AI slop by government edict?

https://www.bespacific.com/federal-workers-cant-get-the-white-houses-app-off-their-phones/

Federal Workers Can’t Get the White House’s App Off Their Phones

Wired no paywall: “In May, the White House announced that its new app would be automatically downloaded onto the work phones of millions of government employees. The problem: Federal workers hate it and can’t get rid of it. Employees of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the State Department, and the Department of Labor (DOL), who spoke to WIRED on the condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation, say that they were disturbed when the app appeared on their phones. Some attempted to delete it, but to no avail. “I deleted it as a test and it came immediately back,” says an employee from the USDA. The app, which debuted in March, promises a mixture of “real-time updates, live events, and direct access to the Presidency,” according to the White House website. It is, apparently, the same version that is available to the public on the Apple and Google app stores. A button within the app allows users to “text President Trump,” which autofills a text bubble reading “Greatest President Ever.”

Perhaps proof of citizenship will be next? (Refuse and ICE comes knocking at your door?)

https://pogowasright.org/anthropic-says-claude-may-want-to-see-your-id/

Anthropic says Claude may want to see your ID

Zack Whittaker reports:

Anthropic may ask Claude users to verify their age and identity by uploading their government-issued documents, according to a new version of the company’s privacy policy.

The AI giant says the move was to allow users to appeal having their account flagged for potentially fraudulent activity rather than outright banning them, but comes at a time when Anthropic seeks to placate the Trump administration amid an ongoing standoff over who gets access to the company’s AI tools.

According to a new section in its latest privacy policy published earlier in June and set to take effect on July 8, Anthropic says it will ask for a user to prove their age or identity “in certain circumstances,” without providing specific examples.

Read more at TechCrunch.

Again I need someone to explain this. If these companies keep prices artificially high, are their competitors (with lower prices) benefiting? Is it illegal to consider competitor pricing?

https://thenextweb.com/news/ai-gas-prices-lawsuit-california

BP, Walmart and 7-Eleven sued over AI-set petrol prices in California

… According to the complaint, the chains all fed data into the same algorithmic pricing software, supplied by a firm called Kalibrate, which the plaintiffs say draws on competitors’ prices to recommend what each station should charge.

The drivers allege that the practice amounted to a coordination scheme that lifted prices in step rather than through ordinary competition.