Latest news with #ARPANET
Forbes
20-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Silicon Valley's Shifting Politics—and The One Thing Uniting Them
Sillicon Valley - road sign information When I started covering Silicon Valley as an industry analyst in 1981, most top tech execs were politically conservative. They were entrepreneurs who believed in a free market and wanted the least government intervention as they began inventing our digital future. However, there was a significant tech milestone in the mid-1990s when tech executives' political positions began shifting slightly towards the middle, and they needed government support to further their information age agenda. It came when Netscape introduced the first internet browser, and even die-hard conservatives began interacting with Democratic President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. Venture capitalists and tech executives realized that the internet was set to become a revolutionary technology that would need more bandwidth, new telecom regulations, and government backing to help grow it for use in broader government, business, education, and eventually consumer markets. Tech execs also knew that they might have a significant ally in the then current administration as Vice President Gore, as a senator, was instrumental in the development of major legislation that made the internet possible. According to Wikipedia, "On June 24, 1986, Gore introduced S-2594, Supercomputer Network Study Act of 1986. As a senator, Gore began to craft the High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991 (commonly referred to as 'The Gore Bill ') after hearing the 1988 report Toward a National Research Network submitted to Congress by a group chaired by the University of California, Los Angeles professor of computer science, Leonard Kleinrock, one of the central creators of the ARPANET (the ARPANET, first deployed by Kleinrock and others in 1969, is the predecessor of the Internet). Then, as vice president, Gore promoted the development of the Information Superhighway. This was discussed in detail a few days after winning the election in November 1992 in The New York Times article "Clinton to Promote High Technology, With Gore in Charge." They planned to finance research 'that will flood the economy with innovative goods and services, lifting the general level of prosperity and strengthening American industry.' However, today's tech leaders' political positions are a mixed bag. Last week, Vice President JD Vance came to Silicon Valley for a fundraiser, and the local NBC station asked me how he was viewed in Silicon Valley. Although the station used only a small portion of my answer on the broadcast, here is what I told them about the current political climate with tech execs in Silicon Valley today: A faction of Silicon Valley's tech elite, particularly those aligned with conservative or libertarian ideologies, has strongly supported Vance. Figures such as Elon Musk, David Sacks, and Peter Thiel have publicly endorsed him, viewing his selection as a bridge between technological innovation and national leadership. Musk described the Trump-Vance ticket as an "excellent decision," while Sacks referred to Vance as an "American patriot." This group appreciates Vance's venture capital background and his advocacy for deregulation, which they believe could spur innovation and economic growth. Some moderates in the tech industry acknowledge Vance's understanding of technology and entrepreneurship as potential assets. For instance, venture capitalist Matt Murphy noted that having a tech-savvy individual in leadership is beneficial. However, this optimism is tempered by concerns over Vance's regulatory positions and his alignment with certain conservative policies. Progressive voices and major tech companies express apprehension regarding Vance's stance on issues like Section 230, a statute that shields tech platforms from liability for third-party content posted on their sites, and antitrust enforcement. His support for reducing liability protections for social media platforms and his praise for antitrust actions against big tech firms signal a potential for increased regulatory scrutiny. These positions raise concerns about the future relationship between the federal government and major technology companies. Vance's advocacy for "American Dynamism," which emphasizes aligning technology with national interests, resonates with certain segments of the tech community seeking a renewed sense of purpose in innovation. However, his conservative cultural views, including critiques of multiculturalism and support for restrictive immigration policies, have drawn criticism from others in the industry who value diversity and global engagement. Vice President JD Vance is a polarizing figure in Silicon Valley. While he garners support from conservative and libertarian tech leaders who appreciate his industry background and deregulatory stance, he faces skepticism from progressives and major tech firms concerned about potential regulatory challenges and cultural conservatism. This divide underscores the evolving political dynamics within the tech industry. Although Silicon Valley tech leaders' politics are mixed, they do seem to agree on one thing—that AI is a powerful technology that can be used for good and bad and needs some form of regulation. Current Budget Reconciliation Bill legislation would prohibit federal and state governments from regulating artificial intelligence (AI) for the next ten years. This development, if enacted, would fundamentally reshape the landscape of AI governance in the U.S., with profound implications for innovation, public safety, civil rights, and the global competitive balance. The latest move to use the Budget Reconciliation Bill as a vehicle for AI policy has sparked intrigue and alarm. By leveraging this procedural tool—which allows budgetary measures to pass with a simple majority—the proposed language effectively places a ten-year moratorium on any federal or state regulation of artificial intelligence technologies. Proponents frame this as a bold step toward ensuring America remains at the forefront of AI innovation, removing bureaucratic friction and giving developers a clear runway for growth. However, critics see a glaring blind spot. With no regulatory guardrails, the door opens to unchecked algorithmic bias, data misuse, and the accelerated spread of AI-driven misinformation. The intent to spark innovation is admirable, but the absence of oversight during such rapid technological evolution is deeply concerning. AI is not just a tool of productivity—it's a force shaping economies, societies, and even democratic processes. A decade without regulation could hardwire unintended consequences into the very foundations of our digital future.
Forbes
01-05-2025
- Forbes
How The Internet Became Essential—And Dangerous
Despite its benefits, the Internet has many downsides that people might not realize. getty The Internet has been in use by the general public for decades, and with it have come a wealth of benefits. Originally developed as a way for researchers from the United States, the United Kingdom, and France to collaborate more easily with each other. It started in earnest with the development of ARPANET in 1969 under contracts awarded by the US Department of Defense. Eventually, public dial-in Internet networks became available starting in 1979 with CompuServe, with other services like America Online and Prodigy soon to follow. The rise of multimedia computers and cell phones in the 1990s gave way to even more homes having online connectivity, and it's only skyrocketed since then. Online shopping, once considered a novelty (remember, Amazon started out only selling books!), became a necessity in people's lives. The Internet wasn't just for nerds anymore! In December 2022, the Bureau of Economic Analysis estimated the United States' 'digital GDP' coming in at a whopping $2.57 trillion; if ranked by itself alongside the world, the US digital economy would be the world's eighth biggest. In addition, the Internet has made global communication easier and faster than ever before. The Digital 2025 Global Overview Report estimates that as of early 2026, 67.9% of the world's population (5.56 billion people) use the Internet. Simply put, the Internet has been a boon for businesses, especially those with international clients. As the saying goes, what goes up must come down. Despite its benefits, the Internet has many downsides that people might not realize. Lack of regulation by governments and companies alike has led to a myriad of ways bad guys try to take advantage of people's families and finances. In the 1990s, the Internet was a bit of the Wild West, but people were getting their feet wet as to what it was really capable of. It's a different world now, to say the least! The Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce announced that e-commerce sales for Q4 2024 accounted for $352.9 billion, making e-commerce a ripe target for fraudsters. While spam emails of the past may have been riddled with spelling mistakes, the rise of AI has allowed spam asking for someone to log into their e-commerce site (Amazon, eBay, Etsy) to look more authentic than ever. A recent article from Crowdfund Insider notes how this allows bad actors to create 'high-quality attacks with greater frequency.' An online scam on the rise is pig-butchering, a long con often involving scammers working out of compounds that spend months building trust with the target (the pig) only to get them and their friends to invest large amounts of money (butchering) before they move on to their next target. The Economist ran a cover story detailing how these scammers appeal to their targets from an emotional angle by preying on 'fear, loneliness, greed, grief, and boredom.' Things have come a long way from the simpler Nigerian Prince scams of yore. It's not just the wealthy that are targeted; scammers are targeting teens as well through financial sextortion. Criminals trick teens into sending compromising photos of themselves, then demand money or else they'll send the pictures to their friends, family, or post them in a public forum. In 2024, the UK's National Crime Agency's Child Exploitation and Online Protection platform received over 380 sextortion reports. Whether it's for you or your family, knowledge is the best defense against modern, sophisticated methods of Internet fraud. By delving deeper into these topics, we can emerge more aware and wiser than ever before in this rapidly changing world of scams that the modern Internet has not thoughtfully provided.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Boston built America's innovation engine. Now it's under attack by Trump
It's a strange time to be marking the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. Back then, some of the main flashpoints related to Britain's tight grip on commerce in the colonies and taxation without representation. When the King got angry about the boisterous Boston Tea Party, he shut down Boston's port so that merchants couldn't import or export goods. That knee-capped the local economy, leading to business closures, high unemployment, shortages of food and other essentials and soaring prices. And it led the colonists to organize the First Continental Congress to plan their response. Now, the danger to our economy comes not from abroad, but from a president who gleefully uses phrases like 'long live the king' to refer to himself. His administration is attacking the foundations of what we have been building here since the 1630s, when Boston Latin School and Harvard College got started. That foundation tightly integrates education, smart students and professors from around the world, research and development activities, funding from the federal government and private philanthropists and experienced entrepreneurs and investors who form companies around the research projects that look most promising. What we have built on top of that foundation has been significant both societally and financially. We have cured deadly diseases in children and adults, developed surgical anesthesia, performed the first human organ transplant, helped sequence the human genome, created the field of proton therapy for cancer treatment, and we also did some of the earliest work on the GLP-1 drugs now widely prescribed for diabetes and weight loss. We developed radar systems that helped the Allies win World War II, and also the guidance computers that enabled Apollo spacecraft to land humans on the surface of the moon. We built some of the earliest hardware and software that allowed the ARPANET — the Internet's forerunner — to link computers together in the 1960s, sent the first email and ensured that the web has remained an open standard that everyone can benefit from. We created the first videogame, booting up an industry that now spins off revenues of more than $180 billion globally each year. An entrepreneur educated at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and working in Cambridge co-founded a startup called Android, now owned by Google, and is the world's most popular mobile operating system. Before that, we invented the telephone. (The Scotsman Alexander Graham Bell was a Boston University professor — but not yet a U.S. citizen — when he made the earliest phone calls.) In 2025, we're trying to do things like edit or silence the malfunctioning genes that cause diseases; help our military develop hypersonic missiles; and build a functional nuclear fusion reactor, with no carbon emissions or long-lived radioactive waste. You get the idea; this list could go on for a whiiiiiile. Just one industry that our university labs helped incubate here in the late 1970s, biotechnology, last year created more than $600 billion in economic activity in the U.S., and employed more than 300,000 people. Some of its early pioneers and current leaders — people like the late Henri Termeer of Genzyme and Noubar Afeyan of Flagship Pioneering — were foreigners who came to this country to advance their education. For its part, the Trump administration asserts that it aims to cut government research funding to help bring the deficit under control — a key mission of the Department of Government Efficiency. And the administration believes that it can get universities to address antisemitism on campuses, or increase ideological diversity on faculties, only with high-pressure tactics like withholding federal funding, rescinding their ability to enroll foreign students or revoking their tax-exempt status. Supporters of the administration may want to play out this hand of cards and see if those aims can be achieved. But I'd make the case that what we're seeing right now is a federal government that is jackhammering away at the foundations of what makes Boston work — not to mention similar ecosystems such as Seattle, New York and Silicon Valley. It seems they are rooting for the towers atop that foundation to tumble, without truly understanding the impact that that would have on America's competitiveness. They have demolition equipment, but I'm not convinced they have a blueprint or construction equipment. (As they wrangle with our great institutions, create anxiety around visas, and deny funding to cutting-edge researchers, you can already watch savvy countries swinging into action to attract those people.) There is also one possible impact of the Trump administration's war on Ivy League schools that few people understand, and it has to do with the universities' nest eggs — their endowments. If federal funding gets yanked or cut, universities may tap their endowments to fill the gap. There are also proposals in Congress to potentially increase the tax rate on wealthy universities' endowments from 1.4% to as much as 21%. Why does that matter? Endowment money often gets handed to venture capital firms so that they can fund startup companies — the next Moderna, HubSpot, Wayfair or Vertex. So increasing the pressure on university endowments could reduce the money venture capitalists have to support new company formation — a key ingredient of the U.S.' economic vitality. The 'acute issue,' says Boston venture capitalist Michael Greeley, 'is simply not knowing what endowments will be called on to fund' at universities, which could suck money out of the venture capital system. 'In 1775, the proud New Englanders stood strong, threw down their plowshares and confronted the totalitarian threat, even though they knew the battle would be long,' wrote Don Ingber, director of the Wyss Institute, a research lab at Harvard, in a recent blog post. This time, instead of taxation without representation, Ingber says one of the central issues is 'cessation [of government funding for university research] without justification.' To help highlight the role that academic research plays in the economy, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce this month rebooted a coalition of nearly fifty other chambers that it originally started during the first Trump administration, Business for Federal Research Funding. Research, says James Rooney, CEO of the Greater Boston Chamber, 'creates jobs — blue and white collar jobs — all over the country, in every state." But aside from elected officials like Gov. Maura Healey and Senate President Karen Spilka, and university leaders like Harvard's Alan Garber and Danielle Holley of Mount Holyoke College, it's hard to find evidence of private sector leaders using their megaphones to speak out, or organizing to defend the education, research and innovation-driven economy we have been building here over nearly 400 years. It's an engine of progress that has, quite literally, won wars, cured terrible diseases and shaped the technology we use and how we communicate. 'Too many leaders in the private sector are worried about retribution that could harm their businesses,' observes John Maraganore, a longtime biotech industry executive and co-founder of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge. Understood. But in the two-and-a-half centuries since we helped spark the American Revolution, have we turned into a state populated by meek worriers? Or are we still willing to act to defend what we hold dear? This high-profile EV charging startup just left Massachusetts Mass. Gov. Healey says she's playing defense against an anti-innovation Trump administration How the CEO of CarGurus is playing the car market right now Mass. CEOs see tariffs creating 'maximum uncertainty'
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Yahoo
Our emails, ourselves: What the history of email reveals about us
save_the_drama_for_your_mama@ magically_delicious_vic@ gigglybear4u@ Gen Xers and millennials, in particular, have many embarrassing email addresses hidden in their digital closets. Still, it seemed like a good idea at the time. In the 1990s and early 2000s, the emergence of webmail services like Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, and AOL Mail fostered the unfettered creativity of a young generation that had yet to understand how technology would play into the rest of their lives. Email today permeates every aspect of our digitally driven society, from silly chain messages and professional correspondence to shopping promotions and malicious junk. To trace email's ascension to mainstream use, Spokeo explored news coverage and cultural milestones to chart the evolution of email addresses and how they both shape and reflect our personalities. Email technology began in the very practical halls of the United States government. It was part of a system established by the Department of Defense in the late 1960s. The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network connected computer users through a shared network rather than through dedicated and exclusive lines. Government agencies and universities nationwide utilized ARPANET, and in 1971, computer engineer Ray Tomlinson sent the first test network email through ARPANET, using the underused @ symbol to separate the user's and host's names. Tomlinson did not remember his first messages or precisely which dates he sent them, saying that the content was "insignificant and [forgettable]." ARPANET provided the foundations for what we now know as the internet, where significant and insignificant messages are exchanged every minute of every day. In the years following the birth of email, the technology further developed and eventually became more accessible. Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, the networking standard for emails still used today, was built on concepts from ARPANET introduced in 1982. By 1988, Microsoft had released the first commercially available email client, Microsoft Mail. In the 1990s, email use grew beyond universities and government agencies and into the public as the internet became widely available, and an increasing number of email clients (like Hotmail, Yahoo, and AOL mentioned above) emerged. By 1997, there were already 10 million users worldwide that had a free email account. Internet service providers gave households access to the World Wide Web through dial-up connections, requiring phone lines to work. Who of a certain age could ever forget the high-pitched, off-putting, chaotic melody that signaled the start of a successful connection? The internet became addicting, with family members regularly checking their emails, shopping, or talking in chat rooms, which could lead to household disputes over online usage and connection speeds. With these new types of personal online interactions, users became a lot more creative with how they identified themselves online, crafting pseudonyms and screen names instead of using their legal names as you would for a business email address. As internet use became widespread, email caught on as a tool for communication, not just for personal use but also for business purposes. Email quickly became a cost-effective method for business functions like scheduling and validating shipments and transactions. Checking inboxes and composing and sending emails became a major component of the workday, and businesses soon developed practices for professional communication—from how to structure messages to when to divide time between work and personal messages. The advent of HTML, or Hypertext Markup Language, helped spur the advancement of the internet and email as tools. HTML, the basic language of web content, helped add some color (quite literally) to emails, especially as businesses began using the technology for marketing purposes. Graphics, custom fonts, video, and other elements kept messages engaging for readers. But some groups and individuals eventually found email technology troublesome—and quite annoying. As early as 1978, a marketing manager named Gary Thuerk sent a promotional message to about 400 users in ARPANET to promote a new computer product. While considered the first unsolicited "spam" message in history, it reportedly led to over $13 million in sales for his computer company. As digital advertising and email marketing became prevalent in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with marketers tracking user data, governments began to regulate email and define several guidelines for using the medium. Enacted in 2003, the CAN-SPAM Act in the U.S. required companies to reduce unsolicited email efforts from companies, with measures demanding businesses give members clear ways to unsubscribe. Before the rise of viral content and memes, information—usually dubious content and outright scams—would spread en masse to users through chain letters, encouraging readers to forward it to as many people as possible. Instant messaging services like AOL Instant Messenger, Internet Relay Chat, and Yahoo Messenger predated social media in connecting people globally, leading to new types of online interactions. With all these new communication formats came new ways to identify oneself, usually with a pseudonym as a username—especially with the need to keep one's real name private. Some screen names could be based on childhood interests, such as poptardis@ for one Pop-Tarts lover and (faux) "Doctor Who" fan. Many internet users came up with silly and sometimes regrettable pseudonyms for their email addresses, chat room names, or online gaming monikers, full of random numbers, characters, and pop culture references. Society became accustomed to email and the internet as an informal means of everyday communication for work or frivolities, something to be taken for granted. However, as the 21st century progressed, the impact of technology on civilization became more evident. In 2004, Google launched its email client, appropriately titled Gmail. With a desire to provide a better web interface for email, help users sort through spam and promotions, and give them more storage space, Gmail eventually became one of the most popular email services, with about a third of the market share by 2024. With signature features like its social and promotions folders for inboxes, which automatically categorize the sometimes overwhelming number of emails received, Gmail ranks with other services like Apple Mail and Yahoo Mail as the most used email service today. As of 2023, there are 4.37 billion email users worldwide, a figure expected to grow to 4.89 billion by 2027. In 2023, about 347 billion emails were sent and received every day globally. Formats like the email newsletter, which collects and aggregates information like news and other niche topics for audiences to digest, continued to evolve. Another way emails have become more compact for consumers is by fitting email services onto mobile devices such as smartphones. Since BlackBerry disrupted the phone industry with devices that could be used to make phone calls, receive text messages, and check emails, a "mobile work era" commenced, and smartphones became essential for businesses. This trend only continued after the iPhone came onto the scene in 2007. Email formats soon evolved to suit smaller handheld screens. Texting on phones has become one of the dominant forms of electronic communication, and direct messaging applications like the business-focused Slack and the personal service Facebook Messenger have grown in popularity. Even though these applications have similar functions, email has remained a prominent form of communication for businesses and personal use. It is a great leveler for digital communication. Not everyone may have a Slack account or habitually check Messenger, but they would more likely have an email address. The use of emails for work, leisure, and marketing continues in the age of social media, artificial intelligence, and an influx of applications. Emails are becoming automated, with personalized marketing content based on customer actions such as signing up for a service or purchasing a product. Customer data tied to email addresses, too, are becoming a commodity, sliced, diced, and scrutinized to gain ground on a corporate target. Even as companies seek data from consumers, users are becoming more wary of sharing their email addresses with organizations, keeping their inboxes clean of clutter in a time where information comes at us from every direction. Story editing by Carren Jao. Copy editing by Paris Close. Photo selection by Lacy Kerrick. This story originally appeared on Spokeo and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
Associated Press
24-03-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
University of Utah partners with Abundance Institute to boost innovation efforts
SALT LAKE CITY, March 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Utah has formed a groundbreaking alliance with the Abundance Institute, a nonprofit that is focused on tackling societal and policy barriers facing emerging technologies. The U announced its partnership with the Institute as part of increased efforts to amplify its societal impact, especially through research and innovation. 'Some of our greatest modern-day advancements originate in university classrooms and labs — especially at the U,' President Taylor Randall said. 'This partnership will provide an opportunity to walk the path from idea to creation in a more collaborative way, bringing along inventors, regulators, legislators, and investors.' Through this collaboration, the U and the institute will work with academic thought leaders, policymakers, and innovators to provide expert guidance on barriers that prevent new technologies from coming to market. They'll also share knowledge about the true risks and rewards of new technological and scientific advancements, starting with the focus areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and energy. Under the affiliation agreement, the institute will have office space at the U and will officially be known as the 'Abundance Institute at the University of Utah.' The U has a rich history of ushering new technology into the world with significant impact. In 1969, it was the fourth node — the first to be located outside of California — on the ARPANET, a Department of Defense project that later evolved into the Internet. Later, the first permanent artificial heart was developed at the U and implanted in a patient. Over the years, many transformative companies have launched with connections to the U, including Blackrock Neurotech, the leader in brain-computer interface technology; Recursion, a $2 billion biotech company that uses AI to find treatments for rare diseases; Adobe, the foremost software company for digital content creation and publication; and Pixar, the award-winning and revolutionary computer animation studio. The Abundance Institute, led by CEO Christopher Koopman, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) that is dedicated to creating an environment for emerging technologies to grow, develop, and thrive long before they capture the public's attention. Their work spans various areas, including energy, artificial intelligence, healthcare, and infrastructure. The Abundance Institute collaborates with experts—ranging from technologists to policy researchers—to influence regulations and public perception in ways that support technological breakthroughs. 'I am excited about this partnership,' Koopman said. 'This is not just about how the U can drive the economy of Utah forward, but how does the U shape national conversations about the future.'
