The Download: Yahoo’s misdeeds in China, and AI Act takeaways

If you consider Massive Tech today, Yahoo might be not prime of thoughts. However for Chinese language dissident Xu Wanping, the corporate nonetheless looms giant—and has for practically 20 years.   

In 2005, Xu was arrested for signing on-line petitions regarding anti-Japanese protests. He didn’t use his actual identify, however he did use his Yahoo e mail deal with. Yahoo China violated its customers’ belief—offering info on sure e mail accounts to Chinese language legislation enforcement, which in flip allowed the federal government to establish and arrest some customers. 

Xu was considered one of them; he would serve 9 years in jail. Now, he and 5 different Chinese language former political prisoners are suing Yahoo and a slate of co-defendants—not due to the corporate’s information-sharing (which was the main target of an earlier lawsuit filed by different plaintiffs), however reasonably due to what got here after. Read the full story.

—Eileen Guo

5 issues you’ll want to know concerning the EU’s new AI Act

Two and a half years after it was first launched—after months of lobbying and political arm-wrestling, plus grueling closing negotiations—EU lawmakers have reached a deal over the AI Act. Will probably be the world’s first sweeping AI legislation.

The AI Act was conceived as a landmark invoice that may mitigate hurt in areas the place utilizing AI poses the most important threat to our rights, in addition to banning makes use of that pose an “unacceptable threat.”

The brand new laws ought to introduce necessary guidelines and enforcement mechanisms to a sector that’s presently a Wild West. Melissa Heikkilä, our senior AI reporter, has 5 key takeaways—check them out. 

This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly publication supplying you with the within monitor on all issues AI. Sign up to obtain it in your inbox each Monday.