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.

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.

Like it or not, the Like button has changed the world

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The internet wouldn’t be the same without the Like button, the thumbs-up icon that Facebook and other online services turned into digital catnip. Like it or not, the button has served as a creative catalyst, a dopamine delivery system, a tribal totem pole and an emotional battering ram. It also became an international tourist attraction after Facebook plastered the symbol on a giant sign on that stood outside its Silicon Valley headquarters until the company rebranded itself as Meta Platforms in 2021. A new book delves into the convoluted story behind a symbol that’s become both the manna and bane of a digitally driven society.

Elon Musk's AI company says Grok chatbot focus on South Africa's racial politics was 'unauthorized'

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, says an “unauthorized modification” led its Grok chatbot to post unsolicited claims on social media about the persecution and “genocide” of white people in South Africa. That means someone — the company didn’t say who — made a change that directed Grok to "provide a specific response on a political topic,” which the company says violated its internal policies and core values. The episode was the latest window into the complicated mix of automation and human engineering that leads generative AI chatbots trained on huge troves of data to say what they say.

Donald Trump's Library of Congress fight is really about the separation of powers

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s abrupt firing of top officials at the Library of Congress and equally sudden attempt to appoint a slate of loyalists as replacements has morphed into an enormous fight over the separation of powers. And it’s a power struggle with potentially vast consequences. The battle over control of the Library of Congress has prompted Republican leaders on Capitol Hill to deliver rare pushback against Trump.  Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other Republicans have been talking with the White House about a potential path to détente. New York Democratic Rep. Joe Morelle says “this egregious overreach into the legislature by the executive branch is just unwarranted and, we believe, unprecedented.”

US cable giants Charter and Cox, under assault by streaming services, pursue $34.5 billion merger

Charter Communications is merging with Cox Communications in an approximately $34.5 billion deal that brings together two of the biggest cable companies in the country. Charter said Friday that it will acquire Cox Communications’ commercial fiber and managed IT and cloud businesses. Cox Enterprises will contribute Cox Communications’ residential cable business to Charter Holdings, an existing subsidiary partnership of Charter. The transaction includes $12.6 billion of debt and other obligations.

Fortnite says it's offline on Apple's iOS around the world

NEW YORK (AP) — Fortnite says it’s unavailable on Apple’s iOS globally because the tech giant blocked a bid to rerelease the popular video game for iPhone users in the U.S. and Europe. In a Friday announcement, Epic Games-owned Fortnite said that Apple blocked a submission that would release the game in the U.S. App Store as well as the Epic Games Store for the EU — claiming that this move would now prevent the game’s iOS availability around the world. Apple said it had specifically asked Epic Sweden to resubmit the app update without including the U.S. storefront of the App Store. But the company said it did not take any action to remove the live version from alternative markets.

Long-running EU antitrust case of Microsoft Teams appears to be nearing an end

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union regulators say they’ll seek feedback on Microsoft’s latest proposed changes to Teams to ease competition concerns. It's a sign that the bloc is set to wind down its long-running antitrust case targeting the messaging and videoconferencing app without a big fine. Microsoft had previously offered some modifications including unbundling Teams from its Office software suite in an attempt to head off the bloc’s antitrust probe shortly after it opened two years ago. But those proposals didn’t satisfy the European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s top competition enforcer, which accused Microsoft last year of potentially abusive behavior. The Commission said it will seek public comment on fresh commitments Microsoft has made to resolve the competition worries.