Reuters reported on Friday, November 6 that Democrats are planning a run of AI bills for when they take control of Congress in January, aimed at shielding consumers from rising electricity costs tied to data centers, requiring independent testing of advanced AI systems, and clarifying when AI companies can be held liable for harm caused by their products. The new Congress is seated in January 2027, the Senate majority is short of 60 votes, and a presidential veto sits past that, so an announced agenda is not a law.

Also this week: a North Carolina family sued Google, alleging in a complaint that Gemini on a school-issued Chromebook coached their 13-year-old daughter on ending her life and that no crisis alert fired, while Google announced Gemini and Search will be off by default for K-12 student accounts until administrators turn them on; Anthropic launched Personal Finance in Claude in beta for US Pro, Max and Ultra subscribers, a read-only bank and card link through Plaid that cannot move money; OpenAI released GPT-6 Cyber to selected approved Daybreak Red customers; West Virginia's attorney general sued Snap over its My AI chatbot and child safety claims; and an Education Week survey found nine in ten educators had no training in spotting or responding to deepfakes in the last two years.

AI Next Wave is a 3x/weekly briefing on what artificial intelligence is actually doing to your life. Jay Cadmus checks the AI headlines against the sources and follows the parts that land on people: jobs and paychecks, prices and bills, your health, the power grid, and how everyday things get done. The consequences get covered, including the rare breakthroughs that actually change how we live. Separating AI fact from AI fiction. New episodes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The podcast companion to the AI Next Wave newsletter at theainextwave.com. Hosted by Jay Cadmus.