FTC Approves Ban Of Noncompete Agreements In 3-2 Vote

FTC Approves Ban Of Noncompete Agreements In 3-2 Vote

The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday voted 3-2 in favor of adopting a historic and far-reaching ban on noncompete agreements, potentially giving more leverage in the job market to millions of U.S. workers. The agency has said that the agreements, in which workers are forbidden from seeking a job with a competing business for a … Read more

Warren slams TurboTax for upselling taxpayers during filing process

Warren slams TurboTax for upselling taxpayers during filing process

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) criticized TurboTax on Monday for charging taxpayers for relatively simple tax returns and repeatedly upselling them during the filing process. Ahead of Monday night’s tax deadline, Warren pointed to an example of a sample taxpayer with a “simple filing situation” who would qualify for the IRS’s new Direct File tool, which … Read more

Meta asks judge to dismiss FTC antitrust case

Meta asks judge to dismiss FTC antitrust case

Meta asked a federal judge on Friday to dismiss the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) antitrust case against the social media giant, arguing that the agency failed to prove that its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp harmed consumers.  “From the very beginning, the FTC has failed to state a plausible claim, and the agency has done … Read more

Jon Stewart says Apple wouldn’t let him interview FTC chair

Jon Stewart says Apple wouldn’t let him interview FTC chair

Comedian Jon Stewart said Monday that Apple wouldn’t let him interview Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan for his former podcast. “I gotta tell you, I wanted to have you on a podcast, and Apple asked us not to do it,” Stewart said during an interview with Khan on “The Daily Show.” “They literally … Read more

Microsoft AI engineer says Copilot Designer creates disturbing images

Microsoft AI engineer says Copilot Designer creates disturbing images

Copilot logo displayed on a laptop screen and Microsoft logo displayed on a phone screen are seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on October 30, 2023.  Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images On a late night in December, Shane Jones, an artificial intelligence engineer at Microsoft, felt sickened by the images … Read more

Activist Group Fools Journalists With AI Hoax Criticizing Toyota’s Anti-EV Views

Activist Group Fools Journalists With AI Hoax Criticizing Toyota’s Anti-EV Views

Some members of the automotive press were bamboozled by a Toyota press release and accompanying conference last week. The story was that, in order to promote the company’s electrified offerings, Toyota had released an AI companion named Electra — an AI that immediately went off the rails and began talking about Toyota’s hesitancy to embrace … Read more

FTC investigating relationships between AI startups, tech giants

FTC investigating relationships between AI startups, tech giants

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is launching an inquiry into several multibillion-dollar investments by major technology companies into generative artificial intelligence (AI) firms, the agency announced Tuesday.  The FTC said it is seeking information about the partnerships between Microsoft and OpenAI, Amazon and Anthropic, and Google and Anthropic. All five companies were issued orders requesting … Read more

FTC looking into AI deals at Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, OpenAI

FTC looking into AI deals at Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, OpenAI

WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 4: Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan speaks during a discussion on antitrust reforms at the Brookings Institution October 4, 2023 in Washington, DC. Khan assumed the role of FTC chair in June 2021 after being appointed by U.S. President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty … Read more

Dealers Successfully Force The Feds To Temporarily Back Down On Banning Shady Junk Fees

Dealers Successfully Force The Feds To Temporarily Back Down On Banning Shady Junk Fees

Image: David Zalubowski (AP) Junk fees plague industries like hotels and airlines and end up costing consumers billions every year in add ons, “administrative fees” and other overpriced nonsense. The fees really come out of the woodwork at car dealerships, it seems. While it was enough of a problem for the federal government to take … Read more

FTC proposes expanded online protections for kids

FTC proposes expanded online protections for kids

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) this week proposed changes to current online protections for children that would further restrict the ability of websites to use and disclose their personal information. “Kids must be able to play and learn online without being endlessly tracked by companies looking to hoard and monetize their personal data,” FTC Chair … Read more