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Just over two months into 2025, the number of pending AI bills in the U.S. has grown to 781, according to an online tracking tool. The tool, maintained by consulting firm MultiState, shows that the number of pending U.S. bills pertaining to AI now exceeds the total number of AI bills proposed in all of 2024 (743). In 2023, state and federal lawmakers proposed fewer than 200 AI-related bills. A few recently proposed laws include Maryland’s H.B. 1331, a bill regulating the development and use of high-risk AI in consequential decisions; Texas’ expansive Texas Responsible AI Governance Act; and Massachusetts’…

Google on Friday added a new, experimental “embedding” model for text, Gemini Embedding, to its Gemini developer API. Embedding models translate text inputs like words and phrases into numerical representations, known as embeddings, that capture the semantic meaning of the text. Embeddings are used in a range of applications, such as document retrieval and classification, in part because they can reduce costs while improving latency. Companies including Amazon, Cohere, and OpenAI offer embedding models through their respective APIs. Google has offered embedding models before, but Gemini Embedding is its first trained on the Gemini family of AI models. “Trained on…

xAI, Elon Musk’s AI company, has acquired a 1 million-square-foot property in Southwest Memphis to expand its AI data center footprint, according to a press release from the Memphis Chamber of Commerce. The new land will host infrastructure to complement xAI’s existing Memphis data center. “xAI’s acquisition of this property ensures we’ll remain at the forefront of AI innovation, right here in Memphis,” xAI senior site manager Brent Mayo said in a statement. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the expansion was related to a previously announced lease on a 522-acre site in Memphis. xAI is hungry for AI hardware. According…

On June 5, TechCrunch Sessions: AI will kick off — and you can be part of the industry-changing conversations that will be taking place. We have an open invitation for members of the AI community to lead breakout sessions and discussions with over 1,200 startup founders, VC leaders, and AI aficionados attending our newest event, which will be held in Zellerbach Hall at UC Berkeley. There’s just one catch: You have to apply by midnight tonight, March 7, to be considered as a speaker, so head right here to do so. You only have four days left to get your application…

Apple is delaying the rollout of the “more personalized Siri” experience it promised as part of its rollout of Apple Intelligence. According to a statement from the tech giant published on Friday by Apple blog Daring Fireball, the company admits it will “take us longer than we thought to deliver” on these new Siri features. Apple now anticipates rolling them out in the “coming year.” Announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference last year, the new, more personalized Siri was meant to upgrade the beleaguered digital assistant with the ability to understand your personal context, like your relationships, your communications, your…

California’s most controversial AI safety bill of 2024 might be dead, but its author isn’t backing down. State Senator Scott Wiener is back with SB 53, a new AI bill that strips away the most debated parts of last year’s failed legislation while keeping key whistleblower protections and a public cloud computing initiative called CalCompute. With the AI industry and even the federal government shifting away from AI safety regulation in favor of innovation, will the bill gain any traction? Today, on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Max Zeff, and Anthony Ha are unpacking the latest moves in AI…

United States President Donald Trump has issued a statement threatening Russia with tariffs and sanctions, amid accusations that he favours Moscow over the country it has invaded, Ukraine. On his Truth Social platform on Friday, Trump avoided condemning Russia’s invasion, which has been denounced as an unjustified crime of aggression under the United Nations Charter. Instead, he focused on Russia’s latest bombardment, which happened just days after the US announced it would temporarily stop sharing military intelligence with Ukraine. “Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large scale…

With the rise of AI companions who serve as online friends or romantic interests, experts are questioning how the technology affects our real-world social connections and relationships. According to Kasley Killam, author of the social health-focused book “The Art and Science of Connection: Why Social Health Is the Missing Key to Living Longer, Healthier, and Happier,” there may be some benefits to using AI as a tool to practice social interactions, but the technology should only be used to augment, not replace, our personal relationships and real-world connections. On Friday, the social health expert and graduate of the Harvard School…

The US Justice Department on Friday announced the seizure of the online infrastructure used to run Garantex, a major cryptocurrency exchange accused of facilitating multi-billion dollar money laundering and sanctions violations. The department said it worked with law enforcement partners in Europe to seize three domain names — garantex.org, garantex.io, and garantex.academy — effectively shuttering a cryptocurrency exchange linked to ransomware extortions and services to “transnational criminal organizations, including terrorist groups.” According to court documents, Garantex processed at least $96 billion in cryptocurrency transactions since April 2019. In tandem with the shutdown, the DOJ also unsealed an indictment charging Lithuanian…

SecurityWeek’s cybersecurity news roundup provides a concise compilation of noteworthy stories that might have slipped under the radar. We provide a valuable summary of stories that may not warrant an entire article, but are nonetheless important for a comprehensive understanding of the cybersecurity landscape. Each week, we curate and present a collection of noteworthy developments, ranging from the latest vulnerability discoveries and emerging attack techniques to significant policy changes and industry reports.  Here are this week’s stories: UK investigating how social media platforms use children’s data The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) announced that it’s investigating how social media platforms…