram and Katie Paul, Reuters

The metaverse could contribute as much as $760 billion or about 2.4% to U.S. annual gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035, according to a study commissioned by Facebook owner Meta Platforms.

Rivian’s Quarterly Loss Narrows as EV Startups Face Cash Crunch

Sean McLain, The Wall Street Journal

EV maker stands by production forecast of 50,000 vehicles in 2023, while Lucid and Fisker dial back output targets.

Airbnb forecasts fewer bookings, lower prices in Q2; shares slump

Priyamvada C and Doyinsola Oladipo, Reuters

Vacation rental booking company Airbnb Inc. said on Tuesday that it expected fewer bookings and lower average daily rates in the second quarter versus a year earlier, sending shares down 11.5% in after-hours trading.

Activision Blizzard hires legal heavyweight to fight UK’s block of Microsoft deal

Tim Bradshaw and Jane Coft, Financial Times

David Pannick KC, whose recent cases include Boris Johnson’s partygate probe, will lead the gaming group’s legal challenge.

Judge nixes Block shareholder suit over online music deal

Randall Chase, The Associated Press

A Delaware judge has dismissed a shareholder lawsuit against financial technology company Block Inc. over its 2021 acquisition of majority ownership in Tidal, the music streaming service partly owned by rapper Jay-Z.

One Man Tries the Impossible in Restoring Japan’s Chip Industry

Takashi Mochizuki and Yuki Furukawa, Bloomberg

Tetsuro Higashi is taking on what seems like an impossible task: Create a globally competitive semiconductor manufacturer in Japan from scratch – and do it in four years.

Alphabet-backed Anthropic outlines the moral values behind its AI bot

Stephen Nellis, Reuters

Anthropic, an artificial intelligence startup backed by Google owner Alphabet Inc, on Tuesday disclosed the set of written moral values that it used to train and make safe Claude, its rival to the technology behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Germany’s Ruling Party Boss Warns Against Bias in AI Data Sets

Aggi Cantrill, Bloomberg

Germany’s Social Democrat Leader Saskia Esken called for a closer examination of the discrimination inherent within data sets used to train artificial intelligence models. 

India’s religious AI chatbots are speaking in the voice of god — and condoning violence

Nadia Nooreyezdan, Rest of World

Claiming wisdom based on the Bhagavad Gita, the bots frequently go way off script.

Meta open-sources multisensory AI model that combines six types of data

James Vincent, The Verge

The new ImageBind model combines text, audio, visual, movement, thermal, and depth data. It’s only a research project but shows how future AI models could be able to generate multisensory content.

OpenAI’s new tool attempts to explain language models’ behaviors

Kyle Wiggers, TechCrunch

In an effort to peel back the layers of LLMs, OpenAI is developing a tool to automatically identify which parts of an LLM are responsible for which of its behaviors. The engineers behind it stress that it’s in the early stages, but the code to run it is available in open source on GitHub as of this morning.

ChatGPT Is Causing a Stock-Market Ruckus

Charley Grant, The Wall Street Journal

Investors race to assess the rise of artificial intelligence as a possible ‘iPhone moment.’

Microsoft ramps up A.I. game with bet on startup that helps coding novices build apps

Ryan Browne, CNBC

Through a strategic partnership, Microsoft plans to integrate Builder.ai’s own AI assistant Natasha in its Teams video and chat software to let customers build business apps within the platform.

‘Rip and Replace’: The Tech Cold War Is Upending Wireless Carriers

Cecilia Kang, The New York Times

As China and the United States jockey for tech primacy, wireless carriers in dozens of states are tearing out Chinese equipment. That has turned into a costly, difficult process.

Apple announces Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro coming to iPad

Zac Hall, 9to5Mac

Mic drop moment for pro apps team at Apple this morning. Apple just announced that Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro are officially and finally coming to iPad. Final Cut Pro is Apple’s professional video editing software that has been exclusive to Mac before now. The same is true for Logic Pro, Apple’s professional audio editing software for Mac. Both apps will land on the iPad later this month.

Pixel Fold fully revealed in star-studded Google x NBA ad

Abner Li, 9to5Google

Ahead of the announcement at I/O 2023 tomorrow, Google has released an ad that features NBA stars with the Pixel Fold. “Google Pixel x NBA: The Greatest Watch Party” runs for 2:37 and features multiple, high-res looks at the Pixel Fold. This video might have been released prematurely.

Apple Weather Fails Again, and Users Scramble

Jesus Jiménez, The New York Times

iPhone users trying to plan what to wear around the weather on Tuesday might have had some difficulty if they were relying solely on Apple’s weather app.

US, Allies Dismantle 20-Year Russian Malware Spying Operation

Chris Strohm and Katrina Manson, Bloomberg

The US and allied countries have disrupted a wide-ranging Russian hacking operation that spied on its adversaries over some 20 years, the Justice Department announced. 

The Team of Sleuths Quietly Hunting Cyberattack-for-Hire Services

Andy Greenberg, Wired

For a decade, a group called Big Pipes has worked behind the scenes with the FBI to target the worst cybercriminal “booter” services plaguing the internet.

Alleged Spyware Abuses Convince EU Lawmakers to Urge Sales Ban

Ryan Gallagher, Bloomberg

Lawmakers have called for a conditional ban on the sale of spyware in the European Union after an inquiry into allegations that such technology has been abused to hack the phones of government critics and journalists in Hungary, Poland, Spain and Greece.

American psychology group issues recommendations for kids’ social media use

Taylor Hatmaker, TechCrunch

The American Psychological Association (APA) issued its first ever health advisory on social media use Tuesday, addressing mounting concerns about how social networks designed for adults can negatively impact adolescents. The report doesn’t denounce social media, instead asserting that online social networks are “not inherently beneficial or harmful to young people,” but should be used thoughtfully.

Tucker Carlson announces Twitter show. Elon Musk tweets cool welcome.

Jeremy Barr et al., The Washington Post

The former Fox News host tweeted a video saying he’s moving his show to the social media site. In a reply, Twitter owner Musk said he hasn’t struck a deal with the TV personality.

Facebook is wrong to say news lacks economic value, says Canada PM Trudeau

Ismail Shakil, Reuters

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said Meta Platforms Inc’s opposition to proposed legislation that would compel payment by its Facebook unit and other internet companies for journalistic content was based on a flawed argument that news has no economic value.

UK man pleads guilty to Twitter hack that compromised accounts of Joe Biden, Elon Musk

Ryan Browne, CNBC

A U.K. man pleaded guilty to helping orchestrate a high-profile hack on the Twitter accounts of numerous celebrities and politicians including Elon Musk, Joe Biden and Kanye West.

Twitter upgrades DM replies, Musk claims encrypted DMs launch on Wednesday

Jay Peters, The Verge

Twitter is making some big changes to direct messages and expects to introduce encrypted DMs on Wednesday, according to Tuesday evening tweets from the company and owner Elon Musk.

Austria to join countries banning TikTok from government phones

Francois Murphy, Reuters

Austria will join the growing list of countries banning Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok from government employees’ work phones, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said on Wednesday.

The Companies Trying to Make Live Shopping a Thing in the U.S.

Jordyn Holman and Kalley Huang, The New York Times

The market for selling goods in real time online is relatively small, but a number of start-ups and big tech names are betting American consumers will catch on.

GM hires ex-Apple exec to lead new software unit

Michael Wayland, CNBC

General Motors has hired former Apple executive Mike Abbott to lead a newly created software unit for the Detroit automaker.

VW Taps Bentley Executive to Fix Software Unit

William Boston, The Wall Street Journal

Volkswagen Chief Executive Officer Oliver Blume named a company insider to head the automaker’s struggling software unit as part of a broader overhaul of how the company develops the software for its cars, VW said on Monday.