Delivered to your inbox every Monday, Press Clips is a rundown of the previous week’s happenings in politics and technology in America. News, opinion, podcast, and more, to bring you up to speed for the week ahead.
Policy
The parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine, who took his own life in April, have sued OpenAI. Details of the case have been released.
According to the lawsuit, the chatbot encouraged him to take his own life, and OpenAI are accused of negligence and wrongful death.
The court case suggests that:
OpenAI’s design and governance choices prioritized engagement and market competition over user safety.
The company rushed GPT-4o’s release to beat competitors despite internal safety objections and staff resignations.
"We extend our deepest sympathies to the Raine family during this difficult time," OpenAI said, while acknowledging that “there have been moments where our systems did not behave as intended in sensitive situations"
The New York Times has published the full story, and Dean Ball has commentary.
Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Ami Bera introduced a bill requiring congressional approval before any advanced AI chips are sold to China.
The measure reflects growing bipartisan concern over Beijing’s access to cutting-edge U.S. semiconductors.
Lawmakers argue unchecked exports risk fueling China’s military and surveillance capabilities.
The bill would add an extra layer of scrutiny beyond existing export controls.
Colorado AI Act has been delayed by five months in response to industry pressure.
The Act is the first state law regulating AI use in jobs, housing, health, and education.
Consumer advocates sought stronger protections; business and tech lobbyists, joined by Gov. Jared Polis, warned the law could stifle innovation and pushed for delays.
Civil society leaders said industry refusal to accept even minimal guardrails made compromise impossible.
US Commerce voids Biden's $7.4 billion semiconductor research grant deal
U.S. Commerce voided a $7.4B grant deal, calling Biden’s nonprofit vehicle Natcast an illegal “semiconductor slush fund.”
Natcast was accused of skirting laws barring agencies from creating corporations and being stacked with Biden allies.
Oversight of the National Semiconductor Technology Center shifts to NIST under the CHIPS and Science Act.
Commerce claims Natcast lacked accountability; Natcast defended itself as key to U.S. chip leadership.
Department of Defense extends partnership with Scale AI via $99mn contract
DoD awarded Scale AI a $99M Army R&D contract to accelerate AI adoption across missions.
The deal builds on Scale’s broader DoD ties, including DIU’s Thunderforge and CDAO AI programs.
Scale framed the award as vital to strengthening U.S. military readiness and national security.
Press Clips
New evidence strongly suggest AI is killing jobs for young programmer (Timothy B. Lee, Understanding AI) ✍
Bubble Politics (Anton Leicht, Threading the Needle) ✍
The Perils of the Global AGI Race (Billy Perrigo) ✍
The Real DeepSeek Moment Just Arrived (Kevin Xu, Interconnected) ✍
How Retrainable are AI-Exposed Workers? (Hyman et al., NBER Working Paper) ✍
What to make of Intel’s turbulent few weeks (Babbage, The Chip Letter) ✍
How to become President of China with Dan Wang (Sam Bowman, Works in Progress) 🔉