Emma Whitford
Verified
Now: sr. reporter @mlexclusive covering AI regulation. Member @mlexguild. Then: @CityLimitsNews covering housing. Before: @RealEstLaw360, @Gothamist.
Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Emma Whitford
‘Super Intelligence Force’ will ensure US leadership, Trump says
By Emma Whitford ( October 5, 2026, 16:10 GMT | Insight) -- US President Donald Trump announced the formation of a Super Intelligence Force to “ensure that America continues to lead the world in Super Intelligence,” using his newly minted term for artificial intelligence. The task force draws leadership from the intelligence community, among other federal agencies.
US Senate blocks bill aimed at shielding consumers from AI energy costs
By Emma Whitford ( September 30, 2026, 18:39 GMT | Insight) -- The US Senate on Wednesday blocked Republicans’ effort to pass the Ratepayer Protection Act, a bill aimed at sparing consumers from data center-induced energy bill hikes. The 57-43 vote came after the House overwhelmingly passed the bill earlier this month.
Anthropic finding by US court expands risk considerations for contractors
By Emma Whitford ( September 28, 2026, 20:31 GMT | Comment) -- A decision out of the DC Circuit upholding Anthropic’s supply chain risk designation reinforces novel and potentially costly risk considerations for US technology companies that contract with the federal government.A decision out of the DC Circuit upholding Anthropic’s supply chain risk designation reinforces novel and potentially costly risk considerations for US technology companies that contract with the federal government....
1,000+ University of Calif Professors Revolt: Students Can’t Do Middle School Math, Demand Return of SATs
% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents. Over a thousand University of California professors signed an open letter to the Board of Regents demanding they bring back standardized testing after it was removed during covid for equity. They reveal that many STEM students are below Middle School level in Math. The poison fruit of leftwing policies. Dumb students, an obvious consequence of avoiding reality.
White House AI czar says parental control ‘north star’ for kids' online safety
By Emma Whitford and Madeline Hughes ( March 24, 2026, 21:23 GMT | Insight) -- Online safety for children is the “most salient” part of President Donald Trump’s new policy framework for artificial intelligence, White House AI Czar David Sacks said Tuesday, emphasizing that parents should be responsible for determining how their children interact with AI and social media.Online safety for children is the “most salient” part of President Donald Trump’s new policy framework for artificial...
US appeals court considers link between stripping, copying in AI training
By Emma Whitford ( March 18, 2026, 20:26 GMT | Comment) -- A US appeals panel did not appear poised Wednesday to decide if allegedly stripping copyright management information from online content can confer standing on its own — a question that has divided lower courts.
Due process, speech, procedure claims drive Anthropic suit against US government
By Emma Whitford ( March 9, 2026, 17:43 GMT | Insight) -- Anthropic sued US federal agencies including the Department of Defense in California federal court Monday, describing its decision as a “last resort” to stop the White House’s “unlawful campaign of retaliation.” The lawsuit comes after the DOD designated the artificial intelligence company as a supply chain risk.Anthropic sued US federal agencies including the Department of Defense in California federal court on Monday, describing its...
Journal Submissions Riddled With AI-Created Fake Citations
One journal editor who has served in that position for a year says she's seeing more AI-generated fake citations in submissions than when she started.
Anthropic, US Defense fight shows staking of corporate boundaries
By Emma Whitford ( March 3, 2026, 00:33 GMT | Comment) -- US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s move Friday to designate Anthropic as a supply chain risk may exceed his authority under federal law. That a legal fight could be looming says as much about Anthropic and its safety-oriented brand as it does about the Trump administration’s pressure tactics.The move on Friday by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to designate Anthropic as a supply chain risk may exceed his authority under federal law.
Under pressure to pay for energy in US, AI companies face tradeoffs
By Emma Whitford and Amy Miller ( February 27, 2026, 21:46 GMT | Comment) -- As US President Donald Trump pressures Big Tech to shield consumers from utility bill hikes associated with electricity-hungry data centers, companies can anticipate difficult tradeoffs. Adding power to the electric grid can take years. And while companies are increasingly siting power plants on shared campuses with data centers — without the intermediary of a transmission line — full grid isolation is rare.
US data center boom facing pushback from state, local lawmakers
By Amy Miller and Emma Whitford ( February 19, 2026, 00:21 GMT | Comment) -- As the data centers that power artificial intelligence tools proliferate, a growing number of US states are considering pressing pause. But the proposed state moratoriums are just a fraction of the hundreds of bills related to data centers being considered across the US this year.
AI reports show US government's appetite for high-stakes applications
By Emma Whitford ( February 10, 2026, 22:25 GMT | Comment) -- The US federal government is not shying away from deploying artificial intelligence across agencies that interface regularly with the public, newly published 2025 data show, offering a window into the Trump administration's appetite for high-stakes applications of the technology.The US federal government is not shying away from deploying artificial intelligence across agencies that interface regularly with the public, newly...
Senate Democrats continue pause on US permit talks, citing Trump energy policy
By Emma Whitford ( January 28, 2026, 21:21 GMT | Insight) -- The possibility of US federal permitting reforms to speed up artificial intelligence infrastructure development remains uncertain this month, despite progress in the House.
Trump cements US strategy on semiconductor chips despite China risks
By Bradley Dress and Emma Whitford ( January 22, 2026, 20:23 GMT | Comment) -- The Trump administration opted for a narrow and limited set of tariffs on semiconductor chips, backing down from a threat of duties as high as 100 percent on the critical technology that powers artificial intelligence and other advanced applications as the US government pursues a strategic business approach in an AI race with China.
Trump cements US export strategy on semiconductor chips despite China risks
By Bradley Dress and Emma Whitford ( January 22, 2026, 20:23 GMT | Comment) -- The Trump administration opted for a narrow and limited set of tariffs on semiconductor chips, backing down from a threat of duties as high as 100 percent on the critical technology that powers artificial intelligence and other advanced applications as the US government pursues a strategic business approach in an AI race with China.The Trump administration has opted for a narrow and limited set of tariffs on...
White House pledges to work with Congress on ‘sensible’ AI regulation
By Emma Whitford ( January 14, 2026, 22:09 GMT | Insight) -- The White House and congressional Republicans committed during US House hearing Wednesday to developing a federal regulatory framework for artificial intelligence that preempts certain types of state laws, though details remain thin on scope and timing.The White House and congressional Republicans committed during US House hearing Wednesday to developing a federal regulatory framework for artificial intelligence that preempts...
OpenAI tried to thwart evidence collection in US suits, per unsealed claims
By Emma Whitford ( January 2, 2026, 23:41 GMT | Insight) -- OpenAI ramped up data deletion and implemented blocks and filters to stop news outlets from collecting evidence of copyright infringement from ChatGPT, according to recently unsealed allegations in ongoing litigation in a New York federal court.OpenAI ramped up data deletion and implemented blocks and filters to stop news outlets from collecting evidence of copyright infringement from ChatGPT, according to recently unsealed...
OpenAI tried to thwart evidence collection in copyright suits, per unsealed claims
By Emma Whitford ( January 2, 2026, 23:41 GMT | Insight) -- OpenAI ramped up data deletion and implemented blocks and filters to stop news outlets from collecting evidence of copyright infringement from ChatGPT, according to recently unsealed allegations in ongoing litigation in a New York federal court.OpenAI ramped up data deletion and implemented blocks and filters to stop news outlets from collecting evidence of copyright infringement from ChatGPT, according to recently unsealed...
CSU Trade Workers Union Votes to Strike Statewide
California State University, Fullerton, (above) is one of the 22 campuses where teamsters are prepared to strike. David McNew/Getty Images Members of Teamsters Local 2010, a union representing 1,100 skilled trade employees at the California State University system, voted Monday to authorize a strike across all 22 campuses.
US judge may pause Meta torrenting case in effort to speed fair use analysis
By Emma Whitford ( December 19, 2025, 22:23 GMT | Insight) -- A proposed class of authors suing Meta Platforms for allegedly distributing pirated books could see their case paused in early 2026, a federal judge in California warned Friday.
In loss for web publishers, US judge deems robots.txt weak as lawn sign
By Emma Whitford ( December 16, 2025, 21:25 GMT | Insight) -- In a loss for online publishers seeking to hold artificial intelligence companies to account, a judge in a New York federal court has deemed news publisher Ziff Davis’s robots.txt files insufficient technological barriers to sustain an illegal web-scraping claim.In a loss for online publishers seeking to hold artificial intelligence companies to account, a judge in the US District for the Southern District of New York has deemed...
Perplexity AI faces US copyright claims from New York Times, Chicago Tribune
By Emma Whitford ( December 5, 2025, 18:51 GMT | Insight) -- Artificial intelligence answer generator Perplexity AI’s legal headaches are growing with the addition of two new US copyright lawsuits this week, filed Thursday by the Chicago Tribune and Friday by the New York Times.
Warner-Suno licensing deal is latest to result from AI music copyright suits
By Emma Whitford ( November 25, 2025, 23:43 GMT | Insight) -- Warner Music Group has entered its second licensing deal this month with an artificial intelligence music startup, forging an agreement with Suno AI that will see the company transition to licensed models in 2026.
Publishers target Google in new antitrust phase of AI battle in US
By Emma Whitford ( November 17, 2025, 22:20 GMT | Comment) -- A cluster of antitrust lawsuits against Google represents a new front for publishers seeking to hold artificial intelligence companies to account for allegedly competing with them unfairly for audience attention.
Penske Media fails to show reciprocal dealing in US AI search case, Google says
By Emma Whitford ( November 7, 2025, 20:36 GMT | Insight) -- Google has not coerced Penske Media Corp. into anticompetitive reciprocal dealing any more than it did online educational publisher Chegg, the search giant said late Thursday.
OpenAI-Microsoft judge tees up broadest infringement theory so far by US authors
By Emma Whitford ( November 6, 2025, 22:44 GMT | Comment) -- A federal judge in New York recently advanced the broadest theory of artificial intelligence-driven copyright infringement to date from book authors, in a case alleging three distinct phases of infringement from the initial downloading of unlicensed content to book-related ChatGPT outputs.
OpenAI-Microsoft judge tees up broadest infringement theory by US authors
By Emma Whitford ( November 6, 2025, 22:44 GMT | Comment) -- A federal judge in New York recently advanced the broadest theory of artificial intelligence-driven copyright infringement to date from book authors, in a case alleging three distinct phases of infringement from the initial downloading of unlicensed content to book-related ChatGPT outputs.
UMG copyright suit against Udio ends, but AI music dispute continues
By Mike Swift and Emma Whitford ( October 30, 2025, 22:05 GMT | Comment) -- While it’s too soon to say peace is at hand between AI music startups and the music industry, the settlement of copyright litigation being Universal Music Group and Udio would assure that artists get paid when their music is used to train AI, and would open up new “hyper-personalization” opportunities for “super fans” to engage with artists, UMG executives told Wall Street analysts on a quarterly earnings...
Disclosures in OpenAI chat log discovery dispute rankle US judge
By Emma Whitford and Samuel Rubenfeld ( October 29, 2025, 22:37 GMT | Insight) -- A discovery dispute between OpenAI and news outlets over the production of 20 million anonymized ChatGPT conversations in a copyright infringement case hit a new snag on Wednesday after US Magistrate Judge Ona T.
Eighth Circuit panel questions timing of appeal in Minnesota deepfake law challenge
By Emma Whitford ( October 22, 2025, 20:15 GMT | Insight) -- A panel of US appellate judges appeared puzzled Wednesday that a Minnesota state lawmaker and conservative content creator had opted to appeal as soon as a lower court declined to preliminarily block the state’s election-related deepfake law, rather than wait for a ruling on whether the law is constitutional.
OpenAI, news outlets dispute proper scope of discovery into core ChatGPT logs
By Emma Whitford ( October 16, 2025, 20:40 GMT | Insight) -- OpenAI has backpedaled on production of 20 million records of ChatGPT conversations and should “immediately” turn over the documents, news outlets said Wednesday, in the latest dispute between the parties that sees OpenAI challenging a discovery request in the name of user privacy.
These Billionaires Are Stepping Up As HBCUs Are Squeezed By Student Loan Cuts
|
Historically Black colleges and universities are on the frontlines of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s new limits on parent and graduate student loans. Philanthropists could help fill the gap. Antonio Sweeney relied on a mix of private and school scholarships, plus a federal Pell Grant for low income students, to pay for his first two years at his dream school, Morehouse College, in Atlanta, the alma mater of Sen.
By Danielle Chemtob Verified, Janet Novack Verified, Emma Whitford Verified, Asia N. Alexander Verified
|
yournews.co.in
EU leads in trust as regulator amid global AI concern, Pew says
By Emma Whitford ( October 15, 2025, 20:49 GMT | Insight) -- Adults are generally more concerned than excited about artificial intelligence’s increased daily usage, according to a first-of-its kind Pew Research Center report on global views of AI.
YouTube-scraping case appeal in US could inform AI music business model
By Emma Whitford ( October 14, 2025, 21:54 GMT | Comment) -- The pending outcome of an appeal argued more than 20 months ago is of urgent relevance to AI music startups who hope their input on a case brought by software company Yout will help strip the recording industry of a useful bit of caselaw for their copyright lawsuits.
Record labels’ ‘futile’ stream-ripping claim misapplies DMCA, Suno AI says
By Emma Whitford ( October 3, 2025, 17:20 GMT | Insight) -- Congress took careful steps in the late 1990s to preserve Suno AI’s ability to defend its alleged “stream ripping” behavior as fair, making music labels’ proposed Digital Millennium Copyright Act claim “futile,” the music generator argued Friday.Congress took careful steps in the late 1990s to preserve Suno AI’s ability to defend its alleged “stream ripping” behavior, making music labels’ proposed Digital Millennium Copyright Act...
Anti-'woke' policy rollout brings uncertainty for US federal AI deployment
By Emma Whitford ( September 30, 2025, 18:43 GMT | Comment) -- US President Donald Trump’s executive order to eliminate “Woke AI” could prove to be a speedbump as he moves to rapidly deploy artificial intelligence within government, creating uncertainty for contractors and opening them up to future court challenges.
Cómo elegir una universidad en la América de Trump
Además del ajuste académico, el costo y los resultados profesionales, los estudiantes ahora deben considerar el impacto del ataque federal al financiamiento de la investigación, los estudiantes extranjeros y las universidades “despiertas”. No hay vuelta de hoja: este es un momento particularmente estresante para un estudiante de preparatoria (o sus padres) al elegir una universidad.
Indiana Kelley To Enforce Grade Distribution For Skills Classes
Some faculty members at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business have been instructed to eliminate grade rounding, remove the A-plus grade option and keep average section GPAs between 3.3 and 3.5 for the fall semester.
US First Lady calls for boost in AI education to sustain 'moment of wonder'
By Emma Whitford ( September 4, 2025, 21:29 GMT | Insight) -- The importance of artificial intelligence literacy in setting American children up for well-paying jobs and furthering technological advancement was the focus of a dramatically staged meeting in the East Room of the White House today hosted by First Lady Melania Trump.The importance of artificial intelligence literacy in setting American children up for well-paying jobs and furthering technological advancement was the focus of a...
California bill to curb algorithmic rent-setting dies, but New York still in play
By Emma Whitford ( September 2, 2025, 22:02 GMT | Insight) -- Several US state bills aimed at stopping landlords from hiking rents with algorithmic pricing tools have faltered this year, and now California legislation has joined those ranks.
Cómo elegir una universidad en la América de Trump
No hay vuelta de hoja: este es un momento particularmente estresante para un estudiante de preparatoria (o sus padres) al elegir una universidad. Además de considerar la idoneidad académica, el costo neto (ayuda extracurricular) y las perspectivas profesionales de los graduados, es necesario considerar la situación financiera de la universidad y cuáles de sus programas podrían estar en riesgo ante una ola de recortes de costos que podría convertirse en un tsunami.
404
Premium Journalism, deeply reported stories and breaking news Subscribe Subscriptions renew automatically. You may cancel your subscription at any time.
How To Choose A College In Trump’s America
Along with academic fit, cost, and career outcomes, students now need to consider the impact of the federal assault on research funding, foreign students and “woke” colleges. There’s no sugar coating it: This is a particularly stressful time to be a high school student (or the parents of one) selecting a college.
Musicians fail to allege violation of ‘uniquely narrow’ copyright protections, Suno AI says
By Emma Whitford ( August 19, 2025, 19:35 GMT | Insight) -- Songs generated using the artificial intelligence music platform Suno AI are comprised of original sounds, not samples, and therefore do not violate the “uniquely narrow scope of rights” afforded to sound recordings under US law, the startup said as it seeks to trim copyright claims by a proposed class of independent musicians.Songs generated using the artificial intelligence music platform Suno AI are comprised of original sounds,...
Implementation uncertainty clouds US AI Action Plan
By Emma Whitford ( August 1, 2025, 23:38 GMT | Comment) -- US President Donald Trump's new AI Action Plan represents a novel approach to artificial intelligence policymaking in the US, even compared to his own first term, which was defined by executive orders with firm deadlines. His new plan sets out an overarching national strategy, but lacks comprehensive accountability measures.
Implementation uncertainty clouds US AI Action Plan
By Emma Whitford ( August 1, 2025, 21:38 GMT | Comment) -- US President Donald Trump's new AI Action Plan represents a novel approach to artificial intelligence policymaking in the US, even compared to his own first term, which was defined by executive orders with firm deadlines.
US judge affirms autonomous vehicle tech company as ‘Chinese military company’
By Emma Whitford ( July 14, 2025, 22:02 GMT | Insight) -- The US Department of Defense did not err when it blacklisted autonomous vehicle technology developer Hesai Technology Co., a US federal judge has ruled, finding that the company fits the criteria for a Chinese military company set to be barred from US defense contracting in 2026.The US Department of Defense did not err when it blacklisted autonomous vehicle technology developer Hesai Technology Co., a US federal judge has ruled,...
Axon AI tool for police reports shows need for draft transparency in US, EFF says
By Emma Whitford ( July 10, 2025, 21:38 GMT | Insight) -- An artificial intelligence tool by law enforcement equipment manufacturer Axon generates police reports without preserving a record of officer edits, making it difficult to trace errors and bias to the source and creating a liability quagmire, according to a report out today from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a US civil liberties nonprofit.
AI regulation debate offers possible opening for US whistleblower bill
By Emma Whitford ( July 8, 2025, 23:01 GMT | Comment) -- A Republican-backed AI whistleblower bill could be the type of artificial intelligence legislation to gain traction on Capitol Hill now that Congress has rejected a proposal to block US states’ AI laws, showing that regulating the sector is not anathema to the GOP.A Republican-backed AI whistleblower bill could be the type of artificial intelligence legislation to gain traction on Capitol Hill now that Congress has rejected a proposal...
Show More
loading
Actions
Get in touch with Emma
Contact Emma, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack