Parents of children who died by suicide or self-harmed after talking to AI chatbots urged Congress to take action Tuesday as lawmakers push to pass bills to protect kids online and hold tech companies accountable.
Why it matters: Growing concerns over kids' use of AI chatbots, and the lawsuits that follow, are putting the pressure on Congress to act and companies to rethink how they launch products for young users.
U.S. tech companies are rolling out investments into U.K. AI infrastructure as President Trump kicks off his state visit to London.
Why it matters: The Trump administration wants allies to make American tech the backbone of their AI infrastructure — and these deals could lock in that path for the U.K.
President Trump on Tuesday extended the deadline for a ban on TikTok again, this time until December,as reports indicated a potential deal with China includes the launch of a new app under U.S. control.
Why it matters: The repeated extensions come despite Congress passing a law just last year, with bipartisan support, to force the app's immediate sale or ban.
If the bizarrely steady pattern for the price of bitcoin holds from the last two Bitcoin Halvings, then the oldest cryptocurrency's final all-time high for this cycle should hit within a month.
Why it matters: That's a gigantic "if," but this is something of a matter of faith among bitcoiners that the halving — the way the network reduces its inflation every four years — ultimately governs how its price ebbs and flows.
Attorney General Pam Bondi tells Axios her office is not prosecuting or investigating anyone for alleged hate speech, only for speech that she says unlawfully incites violence.
Why it matters: Bondi sought to clarify her comments during a Monday podcast in which she said the Justice Department would "absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech."
All eyes are on the government's short-term federal funding deal as efforts to renew a decade-old cyber threat information-sharing program have hit major roadblocks.
Why it matters: The law underpins cyber threat coordination between the federal government and the private sector by providing liability protections for companies sharing threat intelligence with the government.
Bank of America's monthly survey of global fund managers is the most bullish since February, showing the biggest jump in growth expectations among investors since October 2024.
Why it matters: The bulls see a reaccelerating economy as a reason to charge ahead.
YouTube has expanded its likeness detection technology to all creators in the YouTube Partner Program as part of its efforts to address the risks of generative AI.
Why it matters: Creators' businesses are threatened by their likeness being cloned by AI tools without their permission.
The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday filed a joint lawsuit against Chinese AI firm MiniMax, alleging large-scale piracy of their respective studios' copyrighted works.
Why it matters: It's the second major AI lawsuit from the firms this year, suggesting Hollywood is starting to take a more aggressive stance in protecting its intellectual property.
Companies are reacting to pressure from Republican officials and right-wing activists and quickly firing anyone who attempts to justify or minimize the killing of Charlie Kirk — or even criticize the slain conservative activist.
Why it matters: These firings could be legal, lawyers say, but they demonstrate fast-changing norms around free speech that many find troubling.
After years of competing to build the best model for understanding all the world's writing, AI makers are now racing to build models that better understand the physical world.
Why it matters: Robots are one main use, but giving AI an understanding of real-world physics is also key to powering everything from video games to architecture.
OpenAI is developing a "different ChatGPT experience" for teens and plans to use age-prediction technology to help bar kids under 18 from the standard version, the company announced Tuesday.
Why it matters: New research and a handful of lawsuits are raising alarms about ChatGPT's risks to teens' mental health.
AI agent-driven e-commerce could get a boost from a new Google-backed software standard unveiled Tuesday that aims to make chatbot-enabled purchases smoother and more trustworthy.
Why it matters: Industry analysts expect consumers to rapidly embrace buying stuff with the help of AI — but only if they can count on a chatbot doing exactly what they tell it to do.
President Trump and MAGA spent years lampooning censorship, discrimination against conservatives, and progressive "cancel culture."
Now in power — and riding an outpouring of grief and fury over Charlie Kirk's tragic killing — they're enforcing speech codes to punish ideological opponents.
Why it matters: Backed by the Trump administration, digital vigilantes are demanding arrests, firings and deportations for anti-Kirk posts and remarks.
Loneliness is draining U.S. youths' mental health, with 61% saying it takes at least somewhat of a toll and 35% reporting it disrupts their daily life, according to Hopelab and Data for Progress survey results shared exclusively with Axios.
The big picture: The polls shows two different paths, with over half of respondents reporting good mental health, though that state of well-being strongly correlates with income and LGBTQ+ identity.
President Trump's high-profile crackdown on drug advertising could quickly hit a wall due to legal challenges and the changing ways medicines are marketed to the public.
Why it matters: Trump's targeting of misleading direct-to-consumer ads isn't backed by legal authority to actually ban pharmaceutical advertising.
