Some Facebook users will soon be able to review their external browsing data and disassociate that history from their accounts, the company announced Tuesday. Originally pitched as a tool for clearing browsing history, the Off-Facebook Activity tool will first be available to users in Ireland, South Korea and Spain. No timeline was offered for Americans. Users will be able to track what data third-party websites share with Facebook and opt out of activity tracking, but the data won’t be deleted.

Facebook must take seriously the risks it runs of restricting free speech on its platform, ex-Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., reported Tuesday (see 1904100072). At the direction of Facebook, he and the law firm Covington & Burling produced the report after meeting with some 130 conservative politicians and organizations. Conservatives have concerns in six areas: content distribution and algorithms, content policies, content enforcement, ad policies, ad enforcement and workforce viewpoint diversity. There are concerns Facebook is a liberal organization largely filled with liberal employees, and the board lacks conservative directors, the report said. Asking for conservative input isn’t an audit, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said. He urged Facebook to do a third-party audit providing access to algorithms, document and content moderation protocols and publicly release findings.

The U.S. remains the world leader in artificial intelligence innovation, ahead of second-place China and third-place EU, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation’s Center for Data Innovation reported Monday. The U.S. leads in “absolute terms,” the report said. Each country and region was rated based on six categories: talent, research, development, adoption, data and hardware.

The 30 percent fiscal Q2 revenue rise Nvidia had in its automotive business reflected growing adoption of its next-generation artificial intelligence “cockpit solutions” and autonomous vehicle development projects, “including one particularly sizable development services transaction that was recognized in the quarter,” said Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress on a Thursday earnings call. The AI partnership Nvidia announced with Volvo in June will enable the automotive OEM “to develop a wide range of autonomous driving solutions for freight transport, recycling collection, public transport, construction, mining, forestry and more,” said Kress. “This collaboration is a great validation of our long-held position that every vehicle, not just cars, but also trucks, shuttles, business, taxis and many others, will have autonomous capability one day.” Autonomous driving “can bring enormous value to the trucking industry,” especially as the demands of online shopping “put ever-greater stress on the world’s transport systems,” she said. “Multiple customers” are “already onboard” with Nvidia’s automotive AI, said Kress: “We see this as a $30 billion addressable market by 2025.” Shares closed 7.3 percent higher Friday at $159.56.

The FTC 5-0 approved final orders settling claims five companies violated the Consumer Review Fairness Act by including in form contracts provisions that prohibit customers from posting negative reviews online. A Waldron HVAC, National Floors Direct, LVTR, Shore to Please Vacations and Staffordshire Property Management, are barred from using such provisions in the future and must notify customers who signed such contracts. Shore to Please was also ordered to dismiss a private lawsuit “in which the company alleged that a renter violated its non-disparagement agreement,” the FTC said. Attorneys for the companies didn’t comment Friday.

It’s a “significant problem” that consumers lack the ability to opt out of doing business with credit reporting agencies like Equifax, which collect data indirectly, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Vice President Daniel Castro said during an interview on C-SPAN's The Communicators to be televised Saturday and posted here Friday. There are legitimate questions about government oversight for credit entities, he said. Castro believes policymakers should consider ways to make certain types of consumer data less valuable. Social Security numbers, one of the most valuable pieces of information, shouldn’t be the sole input for verifying identity, he said. Castro was asked about ITIF’s study on the cost of the U.S. adopting a federal privacy law mirroring laws in the EU or California (see 1908050058). The key is to create a privacy law at reasonable cost, he said: Consumers should have enhanced privacy, but they should retain access to innovative products and services. On data breaches, such as those that Capital One, Equifax and Target have suffered, the analyst said that companies could offer customers a "menu of options" such as password-storage or other services rather than frequent credit monitoring at no cost. He noted that such monitoring is often provided for free, anyway. Equifax didn't comment right away Thursday.

The American Civil Liberties Union-California is offering misleading information about accuracy of facial recognition technology, said Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Vice President Daniel Castro Wednesday. The ACLU scanned 26 California legislators, and claimed about one in five incorrectly matched with criminal mugshots. Independent federal government testing shows the top face-scanning technology is more accurate than humans at identifying faces, Castro said. This is the second time the ACLU used questionable testing methods (see 1807260037 and 1807300045), he said: “Claims that are not observable, testable, repeatable, and falsifiable are not science.” The ACLU didn't comment.

Rising demand for home automation and smart hubs is expected to boost demand for smart digital photo frames, a category forecast to grow by $47 million 2018-2023, said Technavio Tuesday. Artificial intelligence-enabled smart home controllers and smart hubs use Wi-Fi and near-field communication to control smart digital photo frames remotely, it said, citing voice-controllable connected smart digital photo frames from Nixplay that are Alexa-compatible. With rising popularity of smart homes, demand for smart home decor products, such as digital photo frames, will also grow, it said.

U.S. leadership in developing artificial intelligence depends on federal government “playing an active and purpose-driven role” in standards, the National Institute of Standards and Technology reported Saturday. In response to President Donald Trump’s February executive order for an AI strategy, NIST offered guidance to stakeholders. The report recommends: bolstering AI standards-related knowledge, leadership and coordination across agencies; promoting research to advance and accelerate “broader exploration and understanding of how aspects of trustworthiness can be practically incorporated within standards and standards related tools”; expanding public-private partnerships “to develop and use AI standards and related tools to advance reliable, robust, and trustworthy AI”; and engaging internationally “to advance AI standards for U.S. economic and national security needs.”

Facebook plans to launch a news tab this fall to draw attention to higher-quality journalism, a company spokesperson said Friday. Reports that it’s contemplating licensing journalism content from publishers are welcome news, said News Media Alliance CEO David Chavern. But questions remain about the terms and which publishers would be included, he said, citing the platform’s negotiating power compared with even the largest publishers: “Facebook is already a de facto regulator of the news publishing industry and simply can’t be trusted to determine the future of our free press.” Facebook News Partnerships Head Campbell Brown tweeted: “Working with news industry to get Facebook’s News Tab right is our goal and focus this year. Still early days but we are getting tremendous partner feedback on the product.”