August 2025

Trump official urges Asia to reject Europe’s ‘over-regulation’ of AI (Financial Times)

Submitted by benton on Tue, 08/05/2025 - 06:24

Teens are turning to AI for friendship, advice and emotional support (Los Angeles Times)

Submitted by benton on Tue, 08/05/2025 - 06:23

Illinois bans AI from providing mental health services (StateScoop)

Submitted by benton on Tue, 08/05/2025 - 06:23

New York Makes Contact with Loved Ones More Accessible Phone Call Policy Change

As part of its ongoing mission to prepare individuals in custody for successful reentry and community reintegration, the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) announced that, effective August 1, 2025, the Department will make contact with family and loved ones more accessible. Phone calls made by incarcerated individuals—via tablets or facility phones—will be free of charge. This significant policy change eliminates financial barriers to communication and aims to strengthen the vital connections between incarcerated individuals and their loved ones.

AI rivalry between the United States and China moves to International Telecommunication Union (Politico)

Submitted by benton on Mon, 08/04/2025 - 16:50

Lumen Technologies reports second quarter 2025 results

Lumen Technologies reported results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2025. Highlights included:

Amphenol Corporation to Acquire Connectivity and Cable Solutions Business From CommScope

Amphenol Corporation announced a definitive agreement to acquire CommScope’s Connectivity and Cable Solutions business for $10.5 billion in cash, subject to customary post-closing adjustments. The transaction expands Amphenol’s interconnect product capabilities in the fast-growing IT datacom market, particularly adding fiber optic interconnect products for artificial intelligence and other data center applications, and further diversifies Amphenol’s broad portfolio of fiber optic and other interconnect product solutions in the communications networks and industrial markets.

FCC Announces Counties Where Conditional Forbearance from the Lifeline Voice Obligation Applies

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) announced the counties in which conditional forbearance from the obligation to offer Lifeline-supported voice service applies. This forbearance applies only to the Lifeline voice obligation of eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) that are designated for purposes of receiving both high-cost and Lifeline support (high-cost/Lifeline ETCs), and not to Lifeline-only ETCs. The 2016 Lifeline Order established conditional forbearance from Lifeline voice obligations in targeted areas where certain competitive condit

The New Digital Divide

We build and analyze new metrics of digital usage that leverage telemetry data collected by Microsoft during operating system updates across forty million Windows devices in U.S. households. These measures of US household digital usage are much more comprehensive than those made available through any existing commercial or government survey. We construct representations of devices in ZIP codes and find evidence of significant variation in usage reflecting an urban-rural divide.

Daily Digest 8/4/2025

Submitted by zwalker@benton.org on Mon, 08/04/2025 - 11:03

Benton

Search