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New Delhi's Takedown Notice for Offline Messaging App Tests Open Source Limits

A government order targeting Bitchat's GitHub repositories has sparked debate over whether authorities can remove software based on architecture alone, not content.

By Priya Nair·Jul 25, 2026·5 min read
Policy

Two Volkswagen Engineers Face Federal Charges Over Rivian Trade

A securities fraud indictment alleges the pair netted over $300,000 by trading on confidential news of a joint venture before the market lea…

Marcus Halloran ·   · 5m
Policy

The Battle Over Open AI Models Intensifies in Washington

A coalition of tech giants is pushing back against potential restrictions on open-weight models, even as tensions rise over Chinese AI devel…

Daniel R. Whitfield ·   · 4m
Policy

Meta Exits Global Renewable Pledge After Gas-Plant Spree

The social media giant has committed to ten natural gas facilities in the past year alone, making its clean-energy claims harder to square w…

Arjun S. Mehta ·   · 5m
Policy

Trip.com Absorbs $765M Antitrust Fine as Beijing Tightens Grip on Platform Dominance

China's market regulator targets the country's largest online travel services provider for abusing its market position, marking the latest e…

Wei Zhang ·   · 5m
Policy

Beijing Frames AI Development as a Question of Global Equity

At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference, China positioned its AI strategy as a counterweight to Western models focused on profit and…

Wei Zhang ·   · 6m
Policy

Washington Opens Trade Probe After Brussels Hits Google With $1 Billion Fine

The White House is invoking Cold War-era trade law to counter European antitrust enforcement, escalating a years-long clash over digital reg…

Daniel R. Whitfield ·   · 4m
Policy

The Decade-Old Bargain Between Search and Publishers Is Breaking Down

As Google's AI tools answer queries without sending clicks, platforms like Reddit are rethinking their crawling agreements, and publishers a…

Daniel R. Whitfield ·   · 6m
Policy

Trump Ratepayer Pledge Draws 200 Signatories but Lacks Enforcement Teeth

A non-binding commitment to shield consumers from AI infrastructure costs covers 80% of US power delivery, yet carries no penalties for thos…

Daniel R. Whitfield ·   · 4m
Policy

Government Equity Stakes in AI Companies Create More Problems Than They Solve

As Washington debates buying into OpenAI and others, the regulatory conflicts and precedents from China suggest a different path forward for…

Priya Nair ·   · 6m
Policy

Brussels Tells TikTok Default Privacy for Teen Accounts Must Be Mandatory

New preliminary findings under the Digital Services Act challenge the platform's approach to protecting minors through voluntary settings ra…

Mei-Lin Tan ·   · 5m
Policy

EPA Eyes Permitting Shortcut That Could Fast-Track Data Center Power Plants

A proposed federal rule change would let states decide how much public input is required before new air pollution sources can be built - at …

Marcus Halloran ·   · 6m
Policy

Frontier AI Safety Limits Are Blocking Security Researchers Who Defend Networks

Anthropic and OpenAI vetted-access programs have created friction for offensive security experts who test systems for flaws before attackers…

Arjun S. Mehta ·   · 5m
Policy

Meta Exits Major Renewable Energy Initiative Amid Fossil Fuel Expansion

The tech giant has quietly left RE100 after a decade, just as it funds more than ten natural gas plants to power AI infrastructure across th…

Arjun S. Mehta ·   · 5m
Policy

Industrial Control Systems Under Siege as Iranian Hackers Target US Critical Infrastructure

Federal agencies warn that state-backed actors are manipulating PLCs at water and energy facilities, disabling safety systems and causing op…

Arjun S. Mehta ·   · 5m
Policy

Saudi Arabia's $55 Billion EA Buyout Clears First European Hurdle

The European Commission approved the gaming giant's acquisition under merger rules, but a final foreign subsidy review looms before month's …

Arjun S. Mehta ·   · 4m
Policy

Washington Eyes Emergency Power to Shut Down AI Systems

New legislation would grant the Department of Homeland Security authority to force companies to disable models deemed catastrophically dange…

Daniel R. Whitfield ·   · 4m
Policy

Meta's New Ad Push Sells AI by Hiding It

The company's one-minute "optimistic" campaign for artificial intelligence conspicuously avoids showing what its products actually do…

Daniel R. Whitfield ·   · 4m
Policy

Two Hong Kong Banks Hit by AI Tool Restrictions as Export Controls Bite

Regional financial institutions face growing friction accessing frontier models, exposing the operational edge of U.S. technology policy in …

Mei-Lin Tan ·   · 6m
Policy

The FCC's Quest for a Fully American Router Hits Reality

Washington's sweeping ban on foreign-made networking hardware has collided with a stubborn fact: not a single consumer Wi-Fi router sold in …

Marcus Halloran ·   · 5m
Policy

Florida Teen Withdraws Addiction Claim Against Meta After String of Settlements

The collapse of a bellwether case raises questions about platform liability litigation strategy, even as separate state actions deliver nine…

Daniel R. Whitfield ·   · 6m
Policy

Communities Build Data Collectives to Challenge Big Tech's Scraping Economy

Grassroots cooperatives in Pakistan, Africa, and India are negotiating directly with AI companies, ensuring local voices control how their l…

Priya Nair ·   · 9m
Policy

AI Researchers Challenge Washington's Intellectual Property Claims on Model Distillation

International experts dispute Trump administration's allegations against Beijing-based Moonshot AI, arguing that output from large language …

Arjun S. Mehta ·   · 5m
Policy

Why Distillation Alone Can't Explain Kimi K3's Leap

White House claims of LLM theft collide with technical reality as researchers question whether copying frontier models can produce China's l…

Arjun S. Mehta ·   · 6m
Policy

Pentagon Moves to Block Humanoid Robots From Chinese Suppliers

New defence bill provision would prohibit the US military from acquiring autonomous systems built by manufacturers in China, marking the lat…

Arjun S. Mehta ·   · 6m