🚨 Executive Order Alert 🚨

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Happy Thursday, folks.

Happy November. Hope your Halloween/kend was good. If you were Cruise, prolly not. If you were WeWork, also prolly not (but rest easy, sweet prince). But congrats to Ohio State fans and anyone else getting to watch the soon-to-be 30 for 30 that is the Michigan and Connor Stallions story? 🧔‍♂️ 

Now, please no more pumpkin. Ever.

Or at least until I start craving it again the second I see a leaf on the ground next year.

I’d also like to announce my participation in Movember. Ready to make having a few strands of hair on my upper lip my entire personality for the next month.

If you see any food stuck there and feel tempted to ask “saving it for later?”…

Keep it to yourself.

Decoding Biden's Landmark Executive Order on AI: What It Means for Big Tech, Startups, and the Future of AI Governance

This week was like All Star Weekend for the tech policy crowd, every major country dropping executive orders and motions like they were Westbrook stat-padding on the Thunder.

However, one in particular hit a bit closer to home…

Online Safety Bill: UK law for protecting kids online

The UK Parliament dressed up as Nanny McPhee for Halloween, really getting into character with its new bill #ForTheKids

The freshly minted Online Safety Bill claims to be the digital seatbelt for your offspring. This UK law mandates that social media moguls and search engine giants do a bit of spring cleaning: remove illegal content, give users more control, and yes, even check IDs at the door of porn sites. Sure your cousin is thrilled.

However, while the bill does aim to keep the kiddos safe from a laundry list of harms—bullying, self-harm content, and even animal fights—it's also a bit vague. "Harmful content" is now against the law, but Parliament seems to have forgotten to include a dictionary. 📚

At least 50 Shades of Grey in this one.

Europe's CSAM-scanning

The European Commission has been on an absolute heater lately, turning up the heat as we’ve entered the 4th quarter like Jeremy Lin for one full week during the glorious 2012 season. The latest product? The CSAM-scanning proposal, also known in less jargon-heavy circles as "Chat Control" or CSA Regulation (CSAR).

The Commission nobly wants to snuff out child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on platforms like Signal and WhatsApp. Where things get controversial (at least I hope this is where I might get my first objections) is that they're advocating for a mass surveillance of all European citizens to do so.

It seems pretty likely that this one is moving forward after a huge agreement last week, but it's still certainly a major moral dilemma wrapped in a legal quandary, deep-fried in ethical ambiguity. Also known as the number 1 at KFC.

The Meta Lawsuit Saga: 42 States Swipe Left on Instagram's Parent Company

Meta Stay Out of the Spotlight for Negative Reasons Challenge (Impossible)

Last week, 42 states (and DC) decided they're done with the endless scrolling, taking their complaints to the courtroom.

What exactly is the gripe? Well, these states allege Meta is basically the tech world's equivalent of Willy Wonka, deliberately tempting kiddos into sugar highs they'll regret later. They accuse the company of:

• Crafting algorithms as addictive as Fortnite

• Hiding research that screams, "Hey, that’s not good for you"

• Fueling the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit of teen troubles that are depression, anxiety, and insomnia.

Who's Marvel LARPing here? A whopping 33 attorneys generals from states like California, Colorado, New York, Arizona, and Illinois, assembling their legal might but with more paperwork and less spandex.

Whether you're Team Meta or Team Everyone Else, one thing's clear: this lawsuit won’t be the last time we’ve seen Zuck getting down and dirty in the ring.

If you miss getting the Breakdown on an interesting Startup each week, fret not. My friends over at Venture Scout do a much better job than I ever could on all things SaaS. Give them a read now!

Next, have a few interesting Infobot channels to share this week. As a reminder, on Infobot.ai, you can subscribe to any number of channels on literally any number of topics and get daily, weekly, or monthly emails directly in your inbox.

Don’t see one you like? Extending an invitation to personally build you the channel of your dreams.

Now, check these out 🫡 

Cheers to another day,

Trey