Ep. 246: Tech check — AI moratorium, Character AI lawsuit, FTC, Digital Services Act, and FSC v. Paxton

We’re checking in on the latest news in tech and free speech.


We cover the state AI regulation moratorium that failed in
Congress, the ongoing Character A.I. lawsuit, the Federal Trade
Commission’s consent decree with Omnicom and Interpublic Group,
the European Union’s Digital Services Act, and what comes next
after the Supreme Court’s Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton
decision.


Guests:


Ari Cohn — lead counsel for tech policy, FIRE


Corbin Barthold — internet policy counsel, TechFreedom


Timestamps: 


00:00 Intro


02:38 State AI regulation moratorium fails in Congress


20:04 Character AI lawsuit


41:10 FTC, Omnicom x IPG merger, and Media Matters


56:09 Digital Services Act


01:02:43 FSC v. Paxton decision


01:10:49 Outro 


Read the transcript here:
https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/so-speak-podcast-transcript-tech-check-ai-moratorium-character-ai-lawsuit-ftc


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Show notes:




“The AI will see you now” Paul Sherman (2025)




Megan Garcia, plaintiff, v. Character Technologies, Inc. et.
al., defendants, United States District Court (2025)




Proposed amicus brief in support of appeal - Garcia v.
Character Technologies, Inc. FIRE (2025)




“Amplification and its discontents: Why regulating the reach
of online content is hard” Daphne Kelly (2021)




“Omnicom Group/The Interpublic Group of Co.” FTC (2025)