Before policymakers regulate AI, they need to understand a fundamental technology: neural networks.
Congress needs to act on child care challenges
The video game industry is concentrated in a handful of locations, leaving incredible talent in underserved areas frequently overlooked. Ben Kvalo started Midwest Games to change that narrative, supporting underrepresented game developers because increasing diversity in game development leads to better products and bigger markets. Ben recently joined us to talk about Midwest Games, the challenges of raising capital in the Midwest, the importance of small developers in maintaining a healthy video game ecosystem, and the potential benefits of AI for the industry.
Engine statement on SCOTUS Decision in Moody v. NetChoice and NetChoice v. Paxton
Consumer weather models are too coarse for farms and conservancies that are large enough to occupy their own microclimates. Dr. Carlos Gaitan started Benchmark Labs to solve this problem, leveraging artificial intelligence to create custom weather models for farmers and conservators—helping them increase their crop yield and better manage their land. Carlos recently sat down with us to discuss Benchmark Labs, his experience as an immigrant founder, the value of government funding for startups, and how policymakers should approach AI policy.
Mycroft AI offers open-source voice assistant technology that can be integrated into all types of third-party hardware, from desktop computers to automobiles. We recently spoke with Joshua Montgomery, the Founder of Mycroft AI, to learn more about the need for patent reforms to reduce abusive litigation, the intersection between user privacy and open-source AI development, and how Mycroft AI will contribute to the growing voice assistant market.
Today, Engine, along with the Charles Koch Institute and Startup Genome, issued a report looking at the overall health of the startup ecosystem. We hope this report can serve as a resource for policymakers considering a wide range of policy issues that impact early-stage companies across the country.
TLDR: A key Senate panel is holding a hearing tomorrow to discuss ways to improve diversity within the U.S. patent system. As entrepreneurs across the country call on the government to support more diversity in innovation, and with the country continuing to confront systemic inequities, policymakers must work to ensure that increasing diversity in innovation—both inside and especially outside the patent system—remains a central component of their work.
The Big Story: Bipartisan bill would boost U.S. tech investments, R&D funding. A key Senate panel held a hearing this week to discuss bipartisan legislation meant to bolster the U.S. technology sector against the growing threat of competition from China. Members of the Senate Commerce Committee used Wednesday’s hearing to discuss how the bill, known as the Endless Frontier Act, would provide long-term investments in research and development, entrepreneurship, and technological advancements in order to solidify America’s leadership in the global innovation economy.
TLDR: Hiring full-time talent is costly and difficult when a startup is in its early stages, but recent federal efforts have created even more uncertainty for nascent companies that rely upon independent contractors to help them innovate and grow. As Congress and the Biden administration take steps that could narrow the definition of an independent contractor, policymakers must be careful to examine how this push would impact workers, startups, and small businesses across the country.
The Big Story: Boosting legal immigration will benefit startups, U.S. global leadership. As federal policymakers continue to debate much-needed updates to the nation's immigration system, a report released this week found that the U.S. risks losing its status as the world’s largest economy by 2030 if policymakers do not take steps to expand and increase legal immigration. The study, conducted by FWD.us in collaboration with George Mason University, highlighted how U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) could double by 2050 if the level of permanent and temporary immigrants was increased to more than two million each year.
TLDR: A Supreme Court decision yesterday means that startups and developers should be able to continue to use software interfaces, known as application programming interfaces (APIs), without facing liability for copyright infringement. Startups and developers routinely rely on APIs to create interoperability and compatibility between computer programs, and they had long understood APIs to be exempt from copyright protection. But a yearslong lawsuit between Oracle and Google put that understanding—and the use of APIs—at risk. Now, the Supreme Court has held that using APIs is a fair use under the law, and its reasoning should permit entrepreneurs to continue using APIs when developing innovative products and services.
“This morning’s decision in Google v. Oracle is a win for startups and developers across the country. The Supreme Court has left the doors open to innovators and entrepreneurs using APIs to create interoperability and compatibility between computer programs. With confirmation that such use is fair, startups can more affordably build software without incurring steep licensing costs and facing the constant risk of litigation.”
The Big Story: Biden unveils infrastructure plan with broadband, tax proposals. President Joe Biden announced an ambitious $2 trillion proposal this week that would rely on a combination of spending and tax credits to upgrade and expand the nation’s infrastructure. In addition to devoting billions of dollars towards upgrading schools, improving roads and bridges, and spurring a shift towards clean energy sources, the plan would also allocate $100 billion towards the expansion of broadband to narrow the nation’s digital divide. In a speech on Wednesday announcing his infrastructure plan, President Biden said the connectivity funding would “make sure every single American has access to high-quality, affordable high-speed Internet.”
Headquartered in Zeeland, Michigan, Lakeshore Advantage is a nonprofit economic development organization that’s working to support startups, entrepreneurs, and businesses in West Michigan. We recently spoke with Amanda Chocko, the Director of Entrepreneurship at Lakeshore Advantage, to learn more about the organization’s work supporting local startups, the importance of reliable broadband services, and what the future holds for West Michigan’s startup community.
TLDR: As federal officials seek public input regarding the response to countries that have enacted digital services taxes (DSTs) on U.S. Internet companies, the startup community remains concerned that they will be affected by the levies in the form of increased costs for the services and products they rely upon. While the Biden administration and global officials work to reach a uniform digital tax framework, it’s critical that countries—and even U.S. states—refrain from imposing their own digital services taxes that could harm startup formation and success.
Every day, people use the Internet to create and share content with others across the globe—and those users, and the Internet companies they rely on, each depend on a copyright framework some policymakers are looking to change. Specifically, a few members of Congress indicated they may be willing to re-open Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Unfortunately, the policy debate mostly revolves around large companies—both big tech companies and Internet platforms as well as large rightsholders in traditional content industries, like mainstream music or movies. But this area of the law is critical to all types of companies, Internet users, and creators. This post attempts to unpack some recent proposals, in an effort to help more stakeholders—especially tech startups—understand what is happening.
The Big Story: Removing barriers to entry for women entrepreneurs. Although the number of women-founded companies across the globe has doubled over the past decade—from 10 percent in 2009 to 20 percent in 2019—women entrepreneurs still face significant roadblocks when competing in the largely male-dominated technology sector. The gender disparity in the technology sector, driven in part by systemic sexism and responsibilities like child care and family caregiving, makes it more difficult for women entrepreneurs to break into the space with their own unique ideas and visions. Women represent just 11 percent of venture capital investment partners across the U.S., and women-led companies raise an average of 13 percent less in funding than their male counterparts. Women-led startups received only 2.8 percent of VC funding in 2019, while Black and Latino women founders combined to receive just 0.64 percent of total VC investments. That’s why it’s so critical for the startup community and policymakers to confront the challenges women entrepreneurs face and ensure that a diverse range of individuals are able to pursue entrepreneurship.
Arkatecht is a startup that creates professional development tools to help working parents advance and succeed in their careers. The company’s Atlast learning platform is specifically designed for parents working in human services fields—such as mental health and social work—to help them maintain a sound work-life balance. We recently spoke with Arkatecht’s Founder and CEO, Yasmin Mattox, to learn more about the startup’s focus on supporting working parents, what it’s like to be a woman founder, and why it’s important for policymakers to engage with the startup community.
TLDR: A key House panel is holding a hearing this Thursday with the CEOs of Facebook, Google, and Twitter to examine the spread of extremism and misinformation online. It’s critical that policymakers concerned about the proliferation of harmful content across the Internet understand how potential legislative remedies would impact startups and other Internet companies’ ability to moderate user-generated content.
The Big Story: House passes legislation extending pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. House lawmakers voted yesterday to approve legislation that would give approximately 2.3 million Dreamers—undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as minors—certain protections from deportation and would provide a pathway to citizenship if they meet certain criteria. The bill’s passage is a critical step for millions of talented immigrants who help drive innovation and job creation across the tech sector.
flipMD is a Philadelphia-based health care startup that lets physicians find consulting opportunities and allows companies to source medical talent for their projects. We recently spoke with the Founder and CEO of flipMD, Lauren Hanson, to learn more about her startup’s work, her experiences as a woman founder, and her thoughts on why it’s important for health care-focused startups to connect with physician consultants.
Today’s House vote in support of the American Dream and Promise Act is a victory for the millions of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children in search of a better life. Dreamers help drive U.S. innovation by launching startups, creating new jobs, and serving as critical sources of talent for the tech sector. By protecting Dreamers and providing them with a pathway to citizenship, the bill gives these talented individuals the legal certainty they need to pursue their ambitions—in the tech sector or otherwise—without the threat of deportation.
In letters this week to key congressional panels, Engine outlined startup-forward principles and priorities that we hope will guide Congress’s work on patent and copyright law this year. We wrote to the leaders of the Senate’s IP Subcommittee and the House Subcommittee on Courts, IP, and the Internet, encouraging each Subcommittee to promote and preserve balanced IP frameworks, emphasize patent quality, stress modernization, and advance diversity and inclusion.
TLDR: Across the country, state legislators are pushing bills that would make it harder for Internet companies to moderate content on their sites and services. In addition to raising constitutional and legal problems, the state-level push to limit moderation would disproportionately harm small and emerging companies that are attempting to compete in the Internet ecosystem.
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