China was caught floating a spy balloon over Montana. Like no one was going to see it. What else is there to do in Montana except look up at the sky? According to the Washington Post, a defense official said, “It loitered overhead for an extended period of time.” Come on guys, when are we going to get serious?

What other shenanigans do we have here … Oh! The European Union is warning Elon Musk that they’re going to hit him with a can of you-know-what if he doesn’t comply with their Digital Services Act. The Act prohibits hate speech. We don’t have a hate speech ban in the U.S. But EU’s law influences Twitter content in the U.S., since managing U.S. policy and EU policy would be more expensive.

And the Republican-controlled House is going to grill former Twitter staff at a hearing next week. They want to know more about why the company suppressed stories about Hunter Biden.

What else? Oh – Harvard’s Kennedy School is shutting down its Technology & Social Change project after just 5 years. Prominent scholar Joan Donovan led the institute focused on misinformation. Harvard says the landscape has changed drastically and that the mission is no longer relevant. That’s the public version of the story. Donovan didn’t comment to the Washington Post. And the other piece to this is that Elon has now blocked access to Twitter's API, so researchets can no longer access it.

Tech Policy Press & Justin Hendrix released a podcast episode last week giving the Indigenous perspective on Generative AI and the need to publish more work by Indigenous peoples.

New York Attorney General Letitia James wants answers from Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall about reports the venues used facial recognition technology to ban the lawyers opposing them from entering the venues. Thousands of lawyers were affected. James is investigating whether this practice violated New York’s Civil Rights laws.

Finally, Google CEO Sundar Pichai is promising new chat features to compete with ChatGPT. Meanwhile, the company just laid off 12,000 people.

What to know about the suspected Chinese spy balloon Officials say the balloon over Montana is "sizeable," at an altitude above that of commercial planes, and has loitered over the U.S. for an unusual amount of time. washingtonpost.com VIEW MORE   EU Warns Elon Musk That Twitter Must Comply With Law Against Hate Speech, Misinformation Musk insists Twitter is already on the same page regarding "accuracy" and "accountability." huffpost.com VIEW MORE     Hillicon Valley — House panel to grill former Twitter staff A House panel will grill former Twitter employees at a hearing next week focused on the social media platform’s decision to limit the spread of a Hunter Biden story during the 2020 presidential ele… thehill.com VIEW MORE   Twitter API no longer free as platform will begin charging, angering developers New effort to raise revenue as the site is hemorrhaging money techradar.com VIEW MORE   Harvard is shutting down project that studied social media misinformation The Technology and Social Change Project, which has published research into the spread of coronavirus hoaxes and online incitement ahead of Jan. 6 Capitol riot, will be eliminated in 2024. washingtonpost.com VIEW MORE   An Indigenous Perspective on Generative AI A conversation with Michael Running Wolf, a computer scientist and software engineer, AI ethicist, and founder of Indigenous in AI. techpolicy.press VIEW MORE     NY AG Seeks Answers from Madison Square Garden on Facial Recognition Tech | Law Street Media   lawstreetmedia.com VIEW MORE   Google CEO promises new AI features are coming to search 'very soon' amid competition from ChatGPT Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai talked up the company's artificial intelligence projects during its Q4 2022 earnings call. cnbc.com VIEW MORE