| Happy Monday! I can't say I had "cocaine hippos" on my headline bingo card this weekend. Send tips on news and Pablo Escobar documentaries to: cristiano.lima@washpost.com. Below: Google releases a long-awaited civil rights audit, and Amazon pauses work on HQ2. First: | Sohn won't chair FCC if confirmed, White House official says |  Gigi Sohn testifies at a House hearing in March 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) | | | For over a year, Gigi Sohn's nomination to the Federal Communications Commission has been stuck in the Senate amid ongoing political hurdles. Last week, one persistent obstacle threatening her bid resurfaced: concerns that President Biden may tap her to lead the agency. But Sohn will not be named FCC chair if confirmed, a White House official told The Technology 202, settling long-running speculation that has bogged down her embattled nomination. Republican strategists seized on an Axios report last week that initially said the White House was looking "to install Gigi Sohn as an FCC chair," accusing the White House of trying to pull a bait-and-switch if Sohn was confirmed to one of the agency's five seats. The report was later updated to say the Biden administration is trying "to install Gigi Sohn as an FCC commissioner." The error built on reports already in circulation. The New York Post reported last month that Sohn has privately said "she has been assured by White House officials that they plan to make her chair," citing "insiders." But speculation about Biden designating Sohn as FCC chair has swirled for over a year, amplified by his decision to elevate another top regulator, Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, after her confirmation. As chair, Sohn would have a larger role in setting the agency's agenda, a prospect Republican senators have balked at. Sohn is facing major resistance to just getting on the commission, and a plan to grant her greater power as chair could have further complicated her bid. | | Sohn disputed claims the White House planned to pick her to lead the agency, rather than serving as one of its four other commissioners, at a Senate hearing on Feb. 14. "I'm not going to be the chair. Let's put that one on the table and put that to bed because that's the latest K Street rumor, right? That the White House wants to make me the chair. That's false," she told senators in response to criticisms that she would move the FCC too far left. A White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record, confirmed that Sohn's assertion at the session was correct and that she will not be named chair. The FCC is currently chaired by Jessica Rosenworcel, who has served on the commission since 2012. It would not be unprecedented for Biden to designate a new agency chief without advance notice. In 2021, Biden reportedly surprised some officials by selecting Khan to chair the Federal Trade Commission shortly after the Senate confirmed her to a seat at the agency. The White House did not publicly announce its intent to do so during Khan's confirmation process. Like Sohn, Khan has become a lightning rod for conservative critics who accuse her of seeking to implement radical liberal reforms. Allies of both Sohn and Khan have hailed them as champions for tougher regulation of the telecom and tech sectors, respectively. Some Senate Republicans, many of whom voted to confirm Khan in part as a rebuke of Silicon Valley giants, railed Biden over the move to elevate her to the role of FTC chair. Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), now the ranking Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, pressed Sohn in written testimony on whether she had discussed the possibility of becoming chair if confirmed with the White House. Cruz said there was "a concern the same thing" that happened with Khan "might happen with you." "This committee has already had one bait-and-switch with Lina Khan being nominated and confirmed as a Commissioner to the Federal Trade Commission, but subsequently being designated as Chairwoman by the President," Cruz said in written questions to Sohn in February 2022. "While this is the President's right under the law, it was somewhat deceptive." While the Senate confirms both agencies' nominees, the president designates their chairs without congressional approval. | | Sohn responded that she "had no discussions with the White House or anyone in the Executive Branch about any arrangement by which I would be designated Chairwoman of the FCC." Sohn has said she looks forward to working with Rosenworcel if confirmed. Biden renominated Sohn in January after her bid expired last Congress. The FCC has lacked a Democratic majority for the entirety of Biden's term, limiting its ability to carry out the party's agenda. | | |  | Our top tabs | | Google drops civil rights audit after years of pressure |  Google CEO Sundar Pichai delivers an address at a conference in Mountain View, Calif., in May 2016. (Michael Macor/San Francisco Chronicle/AP) | | | Google released an audit examining how its products and policies impact civil rights and racial equity on Friday, responding to years of pressure from civil rights advocates and Democratic lawmakers calling for such a review, I reported with my colleague Gerrit De Vynck. The release, which Google unveiled with little fanfare in an update to its human rights page on its website, came hours after we revealed the company tapped a prominent law firm to conduct the audit. "Unlike previous audits of other tech giants like Facebook, which at times offered scathing rebukes of the companies' conduct, Google's review struck a more muted tone, highlighting ongoing initiatives to deal with harassment, discrimination and online hate speech while offering opportunities for improvement," we wrote. "The audit has identified significant strengths as well as opportunities for Google to further advance civil rights, equity, and inclusion," the report said. The audit was led by WilmerHale, a law firm that has advised at least two tech companies during their sales to Google, according to its website, and which has represented other major tech companies including Twitter and Facebook. | Scammers are using AI to trick families, testing regulators |  Impostor scams are among the most common type of ruse, according to the Federal Trade Commission. (Tristan Spinski for The Washington Post) | | | Scammers running impostor schemes are seizing on advancements in artificial intelligence to trick and swindle families, my colleague Pranshu Verma reports. "In 2022, impostor scams were the second most popular racket in America, with over 36,000 reports of people being swindled by those pretending to be friends and family, according to data from the Federal Trade Commission," the report said. "Advancements in artificial intelligence have added a terrifying new layer, allowing bad actors to replicate a voice with just an audio sample of a few sentences." Federal regulators, law enforcement and the courts may be ill-equipped to deal with the rising threat, Pranshu reports. "Most victims have few leads to identify the perpetrator and it's difficult for the police to trace calls and funds from scammers operating across the world. And there's little legal precedent for courts to hold the companies that make the tools accountable for their use." | Amazon pausing construction at its HQ2 in Virginia |  A newly renovated office building is a part of Amazon's second headquarters in Arlington, Va. (Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock) | | | Amazon is pausing construction of some of its second headquarter buildings in Arlington, Va., the company said Friday, dealing a setback to plans to expand its footprint in the region, my colleagues Teo Armus and Rachel Lerman report. The tech giant is slowing construction at the site as the company deals with a business downturn that has led to 18,000 workers being laid off. But local officials say the millions of dollars in incentives offered the company are still worth it, according to the report. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) "We're going to ultimately see all of the benefits that we envisioned at the beginning," said Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey (D). "It's just going to take longer." Dorsey noted the project was not supposed to be complete before 2035. | | |  | Agency scanner | | | |  | Hill happenings | | | |  | Inside the industry | | | |  | Workforce report | | | |  | Trending | | | |  | Before you log off | | | That's all for today — thank you so much for joining us! Make sure to tell others to subscribe to The Technology 202 here. Get in touch with tips, feedback or greetings on Twitter or email. | |
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