Despite the current boom in artificial intelligence tools enabling businesses to infuse some of the technology, startups aren't spending huge amounts on it yet.
Why it matters: A number of companies, big and small, have rushed to deploy tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT into their own products, but so far the use of AI remains experimental for startups.
A top cybersecurity-focused senator is calling for the U.S. government to "hold Microsoft responsible for its negligent cybersecurity practices" after a recent cloud breach.
Driving the news: Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) sent a letter Thursday to the heads of the Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission and CISA asking them to launch new inquiries into Microsoft's cybersecurity practices.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has waved through a new, highly anticipated cybersecurity regime for public companies that requires them to publicly share the news of significant hacks.
Driving the news: The SEC voted Wednesday to approve new rules that require publicly traded companies to report "material" cyber incidents within four business days via a public 8-K filing and to share details about their overall cybersecurity strategies in an annual 10-K filing.
A series of four groundbreaking studies published Thursday in Science and Nature reveal new details about the role that the world's largest social media platform played in driving polarization during the 2020 election and beyond.
Why it matters: The study represents one of the largest data sets ever captured by researchers about the use of social media during an election. The findings may help regulators and tech firms better navigate future elections.
Axios chief tech correspondent Ina Fried today launches a new feature, "Prompt," showing us how to use the explosion of AI tools:
My grandfather had a saying that basically translated to "one tush can't be at two weddings." A new generation of AI tools, including ones I tested from Otter.ai this week, is on the cusp of making that family wisdom obsolete.
What's happening: While best known for its AI-powered voice transcription software, Otter now offers an AI bot, OtterPilot, that can join online meetings — with you or without you — and transcribe and summarize them in real time. Then another bot, Otter Chat, can answer questions based on what people have said in that meeting.
In Body of Mine, a new virtual reality experience, users can put on a headset and body tracking sensors, then look down and see a body — their arms, their chest, down to their feet — that does not match the gender they were assigned at birth.
Why it matters: The project, which was demoed for Axios last week in New York City, is an ambitious and already award-winning experience. It is designed to provoke introspection about gender and a transgender person's experiences, and allow people to explore what it might be like to be in a different body.
Xandr, the advanced TV advertising company Microsoft acquired in 2021, on Thursday told advertisers that it plans to ban political ads beginning October 1, according to an email obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: Amid a hyper-polarized environment, some Big Tech firms see political ads as a content moderation liability.
While the U.S. is leading the global AI innovation race, some executives and experts say America risks losing that economic and strategic advantage by not deploying the technology fast enough.
Why it matters: If the U.S. is too slow to integrate and adopt AI across its economy, they say, China may leverage it more effectively.
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