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supreme court leaves intact social media liability shield in win for google, twitter

By lucidcapitalism | May 18, 2023

(Bloomberg) The US Supreme Court left in place a broad liability shield for social media companies for content posted by users, insulating Twitter Inc., Facebook Inc. and Google LLC from claims that they provided assistance to Islamic State terrorists. Acting in a case involving Google, the court refused to limit the immunity internet companies have enjoyed under a decades-old law known as…

vc funding of women climate tech founders is abysmal. here’s how it could improve

By lucidcapitalism | May 15, 2023

(TechCrunch) The venture community has realized several things in recent years: Climate change isn’t going away, and there is a huge opportunity to invest in companies that promise to define entire segments of the future economy. With a few hiccups along the way, venture dollars have begun to flow with increasing volume and regularity to climate…

the debate happening inside of every vc firm

By lucidcapitalism | May 12, 2023

(TechCrunch) Precursor’s Charles Hudson wants to be cautious but not too cautious. The venture capitalist was at an AI confab last month, but he has not yet made a new AI investment during the current hype cycle. He’s one of many investors who have seen an inflection point take over a sector before, bringing in boatloads…

small vcs may struggle to find new lenders in wake of bank collapses

By lucidcapitalism | May 8, 2023

(The Information) Since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Rocky Gor, the founder and CEO of Los Angeles–based loan marketplace Capx, has been approached by a handful of small venture capital firms with a problem: No one will lend to them. In the past, these VC firms relied on a specialized credit line offered by…

f.t.c. seeks ‘blanket’ ban on meta’s use of young users’ data

By lucidcapitalism | May 3, 2023

(NYT) The Federal Trade Commission escalated its fight with the tech industry’s biggest companies on Wednesday as it moved to impose what it called a “blanket prohibition” on the collection of young people’s personal data by Meta, Facebook’s parent company. The commission wants to significantly expand a record $5 billion consent order with the company from 2020…

an investor wake-up call on artificial intelligence

By lucidcapitalism | May 3, 2023

(Financial Times) Could anxiety about generative AI prompt a broader rethink of whether technology companies really count as ethical investments? Shares of educational tech company Chegg nearly halved after it admitted earlier this week that some students had been turning towards artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT rather than its human tutors. Read more here.

us lawmakers push sec to order audit of shein ipo over uyghur forced labor fears

By lucidcapitalism | May 1, 2023

(Reuters)  A bipartisan group of two dozen U.S. representatives was calling for the Securities and Exchange Commission to halt the initial public offering of Chinese-founded fast-fashion giant Shein until it verifies it does not use forced labor, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The U.S. lawmakers want the SEC to mandate Shein to independently audit and…

executive bonuses in crosshairs in new co2 rule: esg regulation

By lucidcapitalism | April 27, 2023

(Bloomberg) Executives will face bonus cuts if the companies they run fail to hit climate transition targets, under a new European Union proposal that greatly expands the range of levers regulators can draw on to meet terms of the Paris Agreement. C-suite managers at companies with more than 1,000 employees will be held personally responsible…

23 vc firms, including tiger global, commit to a net-zero portfolio by 2050

By lucidcapitalism | April 24, 2023

(PitchBook) Twenty-three venture capital firms, including Tiger Global, have committed to reducing carbon emissions to net-zero by 2030 and achieving portfolio-wide net-zero emissions by 2050. This Venture Climate Alliance is among the most significant efforts to reduce emissions among early-stage companies. Still, some investors felt the bar should have been set higher. Read more here.

google’s rush to win in ai led to ethical lapses, employees say

By lucidcapitalism | April 19, 2023

(Bloomberg) Shortly before Google introduced Bard, its AI chatbot, to the public in March, it asked employees to test the tool.  One worker’s conclusion: Bard was “a pathological liar,” according to screenshots of the internal discussion. Another called it “cringe-worthy.” One employee wrote that when they asked Bard suggestions for how to land a plane, it…