alt.hn

7/29/2026 at 7:40:08 PM

The US government just banned Roombas

 https://www.theverge.com/policy/972312/us-robot-ban-sweep-up-chinese-vacuums

by leumon

7/29/2026 at 9:32:19 PM

Another instance of addressing a longstanding issue, but in a way that merely sidesteps the fundamental problem and opts for ham-fisted destruction instead. Of course this is not terribly surprising from a regime whose primary aim seems to be parting out the United States for scrap value.

The answer here has always been regulation to unbundle hardware, software, and services. Fundamentally this is an antitrust issue - a manufacturer of hardware should not be able to force purchasers to run particular software on it (whether overtly through technical restrictions or merely tacitly through lack of documentation). And a developer of embedded software should not be able to force users to interact with a particular network-provided service to use the software.

But of course actually enacting such constructive reforms would run afoul of the domestic surveillance industry, which enjoys employing such anti-competitive tactics to bolster their own positions. And so we get fake reforms aimed at further restricting competition.

by mindslight

7/29/2026 at 7:47:09 PM

Because it's related and yet went nowhere, I'll drop this link here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49101395

Which is article titled "A Dark-Money Campaign Is Paying Influencers to Frame Chinese AI as a Threat" by Taylor Lorenz.

Apropos, I think

And my own question: If China AI bad, why more bad than US AI? Will Chinese vacuum-robot abduct Trump as did Anthropic Maduro? That would be bad, but China not seem interested in such thing

https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/pentagon-used...

by eth0up

7/29/2026 at 7:58:46 PM

> Taylor Lorenz

People are still giving her the time of day?

by doublepg23

7/29/2026 at 8:01:33 PM

Any evidence her article was fabricated? If not, what is your point, if any?

by eth0up

7/29/2026 at 8:41:17 PM

There is no evidence. I didn't know but apparently right-wing Americans are harassing her, according to Wikipedia[1]

> Lorenz has been the subject of online harassment, which multiple sources have described as coordinated or orchestrated.

> Much of the harassment has originated from right-wing online spaces.

> The Independent wrote, "Lorenz is a regular target of attacks from the right online, with comments she makes frequently blowing up and feeding an arguably disingenuous outrage culture, so much so that she has been called 'the most harassed technology journalist in America' and her career recommended for study to fellow reporters".

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Lorenz

by quentindanjou

7/29/2026 at 9:41:03 PM

I can only surmise why your comment is being pecked at, but I appreciate this info. I was not aware of this.

by eth0up