215 | 🇺🇸 🏛️ Kamala and AI

In today’s Brainyacts:

1. Kamala’s Likely Approach to AI

2. Zuckerberg Strikes Back

3. Harvey: Dunked on, then Dunks, and other AI model news

4. Sexual-role play is 12% of ChatGPt use and more news you can use

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Lead Memo

👊 🧠 Implication of Kamala Harris Becoming President: An AI Perspective

If Vice President Kamala Harris ascends to the presidency, the implications for the tech industry could be significant. Harris, a longstanding ally of the tech sector, has a complex and multifaceted relationship with technology policy. Her potential presidency would likely continue many of President Biden's tech policies but with nuanced differences that reflect her unique experiences and perspectives.

A Continuation of Biden's Tech Agenda

As Vice President, Harris has played a key role in shaping the Biden administration's approach to technology, particularly in areas like AI. Harris's leadership as AI Czar underscores her commitment to developing international rules and norms around AI, focusing on human rights and algorithmic fairness. This commitment suggests that, as President, Harris would continue to emphasize ethical considerations in tech development, ensuring that advancements benefit society without compromising individual rights or community safety.

A Balanced Approach to Innovation and Regulation

Harris's history with the tech industry is extensive and varied. As San Francisco's top prosecutor, California's attorney general, and a U.S. senator, she has engaged with tech companies on multiple fronts over the years. She has pursued legal action against tech companies for their roles in online sex harassment and has held tech executives accountable on Capitol Hill. Yet, her relationship with the industry is not purely adversarial. She has also received significant financial support from tech executives, indicating a level of mutual respect and understanding. Also, her brother-in-law, Tony West, is GC at Uber.

This duality in her approach reflects Harris's broader philosophy. At the Global Summit on AI Safety, she emphasized rejecting the "false choice" between protecting the public and advancing innovation. This suggests that her presidency would likely seek to balance stringent oversight with fostering technological growth, ensuring that regulatory measures do not stifle innovation.

Antitrust Stance and Big Tech

One of the more contentious areas in tech policy is antitrust regulation. Harris has not been particularly vocal about breaking up tech giants, which contrasts with the more aggressive stances of some of her Democratic peers. However, it is unlikely that she would halt the ongoing antitrust efforts pursued by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The continuation of these cases indicates a commitment to addressing monopolistic practices, albeit without necessarily dismantling the companies involved.

Financial Ties and Ethical Concerns

The financial contributions Harris has received from tech executives could raise concerns about potential conflicts of interest. Critics might question whether these financial ties could influence her policy decisions. Upon becoming the presidential presumptive nominee, Democratic mega-donor and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman was quick to openly pledge his support to her. Trump has been garnering serious Silicon Valley AI-related donors from the likes of Elon Musk, David Sacks, Marc Andreessen, among others. Also, the VP nominee, JD Vance, worked as a venture capitalist and has close ties to folks like Peter Thiel.

It appears, that whoever the President is, they will owe AI founders something for their support and $$$.

Spotlight

Zuckerberg Unleashes Llama 3.1 (and targets Apple)

Mark has been busy (and apparently living the surfer-dude lifestyle).

In the last 24 hours, Meta AI has released an update, called Llama 3.1. He also penned a letter in which he advocates for open-source models, specifically calling out Apple for its closed-source approach, but also talking about why open-source it’s better for national security. He also had time to sit down for a quick interview (watch below).

But what matters to you dear reader might be this - trying out the new model for yourself. You can do this by going to meta.ai. You can choose to log into your Facebook account or not. I did, though, I seldom ever use FB. Logging into these modes sometimes makes them work differently (better).

You will see this pop-up to try the new model:

You should note that this model is not multi-modal and cannot do many of the things other models can do like upload documents, hear you if you speak to it, or know what is on your screen.

I tested it out in terms of how “fresh” its content was regarding current events. You can see below that it struggles to understand my first simple prompt but does know today’s date. With the second prompt, it does a better job but isn’t as up-to-date or real-time as some of the other AI models that actively search the web or their own feeds (like Grok).

Prompt #1

Prompt #2

And here is his interview:

AI Model Notables

► Elon Musk shares updates on Grok 2 and 3 (which he claims will be the most powerful AI model available) plus how the new Memphis data center will be used.

► OpenAI’s much-hyped and then delayed AI Voice mode is coming this month (for a select few) – recall the demo.

► Harvey.ai gets dunked on on X/Twitter:

► Meanwhile, Harvey dunks right back:

News You Can Use:

➭ Research paper: Due to website scraping to feed AI training data models, 28% of the most active websites on the internet now are fully restricted from using their data. While some may applaud this, it has potentially harmful consequences on bias, information diversity, and freshness. 

• Interesting finding: Sexual role-play appears to be a prevalent use of ChatGPT - represents 12% of all recorded user interactions in Wildcat. Wildcat is a corpus of 1 million real-world user-ChatGPT interactions.

➭ As congressional sessions have passed without any new federal artificial intelligence laws, state legislators are striking out on their own to regulate AI in the meantime.

➭ Five Senate Democrats want answers about OpenAI's safety efforts after several employees warned earlier this month that OpenAI rushed through safety testing.

➭ California is a battleground for AI bills, as Trump plans to curb regulation.

➭ Artificial intelligence detects cancer with 25% greater accuracy than doctors in UCLA study.

➭ Electronic Arts used AI to scan photos to create digital avatars of college players for its videogame after securing players’ likeness rights for the first time.

➭ Public Citizen the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator host a virtual event, “AI’s Impact on Energy and Climate Policy,” Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.

➭ Is investment in AI so high that nobody will ever get a return on investment? A 10-min overview by CNBC.

➭ FCC head floats disclosures for all AI-generated robocalls.

Who is the author, Josh Kubicki?

Some of you know me. Others do not. Here is a short intro. I am a lawyer, entrepreneur, and teacher. I have transformed legal practices and built multi-million dollar businesses. Not a theorist, I am an applied researcher and former Chief Strategy Officer, recognized by Fast Company and Bloomberg Law for my unique work. Through this newsletter, I offer you pragmatic insights into leveraging AI to inform and improve your daily life in legal services.