The administration will soon publish public comments on the update to the National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan expected in early spring, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Assistant Director-Artificial Intelligence Lynne Parker said Tuesday. The administration is pleased overall with the strategic plan inherited from the previous administration, Parker told an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation event. The overwhelming majority of comments are positive, she said: “We don’t need to overhaul the original plan.” The federal government can’t ignore significant AI investment from industry and R&D gaps, she said.
Artificial intelligence will have major ramifications economy-wide, potentially revolutionizing the communications industry, Chairman Ajit Pai said. At an FCC event, he urged “regulatory humility” when dealing with emerging technology, as micromanagement would be “foolish or counterproductive.”
Securing against botnets requires collective action from government, internet and communications stakeholders, industry officials said Thursday, releasing a report. The Council to Secure the Digital Economy cybersecurity coalition between tech and communications groups warns against “prescriptive, compliance-focused regulatory requirements.” Government’s role isn't regulation that stymies response to threats, Information Technology Industry Council CEO Dean Garfield said during a panel. The goal should be to cut back 90-95 percent of threats because no amount of collaboration will be able to eradicate all threats, CTA CEO Gary Shapiro said. There’s no higher cause than addressing threats to the digital economy, USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter argued, saying the cyber group plans to release an annual report: “This isn’t one and done.” Threats are increasing as the value of the tech sector grows, Garfield said. Shapiro called it a multi-factorial problem with multi-factorial solutions. Botnets can turn “everyday products into an army of devices capable of transmitting torrents of Internet traffic capable of knocking targeted networks offline,” Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said during a separate appearance Thursday. He encouraged the private sector to continue searching for “constructive solutions." The Commerce and Homeland Security departments released a road map highlighting focus areas for government and the private sector: the IoT, enterprise, internet infrastructure, technology development and awareness/education.
There's one less candidate to succeed retiring Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., on the House Judiciary Committee, possibly clearing the path for Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., as the next ranking member (see 1811280064) over Steve Chabot, R-Ohio. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, withdrew his candidacy for the seat, telling reporters Thursday: “It’s been made clear to me talking with leadership that I’m not going to get it, that job, so I’m not going to do it. It would be a waste of my time, waste of their time.” The House Republican Steering Committee Thursday was said to have picked Collins over Chabot, but their offices hadn't made announcements. The recommendation must be ratified by the GOP caucus, a lobbyist noted.
The House Republican Steering Committee is likely to recommend a member for the top GOP House Judiciary Committee seat by Thursday, lobbyists and officials told us. The race to succeed retiring Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., is between Reps. Doug Collins, Georgia; Steve Chabot, Ohio; and Jim Jordan, Ohio, with Collins the favorite (see 1810310025). The committee vote wraps up Thursday, a House aide said, and the recommendation is subject to Republican caucus ratification. Senate GOP leaders are eyeing a reduction in Senate Commerce Committee membership for the 116th Congress (see 1811280058).
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., will “most certainly” pursue anti-sex-trafficking-like legislation (see 1806290044) in 2019 holding online platforms accountable for illegal opioid/drug sales, he told us Monday. He originally raised the idea during a hearing with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg in September (see 1809050057). “They’re putting this junk on the market. They ought to be responsible for it,” Manchin said now. “If you look at all the platforms they’re using to sell this stuff on, don’t you think they should be held accountable? If they’re letting the sales come in illegally on their platforms?” Twitter and Facebook didn't comment.
The FTC’s goal is to reach the “right result” as fast as possible for privacy probes, Chairman Joe Simons testified when pressed by lawmakers for a timeline on the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica investigation. Simons wouldn't address specific cases during the first oversight hearing with all five new commissioners before the Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee (see 1811230021). Hours earlier Tuesday, Facebook also faced heat at a multicountry hearing in U.K.'s House of Commons (see 1811270014).
Consumers have the right to sue for damages involving Apple’s alleged App Store monopoly (see 1811050033), liberal Supreme Court justices suggested Monday during oral argument in Apple v. Robert Pepper, docket 17-204. Conservative justices warned against allowing both developers and consumers to pursue potentially duplicative compensation. But Justice Brett Kavanaugh appeared to side with Pepper.
The Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee’s FTC oversight hearing Tuesday (see 1811200051) is an opportunity for lawmakers to show bipartisan interest in federal privacy legislation, industry lobbyists told us. With all five commissioners set to testify, it’s also a chance to find out where there's consensus and disagreement within the FTC (see 1811210031), they said.
Despite high-level consensus from the FTC, consumer groups and industry on the need for stronger agency enforcement authorities, it will be very challenging to reach agreement on specifics for a new data privacy bill, tech interests told us.