Fear and denial in Silicon Valley over social media addiction trial

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c86e3eglv2go

#HackerNews #Fear #Denial #SiliconValley #SocialMedia #AddictionTrial #TechNews

yahoo news | ‘Many have tried. Few have succeeded’: Tech, labor brace for years-long war in C...

Tech investors and executives are now pouring millions of dollars into California politics in what they describe as a multi‑year offensive against the state’s powerful public‑employee unions. From backing San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s bid for governor to fielding a challenger to Rep. Ro Khanna, Silicon Valley‑backed groups such as the Meta‑funded “California Leads” super PAC, the “Grow California” venture backed by Tim Draper and Chris Larsen, and Garry Tan’s nascent “Garry’s List” are mapping the electoral landscape, recruiting candidates, and committing tens of millions to future cycles. The push was sparked by a proposed billionaire wealth tax that prompted figures like Sergey Brin and Larry Page to move assets out of state, and is framed as a response to what tech leaders see as a Democratic‑union‑driven policy regime that raises taxes, fuels budget deficits, and inflates the cost of living for innovators.

These emerging political outfits are deliberately structuring themselves for longevity rather than a single election. Maria Davidson’s “California Renewal” aims to build a nine‑figure endowment to fund tools, campaign contributions, and candidate development over multiple cycles, while the “Govern California” coalition, led by former labor‑opponent David Crane, pools money from local chapters to assure lawmakers they have permanent backing. Both corporate‑sponsored efforts (Meta, Google, Uber‑style spending) and wealthy‑individual‑driven initiatives are conducting polling, targeting roughly ten key legislative districts for the 2026 cycle, and planning to expand their influence into the 2028 and later contests, with the ultimate goal of reshaping California’s power structure in favor of tech interests.

Labor unions, however, remain a formidable counterweight. Decades of organizing have given them a sophisticated statewide apparatus, deep candidate‑recruitment networks, and a reservoir of voter credibility that can out‑match even outsized tech spending. Union leaders such as Lorena Gonzalez argue that issues like AI regulation and the wealth tax resonate with ordinary Californians, positioning labor’s message as the one that “actually matters” to voters. While some business strategists caution that a rushed, short‑term influx of money may not topple entrenched union influence, tech‑backed groups see the current political climate as a catalyst for building lasting infrastructure—anticipating that by the 2030s, and perhaps even into the 2032 presidential cycle, they will have a durable presence capable of challenging labor’s dominance.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/many-tried-few-succeeded-tech-120000557.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

#mattmahan #rokhanna #siliconvalley

Wall Street Journal: Mark Zuckerberg is building an AI agent to help him be CEO This is an MSN-syndicated version of the article and is not paywalled. “Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Meta Platforms, is building a CEO agent to help him do his job, according to a person familiar with the project. The agent, which is still in development, is currently helping Zuckerberg get information […]

Al Jazeera: Dutch court bans xAI’s Grok from generating nonconsensual nude images. “A Dutch court has ordered Elon Musk’s xAI to stop generating and distributing nude images of people without their consent in the Netherlands, warning it would impose fines of 100,000 euros ($115,350) per day for noncompliance.”

Politico: Judge pauses Pentagon’s punishment for Anthropic. “U.S. District Judge Rita Lin wrote in a 43-page order that punishing the artificial intelligence company for bringing public scrutiny to the government’s contracting position — ‘an inference’ that she said the court record supports — is ‘classic illegal First Amendment retaliation.'”

Reuters: New Mexico lays out options to force changes at Meta after court win. “In an interview, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez laid out a wide range of prospective changes to Meta’s products that the state may pursue. They include asking the court to restrict the types of content recommended to minors, to limit the frequency and timing of social media notifications prodding […]

Meta recorta 700 empleos y acelera su apuesta por la inteligencia artificial

Meta recorta 700 puestos de trabajo para acelerar su estrategia de IA.

SN Redacción | EFE

Los Ángeles.- El gigante tecnológico Meta despidió a unos 700 empleados como parte de un movimiento estratégico que busca acelerar la estrategia de la compañía orientada a la Inteligencia Artificial (IA), según informó este miércoles The New York Times.

Esta oleada de reducción de personal se produce 24 horas después de que la empresa presentara un nuevo y ambicioso plan de incentivos para sus altos ejecutivos que busca alcanzar una capitalización de mercado de nueve billones de dólares para 2031.

El programa incluye a seis líderes claves para retener el talento en la competitiva carrera de la IA, entre ellos, el director de Tecnología, Andrew Bosworth; el director de Producto, Chris Cox; el director de Operaciones, el español Javier Oliván; y la directora financiera, Susan Li.

El director ejecutivo de Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, ha defendido reiteradamente la necesidad de seguir invirtiendo en IA, un enfoque que coincide con el planteamiento de la compañía matriz de Facebook, Instagram y WhatsApp por racionar los equipos y reemplazar a gran parte de la plantilla, como ya han hecho otras tecnológicas.

Los planes del profundo cambio que experimenta el gigante tecnológico se producen en medio de dos derrotas judiciales para la empresa que se han producido esta semana.

Un jurado de Los Ángeles declaró este miércoles culpables a Meta y YouTube de perjudicar la salud mental de menores en una histórica demanda sobre la adicción a las redes sociales y por la que tendrán que pagar una indemnización de tres millones de dólares.

Esta resolución se suma a la sentencia dictaminada ayer por un jurado de Nuevo México que también encontró culpable a Meta de ocultar información sobre deficiencias en sus plataformas y prácticas comerciales que facilitaban la explotación sexual infantil y fue condenado a una multa de 375 millones de dólares. –sn–

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Meet the Tech Reporters Using AI to Help Write and Edit Their Stories

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.wired.com/story/tech-reporters-using-ai-write-edit-stories/