Whether because of its legacy as a sci-fi villain or bad press around its more unsavory uses, people seem to generally distrust AI, survey after survey has shown.

That could pose problems as businesses continue to chase the hype around generative AI. A new Deloitte survey of 100 C-suite execs aimed at gauging the steps companies are taking to help make the AI they implement more trustworthy, from adding new business-wide processes to hiring for new roles and educating existing employees.

Among the findings:

• “Chief AI ethics officer” might look good on a press release, but more companies seem to be currently interested in hiring trust experts below that level. A little over half of those surveyed said they were planning to bring on AI ethics researchers, compliance specialists, and technology policy analysts, while fewer are hiring for exec-level roles.
• Around 49% of those surveyed said their companies have guidelines in place around ethical use of AI, while 37% plan to roll them out soon. Decisions behind these rules tend to go all the way to the top—around 52% of respondents said that their boards of directors are “always involved in creating policies and guidelines for the ethical use of AI.”
• Around 45% of respondents said their businesses are currently training or reskilling employees on the use of AI, and 44% are hiring for AI roles.

When asked whether negative public attention around AI risks or impending regulation aimed at the tech were driving these trends, Beena Ammanath, Deloitte’s global and US technology trust ethics leader and author of the book Trustworthy AI, told us she thinks it’s “a combination of both.”

Keep reading here.—PK

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A bill that would fund a key internet subsidy program through the end of the year has gained support from both chambers and parties, but it still faces an uncertain path to passage—at least in the near future.

The Affordable Connectivity Program, which has provided funds to help subsidize internet access for as many as 23 million households since its 2021 inception, is set to run out of money by May if Congress doesn’t act. Lawmakers introduced a bipartisan, bicameral extension bill in January that would keep the program alive through 2024 while they work out details of how to fund it long term.

Speaking Tuesday at the INCOMPAS Policy Summit in Washington, DC, Sen. Ben Ray Lujan said it doesn’t have to be an either-or situation. The New Mexico Democrat said he’s part of a congressional working group that’s trying to connect the ACP to ongoing reforms of the long-standing Universal Service Fund, which subsidizes communications access and deployment through contributions from telecom companies.

“I believe good policy reforms and modernization [should help] secure more votes for immediate funding, because it shows our colleagues that may have some reluctance in providing that immediate support for ACP that we’re changing this program. We’re modernizing. We’re looking forward,” he said. “So there’s a policy component in addition to the funding.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar told Tech Brew she favors tying ACP funding to broader subsidy reforms, but the Minnesota Democrat suggested that Congress is currently occupied with avoiding a government shutdown.

Keep reading here.—KG

Hybrid vehicles have been on a hot streak—and they showed no signs of slowing down in February.

Strong sales of hybrid models helped propel numerous automakers to sales gains last month, according to industry reports.

Take American Honda, for example, which posted a 32% YoY sales increase. The automaker’s electrified vehicle sales set a new February record, as did sales of its hybrid CR-V.

Kia’s EV sales rose 65% YoY in February, bolstered by sales of the new EV9 SUV.

“Our innovative EVs and electrified models are gaining market share and demand for our SUVs continues to grow,” Eric Watson, VP of sales operations for Kia America, said in a news release.

Hyundai Motor America had its best-ever February, with sales up 6% YoY, supported by the popularity of electrified models like the Tucson PHEV (sales of which rose a whopping 280%), Tucson HEV, and Kona EV.

“Hyundai’s sales of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids are steadily rising, with significant year-over-year growth,” Hyundai Motor America CEO Randy Parker said in a statement.

Keep reading here.—JG

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Usually, we write about the business of tech. Here, we highlight the *tech* of tech.

Ta-ta to TikTok? Tech Brew’s Kelcee Griffis reports that, if passed, a new national security bill would force app stores and web hosting companies to drop TikTok. The alternative? The viral video app would have to split off from its parent company, ByteDance, which has been labeled a national security risk.

Getting carded: The young folks, the New York Times’s Brian X. Chen reports, have given up on physical wallets. For teens and twentysomethings, the purse and back-pocket mainstays—once home to everything from a driver’s license and credit card to Covid vaccination records (remember those?!) and proof of Costco membership—have been eschewed in favor of digital wallets.

Chen tried it out and didn’t hit many speed bumps till he got carded while attempting to buy wine, a risk we’re not willing to take.

Coming soon: Mammoths? Gizmodo details the latest stem-cell discovery from Colossal Biosciences, the company attempting to spin up a herd of “proxy mammoths” (read: not actual copies of extinct mammoths) to…help fight the climate crisis. Really! What’s the consumer angle here, you ask? After a few spin-offs and de-extinctions, it’s apparently education initiatives.