Ellen P. Goodman

Local libraries may be the last trusted institution. As part of public information infrastructure stack, makes sense for them to play at edge by reviving local news. But it’s dangerous for trust. Hope Ann Arbor can pull it off and model it aadl.org/node/647334

Hearing Visit the post for more.

First philly council hearing on public agency AI — Wed. @Councilwoman Rue Landau, @TechTonics phillytechjustice.org/hearing/

“There could be barriers to gaining information about [ai] inner workings, …or prove a poor outcome was caused by the AI system.” This is one reason developers and deployers don’t want xAI/transparency and why law should require it. As an input to accountability.

שהחיינו וקיימנו והגיענו לזמן הזה 🌻

Who is staying up all night to see every last living hostage returned home, please God?
זמן שמחתנו!

Affiliate contracts permit only so many network preemptions. Wonder if network-affiliate agreements will survive polarization and sorting as the Sinclairs go independent. Another piece of common culture to go.

Wonderful to see this out!

We’ll have you over!

#philly

Toronto Film Festival cancels film about dad rescuing his daughters from Nova Festival in 10/7/23. Reason #1: filmaker didn’t get copyright license from Hamas to use GoPro footage of massacre! Reason #2: something something word salad fear of protests. Incoherent and craven.

Why Is Martha’s Vineyard Going Vegan? It’s All About Tick Bites.

Gotta love it. Why Is Martha’s Vineyard Going Vegan? It’s All About Tick Bites. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/d...

I wrote a law review piece about this: default to distrust. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.....

Tesla hit with $243 million in damages after jury finds its Autopilot feature contributed to fatal crash The verdict follows a three-week trial that threw a spotlight on how Tesla and CEO Elon Musk have marketed their driver-assistance software.

A hugely important verdict.

The victims were pedestrians, so Tesla can't argue they knew/accepted Autopilot's risks.

People walking, biking, and inside other cars didn't consent to be Elon Musk's guinea pigs.

Better link: balkin.blogspot.com/2025/07/regu...

Trump’s AI Action Plan has some good points (see also Biden EO). But they’re totally at odds with the rest of his agenda. Grid abundance (but not renewables?); surge AI labor force (but nix immigration?); grow AI diplomacy (but fire diplomatic corp?); grow deepfake forensics (but kill research?)

Atrocious but this is change-the-subject bait. Press shouldn't take it.

Love this right near Washington’s Crossing park where Washington crossed the Delaware to fight the British … inviting walkers to adorn the tree with hopes and blessings for America. Lots of “peace” “no kings” “rule of law.”

No doubt we need AI incident reporting structure. OECD is trying but too remote. EU has for high risk. If the feds cared, NTIA AI Accountability Policy report recommends it along lines of FDA. In absence, up to states + universities hai.stanford.edu/assets/files...

New from @nicole-alvarez.bsky.social and I, a new @americanprogress.bsky.social analysis of the Senate Commerce reconciliation bill’s rebranded “AI Pause,” & how contrary to the claim it’s optional for the new $500M in funding, the text implicates the entire $42.45B in BEAD broadband funding.

A moratorium on enforcement of state AI laws would presumably cover Louisiana's new rule of civil procedure to require disclosure of AI manipulation of evidence? Laws of general applicability are safe, but many like this specify AI. legiscan.com/LA/text/HB17...

See you Harvard.

Moratorium on state AI regulation clears Senate hurdle | TechCrunch A Republican effort to prevent states from enforcing their own AI regulations cleared a key procedural hurdle on Saturday.

Ban on state AI lawmaking survives for now in budget bill (as a condition of broadband funding), but Hawley, Blackburn and other Rs seeking to ax it in amendments. Where is utah?https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/22/moratorium-on-state-ai-regulation-clears-senate-hurdle/

www.thefp.com/p/matti-frie.... The “he” is Israeli film director of Reading Lolita in Tehran. This Matti Friedman piece imagines new horizons for Mideast peace. לו יהי

Random country that attacked with hundreds of ballistic missiles in April and again Oct 2025, that has proxies bomb from north (Hezbollah), south (houthis), east (militias), that funded and promoted Hamas invasion in 2023 and that vows to annihilate Israel every day? That random country?

Leaving Money on the Table: Inside Portland Water Bureau’s Algorithmic Pricing Program Portland is testing a machine learning algorithm for water bill pricing that promises both affordability and higher revenues. Here’s the first in-depth analysis of the program and the tech be…

Portland OR tries personalized pricing and discounts for water by algorithmically setting rates based on credit, SNAP data etc. Social license for this kind of thing requires an algorithmic impact assessment and transparency about relative payments. redtailmedia.org/2025/06/09/l...

Endless Thirst: Addressing Data Centers' Soaring Water Demands at the Local Level AI is thirsty – what should local governments know about the water demands of data centers, and how might public agencies promote more sustainable practices?

Cities and counties need to know water needs and set water use limits for #AI data centers. govai.substack.com/p/endless-th...

The flip side of this is an actual power-company employee could visit someone’s house to, say, check on a gas leak, and the frightened people inside won’t answer the doorbell.

Impressed with @cityofsanjose.bsky.social AI governance handbook. It jives with the NIST AI RMF, but also provides a scoring framework for responsible AI elements. Hope cities/counties will release scores also of tech they rejected. www.sanjoseca.gov/home/showpub...

The feds have “created a vacuum of trust that may take years to overcome.” Yup.