Bloomberg
A Los Angeles jury on Wednesday found Meta Platforms and Google liable for damages in a social media addiction case, awarding a total of $6 million to a young woman who said their platforms harmed her mental health. The jury concluded the companies were negligent in designing addictive features and failing to adequately warn users, particularly minors, about potential risks. The verdict is seen as a test case that could influence thousands of similar lawsuits filed across the U.S.
From "Meta, Google Found Liable in Social Media Addiction Trial"
Bloomberg (03/25/26) Madlin Mekelburg; Maia Spoto
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Barron's
President Trump on Wednesday named some of the biggest names in U.S. technology—including Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and Nvidia's Jensen Huang—to his Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. The council will be co-chaired by Trump AI and crypto adviser David Sacks and former U.S. CTO Michael Kratsios. Other appointees include Oracle chief Larry Ellison, tech investor Marc Andreessen, and AMD’s Lisa Su.
From "Trump Names Tech Titans To Science Advisory Council"
Barron's (03/25/26)
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The Washington Post
A federal judge in San Francisco blocked a Pentagon order that labeled Anthropic a national security risk. District Court Judge Rita F. Lin ruled the designation likely violated the law and may have been retaliation after the company publicly opposed certain military uses of its AI technology. The dispute centers on Anthropic’s refusal to allow its Claude system to be used for mass domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons.
From "Judge Blocks Pentagon Order Branding Anthropic a National Security Risk"
The Washington Post (03/26/26) Ian Duncan
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BBC News
Hundreds of teens in the U.K. will have their social apps disabled entirely, blocked overnight, or capped to one hour's use daily to compare their experiences with others seeing no such changes at all, as part of a government trial. The pilot will run alongside the government's consultation asking whether the U.K. should follow Australia by making it illegal for under-16s to have access to many social media sites.
From "Social Media Bans, Digital Curfews to Be Trialed on Teens in U.K."
BBC News (03/25/26) Shiona McCallum
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CBS News
Escorted by a humanoid robot at the White House Wednesday, Melania Trump pitched AI robots as potential "personalized" educators for U.S. children in their homes. Seated alongside other spouses of world leaders at the Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit, the First Lady said AI can help children develop "deep critical thinking and independent reasoning abilities" and achieve a "more well-rounded lifestyle."
From "Melania Trump Pitches Robots as Potential Educators"
CBS News (03/25/26) Kathryn Watson
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Gothamist (NY)
The New York City Department of Education has rolled out digital hall passes at more than 150 public schools. SmartPass tracks students' locations and how long they have been out of class, while a "hall monitor" feature lets teachers and staff see how many students have an active pass at the same time, along with their destination and the amount of time it takes them to return to class.
From "Digital Hall Passes Track Bathroom Breaks, Gather Data in NYC Schools"
Gothamist (NY) (03/24/26) Jessica Gould
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