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| 1 | | The U.S. Supreme Court handed a victory to tech platforms on Thursday by avoiding a ruling on a law that protects them from being held legally responsible for user-created content. The decisions involved two cases — Twitter v. Taameneh and Gonzalez v. Google — that argued that social media platforms should be held liable for aiding separate terrorist attacks. One of the decisions sidestepped the court's invitation to narrow Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which remains unchanged for now. More: - The cases involved claims related to separate ISIS attacks. In Gonzalez, Google's YouTube was blamed for the attack for aiding terrorism by sharing ISIS content. In Taamneh, plaintiffs argued Twitter and others supported terrorists by hosting user-created content.
- In Thursday's Gonzalez opinion, the Supreme Court didn't address Section 230 liability and instead sent the case back to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for review.
- In the Taameneh ruling, the court unanimously determined that a different law allowing lawsuits for assisting terrorists generally does not apply to tech platforms.
- Justice Clarence Thomas, who wrote the opinion in the Twitter case, compared social media platforms to other digital technologies, stating they cannot be held responsible for specific terrorist attacks resulting from general terrorist speech.
Zoom out: - The court's decisions avoided addressing the broader implications of Section 230, which shields social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter from legal responsibility when they display, suggest, or promote user-generated content.
- Meanwhile, President Biden and some Republican critics agree on the need for potential Section 230 reform, albeit for different reasons.
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| 2 | | The news: A majority of Americans who used Twitter in the past year and two months took a break from the platform, and a quarter of them said they are unlikely to use it a year from now, according to results of a recent Pew Research Center survey. What the numbers say: The poll, conducted in March, found that 60% of Americans who used Twitter over the previous 12 months reported taking time off from the site for several weeks or longer. Gender, race, and ethnicity play a role in the likelihood of taking a break, as women (69%) were more likely than men (54%) to do so, and Black users (67%) had a higher tendency to take a break than White (60%) or Hispanic (54%) users. What else: Following Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, the top 20% of its most active users also showed a decline in their posting frequency, with their average number of tweets per month dropping by 25%, according to Pew. However, eight out of 10 of these power users are still among the most active post-takeover, it noted. Why it matters: The data highlights the challenges faced by Twitter's incoming CEO, Linda Yaccarino, as she takes over from Musk. In addition to user retention issues, she faces hurdles surrounding advertiser relationships, moderation concerns, and engaging "power users," who are responsible for most of the platform's content. 
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| 3 | | Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed a bill that makes it illegal for TikTok to operate in the state, becoming the first in the U.S. to completely prohibit the app. The law, considered the most extreme action against the Chinese-owned app in the country, is expected to face legal challenges. It will likely serve as a test case for policymakers' ability to ban private company operations. More: - The ban, set to take effect in January, prohibits app stores such as Apple and Google from offering TikTok to Montana residents.
- Gianforte said the ban aims to protect citizens from potential foreign influence and safeguard their personal and private data due to TikTok's ownership by ByteDance, based in Beijing.
- App stores that violate the ban by providing TikTok may face penalties, starting with a $10,000 fine per violation.
- Both TikTok and the ACLU have criticized the ban, arguing that it violates users' First Amendment rights.
- However, TikTok has assured users in Montana that they can continue using the platform while the company works to defend user rights.
What's next: - The ban is expected to lead to a protracted legal battle, as questions remain about the state's ability to enforce the law.
- Cybersecurity experts have expressed doubts about its enforceability and believe it will be challenging for app stores like Apple and Google to block TikTok downloads in Montana.
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| 4 | | BT Group, the U.K.'s largest mobile and broadband provider, plans to cut up to 55,000 jobs by 2030, replacing some with artificial intelligence (AI) tools. BT's workforce, currently at 130,000, would shrink to as low as 75,000 by the end of the decade as it works to cut costs and digitize operations. More: - Approximately 10,000 roles are expected to be automated, primarily in customer service and network management, according to the company.
- BT's CEO, Philip Jansen, has set a target to reduce costs and expenses by £3B ($3.7B) annually by 2025.
- The telecom, which is working to complete a nationwide fiber-optic rollout, has touted the potential benefits of AI in improving customer service and driving business growth.
- Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs analysts predict that generative AI technologies have the potential to automate around 300 million full-time jobs, with two-thirds of jobs in the U.S. and Europe impacted to some extent.
Zoom out: - In a similar move, Vodafone, BT's competitor, also plans to cut 11,000 jobs to strengthen its competitive position.
- Both decisions come amid negotiations for a potential merger between Vodafone and Three, which could result in the U.K. having only three major mobile operators, including O2 and EE.
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| 5 | | Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba plans to spin off its cloud division as a separate publicly traded company after reporting quarterly revenue that missed expectations. Alibaba's CEO, Daniel Zhang, announced that its Cloud Intelligence Group will be fully spun off through a stock dividend distribution to shareholders. More: - The cloud intelligence group, which combines AI and cloud services, aims to complete the public listing within the next year.
- The announcement comes after Alibaba said it would split its business into six independent companies, most of which will be able to seek outside funding and pursue their own IPO.
- In line with the restructuring plans, Alibaba intends to seek outside funding and take most of its units public, except for its China-facing e-commerce division.
- Zhang said it's planning potential IPOs for Alibaba Global Digital Commerce Business Group, Freshippo (its grocery arm), and Cainiao (its logistics unit) within the next 18 months.
Zoom out: - Alibaba has said it is the "most significant" restructuring of the technology organization since it was founded in 1999.
- Competition from rivals PDD Holdings and Douyin has negatively impacted Alibaba's user growth in China's mature e-commerce sector.
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| 6 | | ChatGPT Plus users will be granted access to web browsing and plugins as experimental features introduced by OpenAI. These features enable the chatbot to browse the web in real-time and utilize third-party services like travel bookings and grocery shopping. More: - By leveraging Microsoft's Bing API, OpenAI's browsing plugin empowers ChatGPT to access up-to-date internet content beyond its training data from September 2021.
- Additionally, the third-party plugins for ChatGPT offer various functionalities, such as weather forecasts, shopping assistance, grocery ordering, sports results, and integration with popular work apps like Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, and Slack.
- The plugins supports over 70 services, including Zapier, Expedia, Instacart, Klarna, and OpenTable.
- To activate these plugins, subscribers can navigate to the "beta features" tab in the settings menu and customize their experience by selecting specific plugins from the Plugin Store.
- Priority access to the features is being granted to ChatGPT Plus subscribers, who pay a monthly fee of $20 for uninterrupted access and other benefits. OpenAI plans to roll out these features in phases over time.
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 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is a writer and editor at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily technology news. She has written the Inside AI newsletter since 2019. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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