• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is exploring potential legislation to regulate artificial intelligence technology and has started circulating a framework to experts in recent weeks with the goal of developing regulations that can adapt to the rapidly advancing sector, according to a source briefed on the proposal. The potential regulations from Schumer would focus on transparency and ensuring people understand the sources behind an AI system’s output, which comes as the public has shown concerns about AI systems and their potential to pose a threat to humanity. (Axios)
• An unidentified expert at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency told Sen. Ron Wyden’s (D-Ore.) staff they have no confidence that FirstNet, the mobile cellular network set up to connect first responders and the military, is secure against cyberattacks, according to a letter from Wyden to the National Security Agency and CISA. FirstNet, built by AT&T Inc. in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, could suffer from vulnerabilities in Signaling System No. 7 (SS7), a protocol used by cellular networks to exchange information, according to Wyden. (Reuters)
• Google will ask U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta today to grant a summary judgment and throw out an antitrust lawsuit being brought against the company by the Justice Department and 11 Republican-led states accusing Google of maintaining a monopoly on online search. One antitrust expert said it is considered unlikely that Mehta will issue a ruling or toss the case before it goes to trial later this year. (The Wall Street Journal)
• The European Commission informed Broadcom Inc. that its proposed $61 billion acquisition of cloud computing company VMWare Inc. could limit competition on hardware components like fiber channel host bus adapters and storage adapters. Broadcom, which can appeal the commission’s objection, said it expects the deal will still close before the end of the 2023 fiscal year. (Reuters)

Happening today: 

• Bloomberg will host a live event in Chicago titled “Intelligent Automation: Transformation in a Time of Uncertainty” as part of the Bloomberg Intelligent Automation Roadshow series. Pratik Gupta, chief technology officer of IBM Corp.’s automation division, will speak at the event.

Consumers Say Tech Companies Should Be Liable for Content on Their Platforms

Morning Consult

FDIC Says Dodd-Frank Rollbacks Didn’t Stoke SVB’s Failure

Michael Roddan, The Information

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. rejected the idea that the rollback of Dodd-Frank laws contributed to the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, and it urged a measured approach to adding new rules that would potentially force banks to create capital buffers for unrealized bond portfolio losses, a problem that contributed to the collapse of the lender.

Silicon Valley VCs tour Middle East in hunt for funding

Tabby Kinder and George Hammond, Financial Times

Liquidity crunch leads investors such as Andreessen Horowitz to sovereign wealth funds in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says he’s confident he can get costs under control in shareholder letter

Annie Palmer, CNBC

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on Thursday published his annual shareholder letter where he reflected on one of the most challenging periods in the e-retailer’s history, and signaled he remains confident that recent cost-cutting efforts will pay off.

Google will shut down Currents, the work-focused Google Plus replacement

Mitchell Clark, The Verge

Google has announced that it’ll shut down Currents, which was introduced in 2019 as a replacement for Google Plus for G Suite. In a blog post, the company says it’s “planning to wind down” Currents, and that it’ll push the people who were using it to Spaces, which is sort of like Google Chat’s version of a Slack channel or Discord room.

U.S. China committee chair says there’s broad support to block American asset managers from investing in Chinese A.I. firms

Lauren Feiner, CNBC

Mike Gallagher, the Wisconsin Republican who chairs the House select committee tasked with evaluating strategic competition between the U.S. and China, left his meetings with Silicon Valley leaders last week “cautiously optimistic” about the will to stem the flow of U.S. dollars into Chinese artificial intelligence.

US imposes export controls on companies assisting Russia’s military

David Shepardson, Reuters

The U.S. Commerce Department said on Wednesday it is imposing export controls on more than two dozen companies in China, Turkey and other countries for supporting Russia’s military and defense industries.

IBM Explores Sale of Weather Business

Laura Cooper and Lauren Thomas, The Wall Street Journal

International Business Machines Corp. is exploring a sale of its weather operation, according to people familiar with the matter, as the technology company seeks to streamline its operations. An auction of the business is at an early stage, the people said, and there may not be a deal. 

US Is Buying Chipmaking Machines From Taiwan More Than Ever

Yoshihiro Sato, Bloomberg

US purchases of machines to make computer chips from Taiwan rose to a record in March, as the Biden administration works to reinvigorate the domestic semiconductor industry.

Thoma Bravo lost out in race for coveted tech group amid antitrust fears

Antoine Gara et al., Financial Times

Qualtrics eventually sold for $12.5bn to Silver Lake and CPP in largest leveraged buyout of year.

Intel to Work With Arm to Boost Its Outsourced Production Effort

Ian King, Bloomberg

Intel Corp., trying to win customers as a provider of outsourced chip manufacturing, is working with Arm Ltd. to potentially use that company’s technology in its factories. 

Emerson Electric to Buy National Instruments in $8.2 Billion Deal

Crystal Tse et al., Bloomberg

Emerson Electric Co. agreed to acquire measurement systems maker National Instruments Corp. in a deal valued at $8.2 billion following a long pursuit.

Warren Buffett says he doesn’t understand A.I. but he asked ChatGPT to write a song in Spanish

Yun Li, CNBC

Legendary value investor Warren Buffett said he has no expertise in artificial intelligence whatsoever, but thanks to Bill Gates, he took a crack at the buzzy chatbot ChatGPT.

Researchers discover a way to make ChatGPT consistently toxic

Kyle Wiggers, TechCrunch

A study co-authored by scientists at the Allen Institute for AI, the nonprofit research institute co-founded by the late Paul Allen, shows that assigning ChatGPT a “persona” — for example, “a bad person,” “a horrible person,” or “a nasty person” — through the ChatGPT API increases its toxicity sixfold.

Europe should make its A.I. regulations more sweeping, prominent experts urge

Lauren Feiner, CNBC

A group of prominent artificial intelligence experts called on European officials to pursue even broader regulations of the technology in the European Union’s AI Act.

ChatGPT Can Give Great Answers. But Only If You Know How to Ask the Right Question.

Jackie Snow, The Wall Street Journal

With the new generative AI tools, like ChatGPT, anyone can put in a prompt—type in a few words and get a result. But that doesn’t mean that the results will be relevant or accurate.

Nvidia enhances mid-range video gaming chip with AI technology

Stephen Nellis, Reuters

Nvidia Corp said on Wednesday it is packing one of its mid-range chips for gamers with more artificial intelligence features to improve graphics, underscoring the importance of gaming for the company despite the segment’s slowing revenue.

ChatGPT can resume in Italy if meets data watchdog’s demands

Elvira Pollina, Reuters

Italy’s data protection agency set out a list of demands on Wednesday to address its concerns over ChatGPT and allow the chatbot service run by OpenAI to resume in the country.

NTIA accepts applications for $140.5 million in 5G open RAN grants

Linda Hardesty, Fierce Wireless

Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced the formal launch of the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund, which will invest $1.5 billion in the development of open and interoperable networks.

Apple reportedly nixes iPhone 15 button upgrade, sending supplier stock down 12%

Rohan Goswami, CNBC

Shares of Cirrus Logic fell after Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the next iPhone wouldn’t feature expanded use of Cirrus’ technology, which helps power Apple’s haptic touch feature.

Google launches the first public beta of Android 14

Frederic Lardinois, TechCrunch

Google’s Android development cycle runs on a rather predictable cadence these days. Today, after two developer previews, the company launched the first of four planned public beta releases of Android 14.

Senator calls for investigation after Reuters facial recognition report

Lena Masri, Reuters

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden has called for the Biden administration to carry out an investigation after a Reuters report showed how Russian authorities are using facial recognition to curb dissent with the aid of U.S. technology.

Global watchdog issues blueprint for banks to report cyber attacks

Huw Jones, Reuters

The G20’s financial watchdog on Thursday recommended a blueprint for banks to report cyberattacks in a common format in a bid to speed up responses to hacking and limit the fallout on financial stability.

House GOP Subpoenas FTC for Twitter Investigation Documents

Ryan Tracy, The Wall Street Journal

The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed the Federal Trade Commission for documents related to the agency’s continuing privacy investigation of Twitter Inc., according to a committee aide and documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

NPR to Suspend Twitter Use After ‘Government-Funded’ Label

Lora Kelley and Katie Robertson, The New York Times

National Public Radio said on Wednesday that it would suspend all Twitter use, a little over a week after the social network designated the broadcaster “U.S. state-affiliated media.”

TikTok Parent ByteDance Battles Meta for Virtual-Reality App Developers

Salvador Rodriguez et al., The Wall Street Journal

TikTok parent ByteDance Ltd. is offering to pay developers who have made virtual-reality software for Meta Platforms Inc. to bring their apps to its own fast-growing Pico headsets, according to people familiar with the matter.

An Online Meme Group Is at the Center of Uproar Over Leaked Military Secrets

Kellen Browning and Stuart A. Thompson, The New York Times

Youth culture and national defense collided in a community known for edgy jokes. The YouTube celebrity it was dedicated to seemed as surprised as anyone.

Elon Musk: Twitter owner changes BBC account’s ‘government funded’ label

Paul Glynn, BBC News

Twitter has changed a label on the main BBC account, saying it is “publicly funded” instead of “government funded media”, after the broadcaster objected.

LinkedIn rolls out ways to verify your identity and employment, without a price tag

Aisha Malik, TechCrunch

LinkedIn is introducing new ways to verify your identity and where you work, the company announced on Wednesday. Unlike with Twitter and Meta, LinkedIn’s new verification measures don’t include paid subscriptions or blue checkmarks.

Amazon workers seriously injured at more than twice the rate of other warehouses, study finds

Annie Palmer, CNBC

In 2022, there were 6.6 serious injuries for every 100 Amazon workers, according to a report released Wednesday from the union coalition Strategic Organizing Center, which relies on data submitted by Amazon to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. That’s more than double the rate of all non-Amazon warehouses, which had 3.2 serious injuries for every 100 workers.

Tesla denied bid to stop worker race discrimination case in California first

Sareen Habeshian, Axios

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday denied Tesla’s petition to review a case involving allegations of systemic racial discrimination at the company’s facilities in the state.

When Your Boss Is an App

Lauren Hilgers, The New York Times

Gig work has been silently taking over new industries, but not in the way many expected.

Snap hires Google ad executive to help improve ad performance

Sheila Dang, Reuters

Snap Inc, owner of photo messaging app Snapchat, said on Wednesday it has hired a former Google executive to help the tech company improve the performance of its digital ads.

Google, Meta Struggle to Figure Out Employee Reviews

Mark Matousek, The Information

Last year, Google cut the number of employee performance reviews it conducts annually from two to one, responding to complaints that twice-a-year reviews consumed too much time. In the new system, managers were asked to talk more casually—but more frequently, once a quarter—with their subordinates about their performance. And Google wanted managers to record the results of the conversations.

Where are all those tech workers going? A Silicon Valley exodus is shaking up the landscape.

Danielle Abril, The Washington Post

As a computer science student in the Midwest, Alex Valaitis idolized Silicon Valley, drawn to the Bay Area like a theater major dreams of Broadway. But after five years of “soul-crushing” tech work, an exodus from San Francisco and rising crime in the city, Valaitis decamped in June 2021 for Austin.