States gear up to work on AI
Startup policy outlook under second Trump term
Executive coaching should be accessible to anyone who is interested, but oftentimes scaling the education is not practical. With her company Zella Life, co-founder Remy Meraz is democratizing professional development using AI. We sat down with her to discuss AI, independent contractors, and more.
After working in the financial sector for over 20 years, Mical Jeanlys-White founded her own company, WealthMore, a wealth tech with a focus on tackling a key financial barrier—wealth building and management. Her company leverages technology to connect everyday Americans with accessible wealth management services, aiming to provide wealth creation for all. We sat down with her to discuss her journey in raising capital, navigating tax policy, the evolving role of AI, and more.
Vance Reavie is no stranger to entrepreneurship. Using his knowledge from previous ventures, he created an AI platform that intelligently automates manual marketing and merchandising workflows and content generation processes for brands and retailers. We sat down with Vance to discuss the startup ecosystem in Arkansas, AI policy and regulation, grant opportunities, and more.
Located in the Sacramento region, OpenGrants is a new startup that’s working to provide equitable access to public funding through the use of software and data products. We recently spoke with Sedale Turbovsky—OpenGrants’ Founder and CEO—to learn more about his startup’s work, his concerns about public funding transparency, and what federal agencies can do to further promote entrepreneurial engagement.
TLDR: House lawmakers are moving towards a vote on legislation that would threaten workers, startups, and larger companies alike by reclassifying many independent contractors as employees. The bill shares many concerning similarities with California’s “gig worker” law that went into effect at the beginning of the year and has drawn considerable pushback from the state’s startup community.
The Big Story: Lawmakers, FCC push for broadband investments. House Democrats introduced a new infrastructure framework that would invest $760 billion over a five-year period in critical transportation and development projects, including $86 billion to help expand broadband access across the United States. The Federal Communications Commission also voted yesterday to approve a $20.4 billion fund to support broadband expansion efforts across rural portions of the country over the next ten years.
Located in The Queen City, software startup 10XTS is using blockchain and distributed ledger technologies to help drive the next generation of regulatory compliant financial services data management. We recently spoke with Michael Hiles, 10XTS’s CEO, to learn more about his startup’s work, the Cincinnati startup ecosystem, and his work on behalf of the Token Taxonomy Act to support the development of the U.S. blockchain industry.
The United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) signed by President Donald Trump this morning is a welcome step for startups looking to innovate and grow on a global scale. USMCA has been hailed as a template for future trade agreements between the U.S. and other countries, and we’re pleased that the deal includes startup-friendly provisions that defend IP rights and promote intermediary liability protections.
This report examines several recent developments in the policy debate over encryption, including the debate over building backdoors to encrypted content for law enforcement, as well as reports about law enforcement’s current capabilities and impediments to accessing data in criminal investigations, and growing concerns on how encryption may affect efforts to combat the spread of child exploitation material on the Internet.
TLDR: As countries continue to debate whether or not to levy digital services taxes on tech companies, several states are considering implementing their own digital tax measures. While the currently proposed state-level bills are unlikely to receive much traction, they demonstrate a growing willingness on the part of state representatives to levy their own taxes against online companies of all sizes.
Braid Theory, a strategic advisory firm for entrepreneurs, is proving collaboration works by helping startups enter the marketplace and gain access to their customers. Based in San Pedro, the globally-focused firm is helping to establish an entrepreneurial ecosystem close to the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach. We recently spoke with Ann Carpenter, the CEO of Braid Theory, to learn more about the firm’s work supporting startups and entrepreneurs.
TLDR: The Department of Justice is continuing its push for tech companies to undermine their users’ security by building in intentional vulnerabilities. In the latest spat between Apple, Attorney General William Barr is claiming that the company is not helping officials unlock two iPhones belonging to the shooter in last month’s deadly shooting at a Florida naval air base, despite the fact that the older model devices can likely be accessed and Apple has already turned over the relevant data in its possession.
The Big Story: USMCA, China trade deals move forward. The Trump administration and Congress made significant progress this week on two critical trade deals, with President Donald Trump signing a phase one trade deal with China and the Senate passing the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
TLDR: Later this year, the Supreme Court will weigh in on a long-standing copyright dispute between Oracle and Google over the permissible use of application programming interfaces, or APIs. APIs are software interfaces that startups rely on to promote interoperability and reduce costs. If they were eligible for copyright protection, then companies that own the API copyrights would be able to prevent others from using those APIs without paying for a license. This week Engine filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court, arguing that APIs should not be eligible for copyright protection, and in particular that extending copyright protections to APIs is an attempt to evade patent law in a way that would unduly harm startups and entrepreneurs.
Engine submitted comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office last week in response to the agency’s request for public comment on “the impact of artificial intelligence (“AI”) technologies on intellectual property law and policy.”
The Big Story: France’s digital services tax could harm startups. U.S. tech companies told the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) this week that they support retaliatory tariffs in response to France’s new digital services tax that would impose a three percent tax on online platforms with a global revenue of over 750 million euros and 25 million euros in France. The Trump administration has threatened to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on certain French imports, such as champagne and cheese, in response to the tax.
KegSafe, a new startup venture based in Beaumont, Texas, is using ultrasonic technology and software to help bar owners and beer distributors keep tabs on their inventories by providing up-to-the-ounce data on every single keg. We recently spoke with Mark McCoy, KegSafe’s CEO, to learn more about the startup’s work and use of technology.
Engine submitted comments this week to the United States Trade Representative addressing the potential U.S. response to France’s enactment of a Digital Services Tax. The retroactive three percent tax would be levied on certain large firms providing online intermediation services and digital advertising sales with a revenue of 750 million euros globally and 25 million euros in France.
A recent Federal Circuit decision about fee shifting is important to startups facing patent litigation and has broader relevance for confirming that attorney fee awards can be a tool for deterring abusive patent litigation. Startups facing extortive settlement demands for specious patent infringement claims can ask to have the plaintiff pay their attorney fees if they prevail in court. The availability of fees is valuable, because the cost of defending even a meritless patent lawsuit is expensive. But if plaintiffs who file those meritless cases may have to cover the costs of defense, it can help level the playing field, even before the parties find themselves in court.
A key House panel is holding a hearing tomorrow morning to examine the dangers of online misinformation, deception, and deepfakes. Lawmakers are rightfully concerned about the spread of misinformation across the Internet, but they have largely failed to offer solutions that would not stifle startups and other platforms’ ability to moderate troublesome—but otherwise legal—content.
As the year draws to a close, we wanted to highlight some of the main policy issues that have affected the startup community this year, and what we’ve done to advance the goals of the entrepreneurial community.
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