Axios

Members of Congress are being flooded with calls from angry constituents after TikTok launched a new campaign warning its users that the Chinese-owned app was at risk of being shut down in the U.S.

Why it matters: A key House committee voted unanimously Thursday afternoon to advance bipartisan legislation that would force ByteDance — TikTok's Chinese parent company — to divest its ownership of the app within 165 days.

House Democrats are launching an investigation into Elon Musk's SpaceX over concerns that Russian forces have obtained the company's internet satellite terminals, per a letter sent Wednesday.

Why it matters: Ukraine has relied on SpaceX's Starlink in its counteroffensives against Russia, the letter said, and the U.S. government has poured resources into supporting Ukraine.

ChatGPT rival Pi, from Inflection, now performs "neck and neck with" OpenAI's GPT-4 thanks to a new model, according to data first shared with Axios.

Why it matters: Inflection faces a crowded field in the market for AI-based assistants, competing against better-heeled rivals including Google, Microsoft and OpenAI, among others.

A Bay Area coffee supplier and equipment company is unveiling a smaller model of its electric roaster that works for retail shops.

Why it matters: Coffee roasting is a growing frontier in the wider "electrify everything" movement for buildings, appliances, cars and more.

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) will start providing more hands-on support to open-source software developers as they work to better secure their projects, the agency first told Axios.

Why it matters: Open-source projects are the foundation of most major software running today — but they're often riddled with easy-to-hack bugs because developers lack the resources to properly update and maintain their projects.

Kate Conger and Ryan Mac, tech reporters for the New York Times, will be out Sept. 17 with "Character Limit," about the massive political, social and financial fallout from Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter.

Why it matters: The $44 billion purchase by one of the world's richest men captivated media and tech as he shook the company with layoffs and stunning changes to the platform.

A former Google software engineer, Linwei Ding, has been indicted on charges of stealing AI technology secrets from the company to pass to two Chinese companies, the Department of Justice said Wednesday.

Why it matters: Intelligence and defense officials have been warning for a year that China and other adversaries have ramped up their attempts to obtain American intellectual property and to use AI against American interests.

The National Transportation Safety Board has not received documents from Boeing crucial to its investigation of the emergency door blowout, board chair Jennifer Homendy said on Wednesday during a Senate committee hearing.

Why it matters: Two months after the incident, safety investigators still have not determined who is responsible or how it occurred, as the company's safety culture is reportedly unstable.

Nearly two dozen human rights organizations have received funding to help crack down on mercenary spyware vendors.

Why it matters: The grantees are organizations who are usually the first to uncover private dealings between secretive spyware vendors and governments looking to surveil journalists, dissidents and politicians.

IBM has been using Adobe's Firefly to produce marketing materials and found the AI image generator produced higher engagement than non-AI campaigns, according to a case study being released today and shared first with Axios.

Why it matters: While interest in generative AI is high among companies, many are still trying to decide if the tools save time and money and are reliable enough for corporate use.

AI can be regulated using templates from industries including financial services, cybersecurity and nuclear energy, a new advocacy group says.

Why it matters: Americans for Responsible Innovation launched Wednesday in an attempt to refute Silicon Valley's criticism that Washington doesn't know how to regulate its revolutionary products.

A new tool called Writable, which uses ChatGPT to help grade student writing assignments, is being offered widely to teachers in grades 3-12.

Why it matters: Teachers have quietly used ChatGPT to grade papers since it first came out — but now schools are sanctioning and encouraging its use.

Music publishers accusing X of widespread copyright infringement can proceed with parts of their lawsuit against Elon Musk's platform formerly known as Twitter, but a federal judge dismissed several key aspects of it.

The big picture: U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger said in a Tuesday ruling in Nashville, Tennessee, that the "ultimate questions presented" by the 17 music publishers in this case remained: "whether and to what extent X Corp. may be liable for the infringing acts of users on its platform."

OpenAI on Tuesday hit back at Elon Musk's lawsuit against the company, releasing a series of emails that shows him agreeing with the company's plan to raise more money and gradually move away from open-source releases of its products.

Why it matters: OpenAI says that, contrary to Musk's charges, it remains committed to its mission of achieving artificial general intelligence for humankind's good — but it also isn't going to take punches or cede moral high ground to Musk.