Erie

America’s foremost technologist named after a Great Lake. Consumer protecting.

[Erie @Erie]

Good morning! If you’re in the US and struggling with your health insurance (they won’t cover something they said they would, overcharged, can’t get a straight answer, etc) there’s super effective, free help. Your state insurance commissioner!

[Rohit Chopra @ChopraUSA]

While most people are focused on big changes in Washington, D.C., be sure to pay attention to the people who won elections to key state offices. State Attorneys General and Commissioners will play a big role in cracking down on high costs and corruption.

I've been connecting with many of them to learn more about their plans. State Attorneys General are looking to defend the rights of consumers when it comes to corporate pricing practices and financial abuses.

Commissioners overseeing utilities and insurance companies want to do more to scrutinize big rate increases that are subject to their approval. Many realize they have a lot of existing laws on the books and that they can change the status quo.

We already know that federal regulators and enforcers are ignoring rampant wrongdoing that makes life more expensive. We now have more opportunities for states to work together to take on big problems affecting people's pocketbooks and their daily lives.

[Erie @Erie]

AI assessments like these should be a governmental function backed with subpoena power.

This is what @AnthropicAI does to voluntary, independent auditors.

[METR @METR_Evals]

We submitted a ~100-page full report on our assessment to Anthropic. For the public version, Anthropic redacted a majority of the evidence we found most informative. As a consequence, the public must rely on our judgment more than we consider ideal.

[Lina Khan @linamkhan]

Why should Congressional Democrats investigate corporate America if their mandate is to deliver real economic change? Because investigations are a key catalyst for securing reform and legislation. For much of the last century, Congress used to be the main institutional player working to secure an economy that serves working people. A key tool was oversight. Lawmakers routinely investigated complex markets and major corporations, identifying problems and exposing wrongdoing. A major goal of these investigations was to learn what was driving certain problems and figure out how to fix them.

After Democrats took back the House during the first Trump administration in 2019, I joined the House Judiciary Committee as a staffer on the Antitrust Subcommittee. Under the terrific leadership of @RepJerryNadler and then-Rep @davidcicilline, we pursued an 18-month investigation into Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, securing key evidence of how their business practices were undermining competition and harming people, setting the basis for both lawsuits and proposed legislation.

A few lessons from that experience:

1. The quality of legislative oversight depends on the staff and the support of top members to confront power. Committee and Subcommittee Chairs that are focused on getting answers and unafraid to take on powerful corporate interests will make the difference between oversight that doesn’t surrender to their evasion tactics and oversight that aims low or flames out.

Even a relatively small number of dogged, talented lawyers ready to dive in can make a big impact. In the 1930s a single congressional lawyer, Ferdinand Pecora, helped reshape our entire banking system by subpoenaing records and interrogating top financiers, including J.P Morgan. The investigation exposed self-dealing, market manipulation, and tax avoidance, and laid the groundwork for foundational New Deal legislation, including the Glass-Steagall Act and the Securities Exchange Act.

2. Eliminating bottlenecks to moving investigations forward is key. For example, the House should make sure that Subcommittee Chairs can issue subpoenas rather than needing the sign-off of the full Committee or its Chair. A credible threat of sending subpoenas is critical for credible oversight.

3. Ensuring that members can develop the muscle to effectively interrogate CEOs requires investing in real preparation. In the lead up to the hearing with Bezos, Pichai, Cook, and Zuckerberg, the Antitrust Subcommittee spent months reviewing millions of documents collected from the firms, interviewing affected parties, briefing members on key evidence, and conducting practice hearings. Members came into the hearing deeply informed and able to rebut and call out CEO dissembling. The result was some of the most effective member questioning of executives we’ve seen in decades. @TheProspect wrote up a great overview: https://t.co/7BYC3UHFbW

4. For decades, institutional capacity in Congress has been extremely weak. Much of this traces back to the Gingrich Revolution, which was effectively the 1995 DOGE-ing of Congress. Republican leadership fired over 600 professional staffers, eliminated the Office of Technology Assessment, and gutted research capacity. None of that capacity was ever meaningfully restored.

As a result, members have way fewer resources to develop serious expertise or go deep on a new topic. Members should start rebuilding that capacity so the institution can fully play its Article I role, where Congress can again do serious policy development and legislating and serve as a real check on the executive and judicial branches.

5. AI markets should be high on the list of investigations. The business decisions of the major AI firms have huge public ramifications, yet the public is at a severe informational disadvantage when it comes to how these markets work and the choices these firms are making. A congressional investigation will help ensure future legislative action is based on a more complete view of what is going on rather than selective and partial corporate disclosures.

[Douglas Farrar @DouglasLFarrar]

Dems won big on an affordability message, but as @linamkhan said via @CrookedMedia last year, "How much can you fix affordability without demanding some type of accountability" from corporate players?

[Erie @Erie]

If you’re ever curious about American tech usage, look at https://t.co/mS304lH4hb — it shows the top search tools, the top browsers, the top operating systems. It’s analytics for (pre-doge) government systems so it’s pretty representative.

[Katie Notopoulos @katienotopoulos]

I was really surprised by the scoop that @Kantrowitz had today about ChatGPT having 1/5 of the search query volume of Google. IMO.... amazing how it was easy to finally break Google's monopoly on "finding information" by offering anything slightly better. https://t.co/upyD4dm1Th

[Mike Pierce @millennial_debt]

My last tweet of the night:

Every banker and fintech ceo who got a corporate pardon from CFPB now has a target on their back.

A new generation of AGs and committee chairs will demand answers.

Corruption has a cost. It’s time to pay up.

[Mike Pierce @millennial_debt]

Up and down the ballot, tonight is bringing change.

I don’t think Wall Street or Silicon Valley are ready for what’s coming.

[Rohit Chopra @ChopraUSA]

A few years ago, California joined antitrust regulators from across the country to prosecute Google for illegal monopolization, and multiple courts found Google guilty.

But courts didn't block Google from using its power to coerce consumers into using its products. Now, Google is blocking search unless schools use its AI. https://t.co/SIYReggZnr

[Lina Khan @linamkhan]

Google is using its search monopoly to coerce schools into adopting AI. This highlights the danger of allowing an unregulated monopolist to control an essential service.

Multiple courts have found Google liable for violating antitrust laws, and this latest move shows it remains unchastened.

As the public increasingly pushes back against the use of AI in schools, Google is making clear it will punish those who don’t fall in line.

[NY AG James @NewYorkStateAG]

General Motors collected data on its customers’ personal driving habits without their knowledge and then sold it, potentially affecting their rates.

Now, my office and a bipartisan coalition secured $220 million from @GM and stopped this illegal violation of drivers’ privacy.

[Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @NYCMayor]

Just last month, DoorDash couldn’t seem to find the money to pay their deliveristas — until our administration forced them to give back $131M+ in stolen wages and penalties.

This week, they’ve managed to find $17 billion to acquire one of their main competitors.

Corporate consolidation means higher prices, harsher exploitation, and greater economic inequality for New Yorkers.

We’ve stood up to these giants before. That doesn’t stop now.

[Joseph Hoyt @JoeJHoyt]

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders unionize, will begin collective bargaining https://t.co/kozIeb5Ngr via @dallasnews

[Christina Henderson @chenderson]

During today’s hearing on the surveillance pricing bill @stephtngu talked about the Amazon holiday toy catalog and how there are no prices listed, just QR codes.

I hid this from my kids because it arriving the first wk of October is disrespectful but WOW.

[Douglas Farrar @DouglasLFarrar]

In their bankruptcy filings Character AI disclosed that the FTC opened an investigation into them under Chair Khan, only for it to be closed by the Trump-Vance FTC.

No justice for the parents of children who harmed themselves because of their chatbots.

[Katie Van Dyck @CapitolKVD]

Last Friday, my kids and I witnessed the Eastern Market scooter crash that killed Talib Shakir. Two riders hit each other, and neither was wearing a helmet. Mr. Shakir's head hit the curb. He suffered horrific head trauma. I sprinted to the fire station for help while someone else called 911. From what I saw, I think he was killed instantly. I've had a week to reflect. 🧵

https://t.co/BOywnWSBPz

[Mike Pierce @millennial_debt]

The biggest companies in the world may lean on AI Chatbots to cheat people out of their rights.

As the AI debate focuses on catastrophic risks on the horizon, CLE's @stephtngu & @BorrowerJustice 's @adamt2005 stay grounded. So excited to join w @CntrLawEconomy on this one.

[Lina Khan @linamkhan]

If a firm's AI customer-service chatbot gives false information, traps customers in doom loops, or fails to actually help, that firm may be violating the law.

A new brief from the Center for Law & the Economy's @stephtngu and @BorrowerJustice's Adam Teitelbaum explains the various laws that apply when businesses outsource customer service to AI chatbots.

This is the first in a series explaining how existing laws apply to AI: https://t.co/4CYFl8Bec1

And a deeper dive published @HarvardJOLT: https://t.co/XeFwYyQ5CH

[Rohit Chopra @ChopraUSA]

It’s outrageous that private equity investors are buying up youth sports leagues and gouging families.

We will be investigating this price-gouging, conflicts of interest with coaches, and determining whether these takeovers are putting kids at risk.
https://t.co/AsA2msbWIJ

[Rohit Chopra @ChopraUSA]

When entrepreneurs start a local franchise, they shouldn't get fake or incomplete information from a corporate franchisor. @CaliforniaDFPI has taken action against a popular seafood chain for tricking its operators. https://t.co/yrAlRSOGb3

[Rohit Chopra @ChopraUSA]

Starting tomorrow, Californians will enjoy the strongest car-buying protections in the nation. We are eradicating junk fees and bait-and-switches that cost families big money.