Senate advances legislation to regulate stablecoins, a form of cryptocurrency

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has voted to move forward with legislation to regulate a form of cryptocurrency called stablecoins, two weeks after Democrats blocked the measure. Monday’s procedural vote keeps one of President Donald Trump’s top legislative priorities on track for passage and highlights the growing political strength of the cryptocurrency industry. Several Democrats reversed and voted to move forward with the legislation after negotiations with Republicans in recent days. The legislation would regulate how stablecoin issuers operate in the U.S. Senate Democrats blocked it earlier this month in part over concerns about how Trump and his family were benefiting from private crypto endeavors, including a newly launched stablecoin.

Elon Musk says he's committed to still be Tesla's CEO in 5 years' time

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Billionaire Elon Musk says he’s committed to being CEO of Tesla in five years’ time. The question came as Musk made a video appearance at the Qatar Economic Forum hosted by Bloomberg. A moderator asked: “Do you see yourself and are you committed to still being the chief executive of Tesla in five years’ time?” Musk responded: “Yes.” Tesla has faced intense pressure as Musk worked with the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump as part of its Department of Government Efficiency effort, particularly amid its campaign of cuts across the U.S. federal government.

Elon Musk, who's suing Microsoft, is also software giant's special guest in new Grok AI partnership

Elon Musk is in a legal fight with Microsoft but made a virtual appearance at the software giant’s annual developer conference to reveal that Microsoft's cloud computing platform will now host Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok. Microsoft also introduced a new AI coding tool at its Build developer conference in Seattle. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's keynote presentation was briefly interrupted by a protest over the company's work with the Israeli government.

President Trump signs Take It Down Act, addressing nonconsensual deepfakes. What is it?

President Donald Trump has signed the Take It Down Act, which seeks to enact stricter penalties for the distribution of non-consensual intimate imagery, sometimes called ‘revenge porn’ online. The bill, supported by First Lady Melania Trump, was introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, in 2018. It passed in the Senate in February and the House in April. Critics say the bill is too broad and could lead to censorship and First Amendment issues.

SAG-AFTRA files unfair labor practice charge over use of AI to make Darth Vader's voice in Fortnite

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood’s actors’ union filed an unfair labor practice charge against Llama Productions on Monday, alleging the company replaced actors’ work by using artificial intelligence to generate Darth Vader’s voice in Fortnite without notice. Lllama parent Epic Games did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump order targets barcodes on ballots. They've long been a source of misinformation

ATLANTA (AP) — President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to overhaul how U.S. elections are run includes a somewhat obscure reference to the way votes are counted. Voting equipment, it says, should not use ballots that include “a barcode or quick-response code.” Those few technical words could have a big impact. Voting machines that give all voters a ballot with one of those codes are used in hundreds of counties across 19 states, and replacing them would be costly. Some computer scientists and left-leaning election activists have raised concerns about their use, but those pushing conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election have been the loudest.

Hackers strike UK's legal aid agency and compromise data of lawyers and clients

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s justice department says it shut down its legal aid website after a cyberattack compromised personal information. The Ministry of Justice said Monday that it learned on April 23 that online digital services at the Legal Aid Agency had been hacked. But it realized last week that it was more extensive than it had known. Hackers claimed they had access to 2.1 million pieces of data, though the government did not confirm that figure. Information dating back 15 years that was exposed included addresses of people applying for legal help, birth dates, criminal history, employment status and financial information.

Microsoft says it provided AI to Israeli military for war but denies use to harm people in Gaza

WASHINGTON (AP) — Microsoft acknowledged Thursday that it sold advanced artificial intelligence and cloud computing services to the Israeli military during the war in Gaza and aided in efforts to locate and rescue Israeli hostages. But the company also said it has found no evidence to date that its Azure platform and AI technologies were used to target or harm people in Gaza. The unsigned blog post on Microsoft’s corporate website appears to be the company’s first public acknowledgement of its deep involvement in the war in Gaza. It comes nearly three months after an investigation by The Associated Press revealed previously unreported details about the American tech giant’s close partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Defense.

Trump signs a bill to make posting 'revenge porn' a federal crime. He had the first lady sign, too

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has signed the Take It Down Act into law. Trump signed the bill on Monday alongside his wife, Melania Trump, and had her sign it, too. The first lady helped usher the measure through Congress. The bill sets stricter penalties for the distribution of non-consensual intimate imagery online — what's known as "revenge porn." Melania Trump used her first public appearance since resuming the role of first lady to travel to Capitol Hill in March to lobby House lawmakers to pass the bill and send it to the White House for her husband to sign into law.

House Republicans include a 10-year ban on US states regulating AI in 'big, beautiful' bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans surprised tech industry watchers and outraged many state governments when they added a clause to Republicans’ signature “big, beautiful” tax bill that bans states and localities from regulating artificial intelligence for a decade. The brief but consequential provision, tucked into the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s sweeping markup, would be a major boon to the AI industry, which has lobbied for uniform and light touch regulation as tech firms develop a technology they promise will transform society. But while the clause would be far reaching if enacted, it faces long odds in the U.S. Senate, where procedural rules may doom its inclusion in the GOP’s broader budget plan.