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MI’s Minimum Wage Rising Most Next Year Twenty-three states’ minimum wages are increasing in 2025, typically by about 3%. But Michigan’s minimum wage will rise 21% by the end of February...
A year ago, when we published our annual forecast of the top issues likely to come before state legislators in the new year, we wrote that the world was full of “ uncertainty and tension ”...
State Lawmakers Not Reluctant to Regulate Tech in 2024: All 46 states that held legislative sessions this year enacted measures regulating technology, 238 measures in all, a 163% increase from 2023, according...
Telemedicine Still ‘Critical Focus’ for State Lawmakers: This year states passed at least 176 bills that adjust existing laws to accommodate the higher demand for telehealth services since...
The financial services company Payactiv offers wage earners an enticing pitch. “Live the life you earned,” reads a headline on the company’s homepage. “With Payactiv, you can...
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk filed a lawsuit in Superior Court in San Francisco accusing ChatGPT creator OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, of breach of contract for placing commercial interests ahead of the public good in its development of artificial intelligence. Musk’s suit claims the company, which he helped found in 2015, was established as a nonprofit for the “benefit of humanity,” including by making its technology publicly available, or open source.
Instead, the suit says, “OpenAI has been transformed into a closed-source de facto subsidiary of the largest technology company, Microsoft,” which has invested $13 billion in the AI company.
Musk reportedly tried to take control of OpenAI and turn it into a for-profit company himself in 2017, and he stepped down from the company’s board after that effort failed.
“The courts of California must decide what OpenAI must do after straying from its original mission,” said Gary Marcus, an emeritus professor of psychology and neural science at New York University, as well as a serial AI entrepreneur. “The court of public opinion must decide what it thinks of Musk, who has a fair point about OpenAI but has his own commercial A.I. interests and choices.”
The California court may not have to decide OpenAI’s fate in this particular case, however. Brian Quinn, a law professor at Boston College, said Musk probably doesn’t have legal standing to bring this suit, since nonprofit law only allows these types of challenges to be made by dues-paying members or directors of the nonprofit, or by regulators in the state where the company is registered, which in OpenAI’s case is Delaware. (NEW YORK TIMES)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed the restrictive youth social media bill passed by the state’s Legislature last month (HB 1) over concerns about parental rights and privacy. The measure would have banned those under the age of 16 from accessing social media platforms, unlike other youth social media laws passed in Arkansas (SB 396), Ohio (HB 33) and Utah (SB 152) that merely require parental consent for minors to access such sites. Florida lawmakers are working on a new measure that would allow 14- and 15-year-olds to access social media sites with parental consent and prohibit access for younger children.
“I have vetoed HB 1 because the Legislature is about to produce a different, superior bill,” the governor wrote in a post on X. “Protecting children from harms associated with social media is important, as is supporting parents’ rights and maintaining the ability of adults to engage in anonymous speech. I anticipate the new bill will recognize these priorities and will be signed into law soon.” (ASSOCIATED PRESS, POLITICO, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases challenging laws passed in Florida (SB 7072) and Texas (HB 20) in 2021 aimed at preventing what supporters of the laws contend is censorship of conservative viewpoints on social media. The justices seemed concerned that websites other than those operated by social media companies, like online marketplace Etsy, could be subject to the laws and that they infringe on the First Amendment. (ROUTE FIFTY)
California Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D), the newly appointed Chair of the Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, has introduced a package of bills aimed at regulating artificial intelligence. The legislation includes AB 2930, which would require that algorithmic decision-making tools be proven to be free of bias before being allowed to make consequential decisions affecting Californians, and AB 3204, which would require data-trained AI models sold in the state to be registered with the state. “Together, the bills create a nation-leading regulatory framework where AI tools are tracked and understood,” says a press release announcing the measures. (CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLY DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)
As we’ve previously reported, most states have either introduced or enacted legislation related to AI in the past twelve months. AI continues to be a pressing issue for state lawmakers this year, potentially introducing a host of challenges for businesses. And we don't foresee that changing anytime soon. That is why LexisNexis® State Net® would like to offer you 30 days of AI legislative and regulatory alerts for free.*
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—Compiled by SNCJ Managing Editor KOREY CLARK
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