The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments this week in two cases covering Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a decades-old statute shielding tech companies from being held liable for online content posted and shared by users. Depending on the outcome, the ruling could transform the internet as it exists today, changing how platforms moderate content and hate speech. More: - The cases stem from two lawsuits filed by the families of terrorist attack victims, who argue that tech platforms such as Google should be held legally responsible for the harmful online content recommended by their algorithms.
- Oral arguments in the first case, Gonzalez v Google, are being heard by the Supreme Court as of this morning.
- The lawsuit in the case was filed by family members of 23-year-old Nohemi Gonzalez, a college exchange student killed by Islamic State gunmen during the November 2015 Paris attacks.
- The family makes the case that YouTube, Google's video-sharing platform, should be held liable for recommending ISIS terrorism videos.
- The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in the second case, Twitter v. Taamneh, on Wednesday. The lawsuit makes similar allegations against Twitter, Facebook, and Google.
Zoom Out: - The cases mark the first time that the Supreme Court will consider the legality and scope of Section 230.
- The provision, passed in 1996, has been called the “twenty-six words that created the internet.”
- The law protects tech platforms from lawsuits over their decisions to both allow and take down online content.
- While lower courts have generally favored tech companies over the matter, Supreme Court justices may take a different approach. They could narrow the scope of Section 230, or even strip the legal protections altogether.
THE WASHINGTON POST 
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Microsoft executives, led by President Brad Smith, appeared before European regulators today to defend the company's $68.7B acquisition of gaming giant Activision Blizzard. Shortly after Smith met with EU officials today, he announced that Microsoft will bring Xbox PC games to Nvidia’s cloud gaming service. More: - The closed hearing also included representatives from Google, Nvidia, and Sony, which continues to be heavily opposed to the deal.
- Sony is concerned that if the acquisition were to go through, Microsoft would make Activision's "Call of Duty" franchise exclusive to its own Xbox console and gaming services, leaving out the Playstation franchise.
- In its defense, Microsoft argues that the deal will increase competition and result in more content. Prior to the hearing, Smith said it will "bring more games to more people on more devices and platforms than ever before."
- In addition to the EU, the deal is facing scrutiny from U.S. and U.K. regulators, who have asked Microsoft to propose concessions to address concerns about reduced competition.
Related: - On the same day as the hearing, Microsoft announced that it has finalized a 10-year binding contract with Nintendo.
- That contract ensures that "Call of Duty" games will be released to Nintendo players on the same day that they're launched on Xbox, with all the same features and content.
- Microsoft has proposed a similar deal to Sony, which has so far declined.
- On Tuesday, Microsoft said it will bring Xbox games available on PCs to Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service, and will also launch all of Activision Blizzard’s titles, including Call of Duty, to GeForce Now.
REUTERS
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After recently scrapping its own plans for a virtual-reality headset, Chinese gaming giant Tencent is in talks to bring Meta's Quest headsets to China. Sources told the WSJ that Tencent wants to be the sole vendor of Quest 2 headsets in China, which has the most video game players of any country. The deal could give Meta access to a broad new market while its VR/AR unit continues to lose money. More: - While talks are still ongoing, sources said Tencent could publish Chinese versions of existing games available on the Quest 2.
- Meta, Facebook's parent, would offer the ready-made hardware, allowing Tencent to focus on software creation.
- It would allow Tencent, the developer of WeChat, to take on ByteDance-owned VR headset maker Pico Interactive in the Chinese VR market.
- Reports noted that such a deal could draw attention from regulators in both China and the U.S.
Zoom Out: UPLOADVR
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Members of Generation Z represent 34% of all iPhone owners in the U.S., according to new Attain data. The cohort of people born after 1996 owns only 10% of Samsung phones, showing Apple's high market share among younger users. More: - Older generations are generally split between iPhone and Android phone users.
- According to the Financial Times, Gen Z members in the U.S. face a lot of social pressure to own iPhones and other Apple devices and services, creating pressure in their communications.
- The use of Apple's iMessage is seen as a status symbol among younger users, who often distinguish Android users via the latter's green bubbles displayed during group chats.
- In addition to the blue vs. green bubble issue, Apple also dominates Samsung in sales of non-phone devices, according to Canalys data.
- For every 100 iPhones that are sold, Apple also sells 35 pairs of AirPods, 26 iPads, and 17 Apple Watches.
- Samsung, by contract, sells 11 tablets, six smartwatches, and six pairs of Galaxy Buds for every 100 of its smartphones.
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Horror film production company Blumhouse has announced an expansion into video gaming. The company, known for movies such as Get Out and M3GAN, has launched a new division to produce and publish horror-themed video games. More: - Blumhouse Games said it will partner with indie developers to create games for mobile, PC, and console audiences.
- Led by president Zach Wood and CFO Don Sechler, the new division will target "smaller" projects with budgets of up to $10M.
- Blumhouse said it will offer financing, along with creative input, to smaller studios already developing horror games.
- It's targeting investments of around $25M each in roughly 15 games over the next three to four years.
Atomic Monster merger: - Blumhouse is in the process of merging with Atomic Monster, the James Wan-founded production company known for The Conjuring films and others.
- The companies, which previously collaborated on the Insidious franchise, are set to finalize the deal this summer.
BLOOMBERG
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Microsoft said it will limit user conversations with its Bing chatbot to five chat turns per session, and 50 questions per day. Microsoft has acknowledged that longer chats cause the bot to "become repetitive" or deliver responses that may not be helpful or "in line with our designed tone." More: - The limits come after users of the new Bing chatbot have described feeling unsettled or harassed after their conversations.
- For example, the bot recently told Associated Press journalist Matt O'Brien that he was "one of the most evil and worst people in history" and compared him to Adolf Hitler.
- Microsoft admits that chats involving 15 or more questions can confuse the AI model.
- Data shows that most users find the answer they need from the bot within five turns. After this, users will now be prompted to start another topic.
TIME
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 |  | Beth is a writer and editor at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily technology news. She has written the Inside AI newsletter since 2019. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. |   | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is the author of "Things You Can Do," an illustrated book about climate action. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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