Tech Industry
FMCSA gives driverless trucks a 5-year beacon exemption
Driverless trucks may use cab-mounted beacons instead of roadside warning triangles until October 7, 2031, under a five-year FMCSA exemption.
Policy news and analysis
Policy decisions that reach developers: government AI procurement and court rulings, national AI programs, state limits on surveillance cameras, platform settlements, and open-source projects setting rules for AI-assisted contributions. Each story states what the rule says, who it binds and when it takes effect.
Tech Industry
Tesla renames FSD to Tesla Assisted Driving in Europe
Tesla calls Full Self-Driving Tesla Assisted Driving on its European sites, after Germany called the old name misleading. The EU vote slipped to December.
AI & LLMs
Satya Nadella wants an emergency brake for AI models
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's October 10 essay sets seven rules for AI models, including an emergency brake that lets a person stop a model mid-task.
Tech Industry
UK regulator Ofcom investigates Meta over Instagram Instants
Ofcom is checking whether Meta skipped required safety risk assessments before launching Instagram Instants. Fines can reach £18 million or 10% of worldwide revenue.
Tech Industry
Philippine Senate passes under-18 social media ban bill
The Philippine Senate voted 16-1 for the SMART KIDS Act, which would bar under-18s from social media. The House version sets a lower age limit of 13.
Tech Industry
Starlink India delay: Musk targets Ambani, India pushes back
Musk blamed Mukesh Ambani for Starlink's stalled India launch. India called the claim baseless and says three operators await the same security checks.
Tech Industry
Tech firms pledge $2.4B in compute to Genesis Mission
Eleven companies pledged $2.4 billion in compute credits to the Genesis Mission on October 8. Nvidia gave $1 billion; Musk, Huang and Su got science medals.
AI & LLMs
Anthropic's 2026 Usage Policy adds a model-abuse ban
Anthropic's 2026 Usage Policy takes effect November 12. It bans needless cruelty toward Claude, merges its deception rules and rewrites surveillance limits.
Tech Industry
US suspends Microsoft and Adobe from green card step
Officials said on October 8 that Microsoft, Adobe and six IT services firms are suspended from PERM, the first step of employer-sponsored green cards.
Tech Industry
New York says TikTok gave teens a placebo safety tool
A New York lawsuit alleges TikTok tested a placebo version of its Algo Refresh feature on thousands of users in 2023. TikTok disputes the claims.
AI & LLMs
OpenAI textGrain watermarks ChatGPT text under EU AI Act
OpenAI's textGrain watermark is opt-in for API users from October 5 and coming to ChatGPT and Codex in the EU. It flags 95% of 400-token passages.
Tech Industry
Denmark CPR breach exposes 8.8 million personal records
Attackers misused a Danish company's legal access to the CPR register and pulled names, addresses and ID numbers of 8.8 million people in September.
Tech Industry
Trump's Super Intelligence Force gets 120 days to report
Jay Clayton will lead the Super Intelligence Force, which has 120 days to report on AI risks. It adds no new rules for AI companies.
Tech Industry
Amazon drops data center NDAs, pledges $1B to towns
AWS CEO Matt Garman says Amazon no longer signs NDAs with government agencies on data centers and will fund a $1B Built Together program for host towns.
Tech Industry
Federal judge rules a Flock plate search unconstitutional
A federal judge ruled a warrantless Flock license plate search broke the Fourth Amendment and threw out 91 pounds of seized meth. It is not binding precedent.
Tech Industry
Bitchat pulled from India's App Store and Google Play
India ordered Jack Dorsey's offline messenger Bitchat off Apple's and Google's stores under Section 69A, months after GitHub was told to remove its code.
Tech Industry
Hans Anders pulls Ray-Ban Meta glasses over privacy
Hans Anders stopped selling Ray-Ban Meta glasses in the Netherlands and Belgium on October 2, a day after Wehkamp, as Dutch pressure on them grows.
Tech Industry
OpenAI fires three safety researchers over outside sharing
OpenAI fired three safety researchers for sharing sensitive data with an outside AI safety group. One was its contact for METR and Redwood Research.
Tech Industry
California SB 1246 fines robotaxis that block responders
California's SB 1246 fines robotaxi firms up to $10,000 per car that blocks an emergency for over 30 minutes, and sets 30-second rules from July 2028.
Tech Industry
Meta claims $3.9B research tax credit on AI data centers
Meta saved $3.9 billion in 2025 by calling AI data centers research 'pilot models' under a 1981 tax credit, the New York Times reports.
AI & LLMs
Claude for Government reaches GA under FedRAMP High
Anthropic's Claude for Government is generally available to U.S. federal and state agencies under FedRAMP High, with no seat fees and hard spending caps.
Tech Industry
Newsom vetoes SB-1130, California's smart glasses bill
California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed SB-1130, which would have required recording lights on smart glasses and fined secret recording up to $1,500.
Tech Industry
White House AI accord commits six labs to outside audits
OpenAI, Google, Meta, Anthropic, Nvidia and xAI signed a voluntary White House accord to use outside auditors on frontier AI. It carries no penalties.
Tech Industry
FTC probes OpenAI, Anthropic and METR over AI agents
The FTC is investigating OpenAI, Anthropic and AI safety group METR under the FTC Act, with demands for documents and executive testimony due within weeks.
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