Daily News: June 6, 2025
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Today's News
Here are the top 5 recent news items on artificial intelligence:
1./ Senate Republicans Amend AI Regulation Ban Amid State Backlash
Senate Republicans, led by Sen. Ted Cruz, have revised their proposed ban on state regulation of artificial intelligence in a controversial tax bill, now tying restrictions to federal broadband funding instead of an outright prohibition. The original plan to forbid state AI regulations for a decade drew bipartisan criticism from state lawmakers and digital safety advocates, though tech executives supported it to avoid fragmented policies. The change seeks to comply with Senate procedural rules requiring provisions to primarily affect federal budgets. Republican leaders hope this revision helps preserve the broader tax package, which also extends Trump-era tax cuts and includes contentious budget reductions.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/ai-regulation-state-moratorium-congress-78d24dea621f5c1f8bc947e86667b65d
2./ Trump Administration’s AI Tool Erroneously Targets Veteran Affairs Contracts for Cancellation
The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) developed an artificial intelligence tool, created by a software engineer without medical or government experience, to identify Veteran Affairs (VA) contracts for cancellation. Using outdated AI models, the “munchable” tool incorrectly flagged thousands of contracts, inflating values and misclassifying essential services, including critical healthcare projects. Experts criticized the reliance on flawed general-purpose AI, highlighting its inaccuracies and inappropriate application. Although the VA insists decisions involved human oversight, internal processes lacked transparency and adequate context, potentially jeopardizing veterans’ care.
Source: https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-doge-veterans-affairs-ai-contracts-health-care
3./ Researchers Prove AI Models Can Be Ethically Trained Without Copyrighted Material
Researchers from institutions including MIT, Carnegie Mellon, and the Allen Institute for AI have successfully trained a large language model (LLM) using only publicly available and openly licensed data, challenging claims by major AI firms that such an approach is impossible. The team assembled an 8-terabyte ethically-sourced dataset, including books from the Library of Congress, to train a seven-billion-parameter model that performed similarly to Meta’s 2023 Llama 2-7B. Despite being labor-intensive and less powerful than cutting-edge models, the experiment disproves industry arguments that copyrighted content is essential, potentially influencing future legal debates and regulations regarding AI data usage.
4./ UK Judge Warns Lawyers Citing Fake AI-Generated Cases Risk Prosecution
High Court Justice Victoria Sharp issued a stern warning after lawyers in England were found citing non-existent AI-generated cases in court proceedings, highlighting serious risks to judicial integrity. In a significant £90 million lawsuit involving Qatar National Bank, attorneys presented 18 fictitious cases produced by generative AI without verification. Sharp emphasized the potential legal consequences, including contempt of court and perverting justice, and urged stringent oversight and compliance with ethical standards to maintain public trust in the legal system.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/uk-courts-fake-ai-cases-46013a78d78dc869bdfd6b42579411cb#
5./ Perplexity Partners with LegalZoom to Deliver Direct Legal Assistance
Generative AI platform Perplexity has teamed up with LegalZoom to integrate legal help directly into its application, allowing Pro subscribers access to reliable legal information, templates, and discounted services tailored for individuals and small businesses. This collaboration signifies a significant shift in consumer legal service delivery, merging LegalZoom’s established expertise with Perplexity’s AI capabilities, and potentially reshaping the small-business and consumer legal market. LegalZoom aims to embed trusted legal solutions directly into modern AI-driven search experiences, signaling further strategic alliances in the evolving legal technology landscape.
Today's Takeaway
These developments paint a sobering picture of the profound legal, ethical, and policy shifts catalyzed by AI’s rapid adoption. Senate Republicans’ reluctant retreat on the AI regulation ban demonstrates the vital tug-of-war between centralized oversight and states’ rights, a conflict that will only intensify as AI permeates society. The Trump administration’s troubling misuse of AI underscores the dangers of deploying powerful yet imprecise tools in sensitive contexts without rigorous oversight, endangering veterans’ healthcare and public trust. Meanwhile, researchers proving ethical data sourcing for AI training dismantle a core defense of copyright infringement by major tech firms, setting the stage for potentially landmark legal rulings and reshaping industry standards. The UK High Court’s stern warnings about AI-generated falsehoods in the courtroom remind us that trust in the legal system rests on human accountability: no AI shortcut can or should replace rigorous verification. Lastly, Perplexity’s strategic alliance with LegalZoom reveals an accelerating shift toward embedded AI-driven legal services, potentially democratizing access but raising profound questions about accuracy, accountability, and professional ethics. Collectively, these headlines scream a clear message: AI’s transformative potential demands immediate, thoughtful governance to protect integrity, rights, and accountability.
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