Happy Tuesday! Here’s your Tuesday Tech Drop, the past week’s top stories from the intersection of technology and politics.
A push to block chatbots’ medical advice
Pennsylvania has filed a lawsuit against Character AI in an attempt to prevent the artificial intelligence company’s chatbots from offering medical advice while portraying themselves as licensed medical professionals. Per CBS News:
According to a lawsuit, a Character AI chatbot falsely claimed to be a licensed psychiatrist in Pennsylvania and provided an invalid license number. The state accused the company of violating the Medical Practice Act, which regulates the medical profession and defines license requirements.
“We will not allow companies to deploy AI tools that mislead people into believing they are receiving advice from a licensed medical professional,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a statement.
In a statement, the company said the “user-created Characters on our site are fictional and intended for entertainment and roleplaying” and that it adds “robust disclaimers making it clear that users should not rely on Characters for any type of professional advice.”
Recent studies have drawn attention to the crisis of chatbot users — children, in particular — turning to AI tools for medical advice, including about mental health issues.
Read more at CBS News.
More than 1,000 employees leave CISA
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said roughly 1,100 employees left the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which is responsible for protecting America’s election infrastructure from attacks, amid the partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security that began in February and ended Thursday.
Read more at The Hill.
Senators banned from prediction markets
The Senate passed a resolution banning its lawmakers and staff members from trading on prediction markets. The move comes in the wake of numerous episodes that suggested people with advanced knowledge of political happenings collected massive winnings through betting platforms, such as Kalshi and Polymarket.
Read more at Mediaite.
Meta threatens New Mexico
I wrote about Meta’s threats to block access to its platforms in New Mexico after a historic court ruling found the company liable for endangering children.
Read more at MS NOW.
Recommended
Judge blocks DOJ in leak investigation
A second judge has maintained a hold preventing the Justice Department from searching data it seized as part of a leak investigation into The Washington Post’s Hannah Natanson. Shortly before the ruling, the Post won a Pulitzer Prize for Natanson’s reporting on the Trump administration’s efforts to overhaul the federal government.
Read more at The Washington Post.
Trump administration to test AI tools
The Trump administration has gained a leg up in its push to impose its will on the AI industry, after reaching agreements that will allow it to test AI models from Google, Microsoft and xAI before they hit the market.
Read more at CNBC.
Paramount+ subscribers sue
Subscribers to Paramount+ have filed an antitrust lawsuit seeking to thwart Paramount Skydance’s attempted merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.
Read more at Forbes.
Americans skeptical of AI, crypto
A new poll from Politico found broad public skepticism toward AI tools and the cryptocurrency industry, as key players in both industries have invested massive amounts of money in this year’s midterm elections.
Read more at Politico.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.