Tech

Federal authorities are launching antitrust investigations into some of the biggest players in the AI boom, including two Bay Area tech giants. KTVU's Alex Savidge discusses the DOJ and FTC antitrust probes into Nvidia, Microsoft and OpenAI with Electronic Frontier Foundation Litigation Director Mitch Stoltz.

Amazon's voice assistant Alexa is reportedly getting an AI upgrade. The company plans to launch a more conversational version of Alexa later this year using generative AI but Amazon also reportedly plans to charge customers a monthly subscription fee for the upgrade. The move is part of an effort to compete with some of the new AI powered chat bots hitting the market by OpenAI and Google. KTVU's Alex Savidge discusses the value of AI upgrades with Pete Nicoletti from cybersecurity software company, Check Point.

San Francisco-based OpenAI has suspended the released of one of the voice options for its new virtual assistant because it sounds strikingly similar to actress Scarlett Johansson. Johansson played the voice of an AI virtual assistant in the 2013 film "Her" and said in a statement that the voice sounds "eerily similar to mine". OpenAI says the voice was done by a different professional actor, although the company did first ask Johansson to license her voice for the virtual assistant. KTVU's Heather Holmes and Alex Savidge are joined by J.D. Harriman, attorney specializing in intellectual property issues with the Foundation Law Group for more on the legal questions raised by the situation.

Kaiser Permanente says more than 13.4 million members may have had their personal data exposed to third-party vendors and will receive a notification if their information may have been leaked. The Oakland-based healthcare provided says online tools that were installed on its websites and mobile apps were involved in the leaks and the information may have been transmitted to Google, Microsoft or X. KTVU's Heather Holmes speaks with Patrick Harr, cybersecurity expert at Pleasanton-based SlashNext about this latest data breach and the potential risks for millions of former and current Kaiser members.

Congress has long had national security concerns about the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, but has not succeeded in banning the platform from American app stores. A new law requires TikTok's Beijing-based parent company ByteDance to sell its stake within 9 months or face a nationwide ban. Now, TikTok's CEO is pushing back and promising a legal challenge. KTVU's Heather Holmes and Alex Savidge discuss the implications of the bill with Nadine Farid Johnson, Policy Director at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.

73 Million AT&T customers recently had their information stolen and posted on the dark web, but what happens after that? KTVU's Heather Holmes is joined by Vivek Bhandari, Vice President of Produce Marketing at Emeryville-based Tanium for more on the growing frequency of cyber theft and what can be done to prevent it.

The White House announced its first round of regulations and guidelines on how federal agencies can use artificial intelligence, but the new rules are far from finalized. KTVU's Alex Savidge and Frank Mallicoat break down the specifics with Mark Ostrowski, Head of Engineering U.S. East with cyber security software company Check Point.

Meta says it has started the process of limiting the political content users see on their newsfeeds. The rollout happened quietly, as users noticed their default settings had been changed to limit content that mentions government, elections or certain social topics. Users now have to go into their settings to opt out of these changes if they'd like to keep their feeds as is. Earlier this year, Meta said Instagram would stop recommending political content from accounts that users don't already follow. KTVU's Alex Savidge and Heather Holmes discuss the changes and what comes next with Subramaniam Vincent, Director of Journalism and Media Ethics at Santa Clara University.

A newly formed partnership with the Gov-AI Coalition held its first public forum in San Jose, designed to help people learn about the group's mission. The partnership is intended to ensure local government has a voice in the future of AI and how it is used to help the public. KTVU's Alex Savidge and Heather Holmes discuss the group's goals with Khaled Tawfik, San Jose Chief Information Officer and Director of Information Technology.

Santa Clara-based chipmaker Nvidia announced a new partnership with Oracle focused on what's known as sovereign AI, meaning individual countries or companies produce artificial intelligence using their own infrastructure and workforce allowing them to keep data secure. KTVU's Alex Savidge discusses the advantages of this strategy with tech expert and San Jose State University professor Ahmed Banafa.

A new effort is underway in Washington, D.C. to regulate artificial intelligence. The House has launched a bipartisan task force focused on creating the AI legislation necessary to keep everyone safe while also advancing the industry. KTVU's Alex Savidge speaks with Joseph Thacker, AI engineer and security researcher with cybersecurity company AppOmni about the massive responsibility of taking on the rapidly changing field and what the task force should focus on first.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments today about laws passed in Florida and Texas meant to prohibit social media platforms from removing objectionable content. KTVU's Heather Holmes and Alex Savidge discuss the ruling's widespread implications for online speech in the internet era with tech journalist and CEO of Connect Safely, Larry Magid.