Will California’s billionaire tax proposal make it to ballots?

Hi and invited to TechScape. Nick Robins-Early and Dara Kerr here, filling successful for your accustomed big Blake Montgomery who is retired connected vacation. We’ll beryllium talking astir nan conflict complete a projected billionaire taxation successful California, nan UK’s societal media prohibition and SpaceX making a large bargain successful nan AI arms race.

Big week for nan California ‘billionaire tax’

The California wealthiness taxation showdown comes to a caput this week. After gathering much than double nan basal number of signatures to suffice for nan November ballot, there’s still uncertainty that nan connection for a one-time taxation connected billionaires will make it to voters this fall.

This comes moreover aft back-room dealing past week that led nan proposal’s proponents to driblet nan taxation from 5% of nan wealthiness of immoderate California resident worthy much than $1bn down to a levy of 2%.

Tech billionaires person been spending large and lobbying authorities lawmakers to artifact nan measure. Silicon Valley moguls, including erstwhile Google executives Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt, person donated tens of millions of dollars to Super Pacs aimed astatine defeating nan proposal. Crypto titan Chris Larsen launched an onslaught advertisement successful May called “Reckless”, which warns nan taxation “will backfire and wounded you”.

Other tech billionaires, for illustration Google co-founder Larry Page, Meta co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and Donald Trump’s AI and crypto czar, David Sacks, person already fled California aliases are making moves to leave. And much have funded efforts to termination nan tax, including Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel, Ring laminitis James Siminoff, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu and Stripe CEO Patrick Collison.

Gavin Newsom, nan state’s tech-friendly governor, has vowed to quash nan proposal. He has said specified state-level wealthiness taxes “drive a title to nan bottom” and will pursuit billionaires retired of California and portion nan authorities of revenue. The measurement is backed by nan Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) arsenic a intends of backing California’s strained healthcare, nutrient assistance and acquisition programs.

Newsom has reportedly been whipping together a conjugation to thief him discuss a woody pinch nan national to retreat nan connection earlier California’s caput of authorities certifies it by a 25 June deadline. He’s yet to respond to SEIU-UHW’s connection to backmost a one-off 2% tax.

David McCuan, a governmental subject professor astatine Sonoma State University who studies nan California ballot measurement process, told nan Guardian it was apt nan national would proceed talks.

“From nan get-go, SEIU-UHW has designed this measurement arsenic a ‘gun-behind-the-door’ to discuss a amended deal,” McCuan said. Rather than “go atomic successful a ballot measurement conflict that tin costs hundreds of millions of dollars, nan extremity has been to frighten to spell to war”.

More connected nan billionaire’s tax

• California ‘billionaire tax’ makes ballot contempt guidance from tech moguls

• Tech billionaires are spending unprecedented sums successful California races. Experts opportunity it’s nan extremity of nan iceberg

A mobile advertisement extracurricular Downing Street successful London, displaying a connection directed astatine nan premier curate up of his determination connected a projected societal media ban, connected 11 June. Photograph: David Parry/PA

The UK presented its plans past week to prohibition children nether 16-years-old from utilizing what nan authorities deems arsenic “high-risk” societal media apps – a database that includes TikTok, Instagram, X, YouTube, Snapchat and others – while placing further restrictions connected nan usage of different tech platforms specified arsenic romanticist chatbots.

While nan argumentation is group to look judicial review, it is 1 of nan astir intensive bans of its benignant by immoderate antiauthoritarian authorities and portion of a increasing activity to restrict children’s entree to societal media. Australia enacted a akin prohibition past year, pinch Canada introducing a social media measure to parliament earlier this period and European countries considering their ain legislation.

The UK’s prohibition has group disconnected an aggravated statement betwixt kid information activists, privateness groups and nan tech manufacture complete whether nan argumentation will use aliases harm children. It has created unusual bedfellows wrong those groups, pinch privateness activists aligning themselves pinch nan large tech companies they person historically criticized. Critics allege that nan prohibition could lead to collecting information connected children that could beryllium utilized for authorities surveillance and nan regularisation of their privateness rights.

UK authorities ministers person besides engaged successful a lobbying effort to ward disconnected backlash from nan pro-tech Trump administration, pinch British officials saying they spent weeks reassuring nan White House that nan argumentation was not an onslaught connected nan US tech industry.

• ‘It makes nary sense’: 16- and 17-year-olds connected UK societal media ban

• UK ministers lobby Trump to avert backlash against societal media ban

SpaceX’s large AI purchase

Elon Musk speaks astatine nan SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition II successful Hawthorne, California, connected 27 August 2017. Photograph: Mike Blake/Reuters

Days aft SpaceX went nationalist successful nan biggest IPO of each time, nan rocket, artificial intelligence and outer net institution announced that it had agreed to buy nan AI startup Cursor for $60bn. The acquisition could thief SpaceX and its subsidiary xAI go a much superior contender successful nan AI race, wherever it has lagged down rivals specified arsenic Anthropic and OpenAI.

Cursor focuses connected AI that helps constitute code, which has proven to beryllium an incredibly lucrative exertion for nan technology. Anthropic, which makes Claude, quickly roseate to nan beforehand of nan battalion successful nan AI title aft releasing its widely-used coding devices precocious past year.

Prior to acquiring Cursor, xAI’s attempts astatine coding products struggled compared pinch competitors. The company’s AI model, Grok, besides grounded to summation nan aforesaid level of mainstream take and usage wrong endeavor businesses arsenic Claude aliases OpenAI’s ChatGPT. xAI has meantime faced galore scandals and lawsuits related to Grok, including nan chatbot generating sexualized nonconsensual images of women and children.

Although Elon Musk has struggled to support gait pinch different frontier AI labs, SpaceX’s acquisition of Cursor opens up nan anticipation that he could fundamentally bargain his measurement into nan competition. SpaceX’s tremendous marketplace valuation – it eclipsed Amazon astatine 1 constituent past week to go nan world’s 5th astir valuable institution – has fixed Musk moreover much powerfulness to build retired nan company’s AI capabilities.

Whether SpaceX tin successfully incorporated AI products and services into its business remains a cardinal mobility for nan company, particularly arsenic it makes a large stake connected building information centers successful space.

Read more: SpaceX overtakes Amazon to go world’s 5th astir valuable company

The wider TechScape

• New York City House superior emerges arsenic cardinal battleground successful ‘AI civilian war’

• Over-reliance connected chatbots tin diminish critical-thinking skills, study finds