Former FTX boss, Sam Bankman-Fried, encountered a legal setback as United States District Court Judge, Kaplan, rejected his request for a temporary release before his upcoming trial. Kaplan expressed that Bankman-Fried’s claim about lacking internet access in prison to prepare for the triall did not warrant temporary release.
This case showcases the rigidity of the legal system towards instances like the defendant’s alleged time pressure due to the proximity of the trial dates and his limited access to electronically stored discovery and other material systems while incarcerated. Reflecting on the logistics, Kaplan explained this predicament was largely self-induced.
In an earlier statement on Sep. 8, Bankman-Fried’s legal team bemoaned about the dismal internet connection, meaning the defendant had to wait up to 10 minutes even for the homepage to upload. Opportunity had arisen for them to ask for the Oct. 3 trial to be deferred, though no such plea was submitted. More information will be shared as the story develops.
Another use of modern technology caught attention in the legal arena, when SEC Chair Gary Gensler publicly confirmed that his agency now uses artificial intelligence (AI) to scrutinize the financial sector for possible fraud and manipulative activities. Gensler, in a Senate oversight hearing, however, did not provide a detailed depiction of which AI technologies the SEC is using, which churns questions of transparency.
It appears calls for openness are not overwhelming, as Gensler made no official public notification about the SEC’s adoption of these AI technologies even though he had shared the plan of incorporating AI into the SEC’s surveillance scheme, in a public speech back in July. There seemed to be no legal requirements for the SEC to publicly report the internal use of new technologies, aside from cybersecurity incidents reporting as per a law signed by President Biden in March of 2022.
The technological integration of AI by the SEC yields a mixture of enthusiasm and skepticism. The potential benefits include fast and efficient data processing and advanced predictive analytical abilities that could enhance market surveillance, regulatory compliance, and enforcement actions. On the flipside, concerns about data privacy, algorithmic bias, and the lack of transparency and interpretability in the machine-learning decision-making process remain. Amid this broad spectrum of anticipations and concerns, the choice of the exact form of AI used by the agency carries weight of relevance.
Source: Cointelegraph
