Ron DeSantis

The Supreme Court is hearing two cases on Monday that could set new precedents around free speech on social media platforms. The cases challenge two similar laws from Florida and Texas, respectively, which aim to reduce “Silicon Valley censorship” on social media, much like Elon Musk has done at X in the last year.Twitter Verification is a Hot Mess“Silencing conservative views is un-American, it’s un-Texan and it’s about to be illegal,” said Texas Governor Greg Abbott on X in 2021, announcing one of the laws the Supreme…

Florida lawmakers have fast-tracked legislation that forces social media companies to keep most minors off their platforms. The legislation, which passed the state House Thursday after earlier being approved by the Senate, now heads to Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) desk, though he says he’s not quite ready to sign on. DeSantis told reporters Friday that he thinks there needs to be a “proper balance” between government regulations and parental input on the social media issue. “We’ll be wrestling with that,” he…

After a year of getting roundly humiliated by Donald Trump and failing to unseat him as the leader of the Republican Party, Ron DeSantis finally dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump’s bid to reclaim the White House. But while the former president publicly retired his “DeSanctimonious” nickname, Trump has privately made clear over the past two weeks that he’s not ready to let go of his grudge against the Florida governor and former ally.  According to two sources with knowledge of the matter and another…

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his allies spent nearly $170 million for him to get utterly humiliated in his bid for the 2024 Republican nomination.  According to newly released Federal Election Commission filings, Never Back Down, the primary super PAC backing DeSantis, had spent $131 million backing his campaign by the end of 2023. His campaign had spent $28 million by that time.    DeSantis withdrew from the race earlier this month following a campaign-ending second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses,…

The Walt Disney Company faced a legal defeat today after its lawsuit alleging retaliation was dismissed in a Florida court. The claim focused on the state’s violation of the company’s First Amendment rights for standing against Governor Ron DeSantis’ “Don’t Say Gay” bill, a homophobic law that endangers the human rights of LGBTQIA+ communities and their families. Twitter Is Shifting Right | Future TechAfter Disney spoke out against the bill, DeSantis and the state of Florida removed Disney’s control of a special district…

As artificial intelligence starts to reshape society in ways predictable and not, some of Colorado’s highest-profile federal lawmakers are trying to establish guardrails without shutting down the technology altogether. U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, a Windsor Republican, is cosponsoring legislation with California Democrat Ted Lieu to create a national commission focused on regulating the technology and another bill to keep AI from unilaterally firing nuclear weapons. Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat, has publicly urged the leader of…

This year, at least some countries will have to say goodbye to the Netflix Basic subscription tier, the last cheap(ish) way to watch Netflix without ads. While the streaming giant had already severed the $12 Basic subscription tier for new or returning subscribers, anybody who chose to keep paying their monthly tithe…Read more... This year, at least some countries will have to say goodbye to the Netflix Basic subscription tier, the last cheap(ish) way to watch Netflix without ads. While the streaming giant had already…

Photo: Gilbert Flores/Golden Globes 2024/Golden Globes 2024 (Getty Images)Earlier this week, AI-generated porn featuring Taylor Swift started circulating on X (formerly Twitter). Swifties were scandalized. Polite society was incensed. Swift herself hasn’t publicly commented on the scandal but it’s easy to imagine she’s probably not thrilled about it. Now, people are saying that the queen of pop should sue—though it’s not entirely clear who she should sue or what kind of lawsuit it would be. One thing’s for sure: AI…

Welcome to AI This Week, Gizmodo’s weekly deep dive on what’s been happening in artificial intelligence.Why is Everyone Suing AI Companies? | Future TechWhen I first saw a video of Dean Phillips, I thought it was a deepfake of Ron DeSantis. The guy’s head has roughly the same shape and hair color as the Florida governor’s, although his features are slightly less troll-like. Since then I’ve learned that no, actually, he’s a totally different guy. As a listless 2024 Democratic presidential candidate, Phillips still sorta…

Florida Governor Ron Desantis, who often sounds like an AI chatbot, dropped out of the 2024 Presidential Election on Sunday, just a week after OpenAI banned ChatGPT for political campaigns. It begs the question, was Ron Desantis running on ChatGPT this whole time?I Gave Sam Altman a Copy of My Eyeballs | Future Tech“People want to know and trust that they are interacting with a real person,” OpenAI said in a blog post last week, talking about ChatGPT but also, somehow, Desantis. “For that reason, we don’t allow builders…