THE BIG STORY

Tech Leaders Call on Congress to Act on AI

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other tech leaders traveled to Capitol Hill Wednesday for a meeting on artificial intelligence, where they expressed unanimous agreement that the government needs to intervene to avert the potential pitfalls of the evolving technology, the Washington Post reports. But there was little apparent consensus about what a congressional framework should look like to govern AI, as companies forge ahead.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters afterward that writing the legislation could take months, but not years, CNBC reports. “This is the hardest thing that I think we have ever undertaken,” Schumer said. “But we can’t be like ostriches and put our head in the sand. Because if we don’t step forward, things will be a lot worse.”

The session came as AI pioneer Mustafa Suleyman, DeepMind co-founder and now CEO of Inflection AI, is warning in a new book that powerful AI systems must be licensed by government to ensure the survival of humanity. In the book, Axios reports, he writes that will require "an overarching lock uniting cutting-edge engineering, ethical values, and government regulation."

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BUSINESS

Arm to Debut in Biggest IPO in Two Years

British chip designer Arm Holdings was scheduled to start trading on the Nasdaq today, in what is the largest initial public offering of shares in nearly two years, AP reports. The shares were priced at $51, giving Arm, whose circuitry is in almost all smartphones, a market value of $54.5 billion. The opening trade could be much higher, given the interest among investors in the offering.

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TECHNOLOGY

Why Facebook, Google Held Back Facial Recognition Tools

Engineers at Facebook and Google built tools years ago that could put a name to any face but they chose to hold the technology back, the New York Times reports. The reason: the most extreme version—putting a name to a stranger’s face—was too dangerous to make widely available. Now, the taboo has been broken by startups Clearview AI and PimEyes—and facial recognition technology could become ubiquitous.

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ENTREPRENEURS

How Musk’s Biographer Captured His Subject

Despite Elon Musk’s impetuousness and his open hostility toward journalists, he gave biographer Walter Isaacson unfettered access, the Los Angeles Times reports. The result is a 688-page opus that details Musk’s brutal treatment of workers and colleagues, his impulsive business moves and his grand ambitions. “For better and for worse, he has an epic sense of his place and mission in our world,” says Isaacson.

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SPONSORED

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QUICK HITS

• Apple held its annual iPhone launch event Tuesday, announcing the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, complete with USB-C charging, and the new Apple Watch, with 72 hours of battery life.
• Google has exploited its dominance of the internet search market to lock out competitors and smother innovation, the Department of Justice said Tuesday at the opening of the biggest U.S. antitrust trial in a quarter century.
• The U.S. ad industry will grow 5 percent in 2023 to $360 billion, and digital platforms—which include search, social, commerce, retail media and digital video platforms—will account for about 64 percent of all advertising.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

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"As Shakespeare writes, the best are molded out of their faults. So he’s got a lot of faults."

—Biographer Walter Isaacson, on Elon Musk