Author: potus

FILE PHOTO: Jason Droege speaks at the WSJTECH live conference in Laguna Beach, California, U.S. October 22, 2019. Mike Blake | ReutersScale AI’s Interim CEO Jason Droege said in a memo on Wednesday that the artificial intelligence startup is not changing course following Meta’s multibillion-dollar investment in the company last week.”Unlike some other recent tech deals you might have heard about in the AI space, this is not a pivot or a winding down,” Droege wrote in a post directed at customers, employees and investors.Meta has a 49% stake in Scale after its $14.3 billion investment, though the social media company…

The Justice Department announced Wednesday the largest-ever U.S. seizure of cryptocurrency linked to so-called “pig butchering” scams that have cost victims billions globally.Federal prosecutors filed a civil forfeiture action targeting more than $225 million in cryptocurrency traced to a sprawling web of fraudulent investment platforms. Victims were tricked into believing they were investing in legitimate crypto ventures, only to be scammed by criminal networks often operating overseas.”This seizure of $225.3 million in funds linked to cryptocurrency investment scams marks the largest cryptocurrency seizure in U.S. Secret Service history,” said Shawn Bradstreet, special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s…

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, on Wednesday upheld a Tennessee law banning minors from receiving transgender medical treatments.In U.S. v. Skrmetti, the high court analyzed a state law that prevented healthcare providers from administering puberty blockers or hormones to minors with the intent of “enabling the minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s biological sex.”Tennessee Attorney General Johnathan Skrmetti, defendant in the case, celebrated the high court’s decision. “A bipartisan supermajority of Tennessee’s elected representatives carefully considered the evidence and voted to protect kids from irreversible decisions…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A U.S. Supreme Court decision Wednesday upholding Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors is leaving transgender children and their parents uncertain and anxious about the future. The court handed President Donald Trump’s administration and Republican-led states a significant victory by effectively protecting them from at least some of the legal challenges against many efforts to repeal safeguards for transgender people. Transgender rights supporters rally at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, June 18, 2025, in Washington, after the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors, in a…

(The Center Square) – Michigan announced this week it will join a multibillion-dollar settlement with Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family.That $7.4 billion settlement will bring as much $154 million to Michigan, which will be distributed to local and state governments. It is the largest opioid settlement to date.“After years of settlement negotiations, this agreement finally ensures Purdue is held responsible for its role in fueling the opioid epidemic,” said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. “No amount of money can undo the harm caused, but we are already seeing funds from other settlements make a real difference in prevention,…

Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle Internet Group, the issuer of one of the world’s biggest stablecoins, and Circle co-founder Sean Neville pose outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), on the day of the company’s IPO in New York City, U.S., June 5, 2025. NYSEShares of Circle and Coinbase rallied on Wednesday, as Wall Street cheered the Senate’s passage of the GENIUS Act, which would establish a federal framework for U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins. Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, rose 22% following the passing of the bill late Tuesday. It’s the continuation of a remarkable run for Circle’s stock…

(The Center Square) – Ohio U.S. Sen. Jon Husted is continuing his years-long push to protect young people from social media.His latest effort includes joining a bipartisan push in Congress to require mental health warning labels on social media platforms.Husted joined Sens. Jon Fetterman, D-Penn., and Katie Britt, R-Ala., as sponsors of the Stop the Scroll Act to label platforms with warnings of potential mental health risks that also direct users to mental health resources.“As more and more children and teens use social media, a warning label should be prominently displayed highlighting the potential harms of using social media platforms,”…

(The Center Square) – Tennessee Republican lawmakers on Wednesday praised the 6-3 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a state law banning gender-affirming care for minors.The Tennessee General Assembly passed Senate Bill 1 in 2023. The American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit on behalf of families they said would be affected by the law. The Biden administration’s Justice Department joined the ACLU in the challenge, but the challenge was dropped when President Donald Trump took office.Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, sponsored the bill in the Senate.”This ruling sends a strong message to the country…

Open AI CEO Sam Altman speaks at the annual Snowflake Summit in San Francisco, California on June 02, 2025. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesOpenAI is winding down its work with Scale AI, the artificial intelligence startup that received a multibillion-dollar investment from Meta earlier this month and saw its founder join the social media company to lead an AI effort.Scale AI is best known for its work helping major tech companies, including OpenAI, prepare data they use to train cutting-edge AI models. But OpenAI has been pulling back from the startup over the last six to…

Waymo driverless vehicles wait at a traffic light in Santa Monica, California, on May 30, 2025.Daniel Cole | ReutersResidents of New York City will soon start seeing Waymo cars cruising the avenues. But at least for now, a human will be in the driver’s seat.Alphabet’s self-driving car unit announced on Wednesday that it plans to drive vehicles manually in New York, marking the first step toward potentially cracking the largest U.S. city. Waymo said it applied for a permit with the New York City Department of Transportation to operate autonomously with a trained specialist behind the wheel in Manhattan.”While we…