Will the DOJ’s investigation into a16z spook other VCs?

On the latest episode of Equity, we wonder why the DOJ is investigating startup board seats.

OpenAI says California should strengthen its AI safety bill

OpenAI is calling for California to strengthen SB 53, an AI safety bill that the company previously opposed.

US battery startups have found a lifeline in defense

U.S. battery startups pulled in $500 million in grants from the Department of Energy, throwing a lifeline to an industry that was on the ropes after EV incentives were slashed.

TikTok reaches $400M settlement over children’s privacy lawsuit

Two years after the U.S. Department of Justice alleged that TikTok violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, it has reached a $400 million settlement.

US government lab is probing Chinese lidar for security vulnerabilities

The security review is being performed by the Idaho National Laboratory, and the research is being funded by a company — or a group of companies — in the electric and autonomous vehicle industries.

Senators demand answers from TikTok over experiment that disabled safeguards

The safeguard was designed to prevent users from being overwhelmed by harmful content, but TikTok wanted to determine whether it made the app less engaging.

Anthropic CEO says AI backlash is ‘fundamentally a crisis of trust’

Dario Amodei is pushing back against the idea that he’s been painting an overly pessimistic picture of AI.

Woman claims her stepfather used Grok to transform childhood photo into explicit imagery

The woman claimed that AI tools are “taking everyday life and turning it into child sexual abuse.”

In a first, US will allow some private firms to carry out cyberattacks

The new order sweeps away decades of existing U.S. cybersecurity policy prohibiting private companies from conducting ‘hack back’ attacks or offensive cyber operations.

What’s Scaleup Europe, the $5.7B fund that just backed satellite company ICEYE?

Scaleup Europe, a public-private fund with a $5.7 billion target, made its first investment by backing Finnish satellite company ICEYE.