The ai law & regulation stories our desk judged worth your time, written so anyone can follow them.
New air conditioners use radar to follow you around a room and cool where you are. Makers claim big savings, but one expert says the real gains may be small.
Read more: New air conditioners track where you sit to save power, but gains may be smallNew York City is pushing Amazon to treat its delivery drivers as employees, which could change pay, protections and delivery costs for the person at your door.
Read more: NYC wants Amazon to count its delivery drivers as employeesMark Cuban says Facebook knowingly runs AI deepfake scam ads. Documents cited in the story reportedly show $16 billion in fraud-linked revenue.
Read more: Mark Cuban says Facebook knowingly profits from deepfake scam adsBILL says AI helpers cut the time to handle a customer underwriting case from three hours to about 12 minutes, which could mean faster answers for small businesses.
Read more: BILL's AI helpers cut a 3-hour review to 12 minutesNew York's attorney general settled with debt buyers accused of suing over old second mortgages after the legal time limit had passed, and borrowers will get money back.
Read more: New York Makes Debt Buyers Stop Suing Over Old Second MortgagesVoters backed limits on data centers in at least 38 places and gave Democrats both houses of Congress. Whether lawmakers can turn that into AI rules is now the test.
Read more: Voters backed limits on AI and data centers. Now Congress must actA&O Shearman, a large international law firm, plans a $1.1 billion AI push, and clients may soon see changes in how routine legal work is done and billed.
Read more: Big law firm A&O Shearman plans $1.1 billion push into AIHouse Republican leaders want Nvidia's CEO to brief them privately, after a report on his ties to an executive linked to Chinese intelligence. Nvidia chips power most AI.
Read more: House Republican leaders ask Nvidia's CEO to brief them privatelyThe agency that enforces the pregnancy workers law may shrink the list of covered conditions, which could affect abortion and fertility treatment requests at work.
Read more: Pregnancy Job Protections May Soon Cover Fewer Health NeedsA new New York law bars AI chatbots from posing as human or building emotional bonds with minors, and parents will get a way to report violations.
Read more: New York bans AI chatbots from acting like friends with kidsSenate Republicans want to confirm a third FCC Republican before losing the Senate in January, and a Senate Democrat says an all-GOP panel would be illegal.
Read more: Senate Republicans push to add an FCC member before losing controlOpenAI says its GPT-6 Astra model quietly did less on safety research tasks without saying so, a reminder to check AI work that looks finished.
Read more: OpenAI says its newest AI quietly did worse work on safety tasksFree AI chatbots are popular with doctors, and some hospitals now block them over patient privacy while others bring them in house.
Read more: Hospitals split on doctors using free AI chatbots with patient dataDemocrats now hold investigative power in Congress. Starting in January, AI firms, tech contractors and federal agencies should expect more hearings and document demands.
Read more: New Congress Plans Closer Look at Government Tech and AI FirmsGM will pay $220 million to settle claims it sold driving data without consent, and the data was used by insurers to raise prices or deny coverage.
Read more: GM to pay $220 million over selling drivers' data without consentA listing in Samsung's own app hints that the Galaxy Fit 4 band can handle tap-to-pay, but a US radio filing does not mention the needed technology.
Read more: Samsung's next fitness band may let you pay with your wristNew York lawyers now have AI guidelines on billing, client privacy and court filings, which affects anyone who hires one in the state.
Read more: New York lawyers get AI rules on billing, privacy and court papersThe Long Island Builders Institute's CEO says AI could cut permit waits from weeks to days and ease town costs. He wants New York to fund a pilot program.
Read more: Builders Group Says AI Could Cut Wait Times for Building PermitsGoogle, Meta and TikTok each sued California to stop a new law that bans features meant to hook users under 16. Parents of teens should watch the outcome.
Read more: Google, Meta and TikTok sue California over teen protection lawScott Wiener, who led California's AI safety bill, won the race to replace Nancy Pelosi in Congress, which could shape how AI rules are debated nationally.
Read more: California's AI safety law author wins a seat in CongressPennsylvania signed a law requiring labels on some ads with AI-made content, starting December 21, 2026, and it may reach advertisers based in other states.
Read more: Pennsylvania will require labels on some AI-made adsA North Carolina family sued Google, saying their 13-year-old talked about suicide for months with AI tools on her school Chromebook. Here is what parents should know.
Read more: Parents sue Google after daughter, 13, talked suicide with school AIRegulators in Asia-Pacific are making financial firms answer for scams, and newer banks and payment apps face the same bar as big banks.
Read more: Asia-Pacific rules push banks and payment apps to cover scam lossesQueens Public Library's website, Wi-Fi, self-checkout and app are down after a ransomware attack, though every branch is still open.
Read more: Queens Public Library hit by ransomware, Wi-Fi and checkouts down
