FIREwire — July 25, 2025
Trump bans 'woke AI,' Columbia coughs up $200 million, and 'War on Words' hits bookshelves
Trump bans ‘woke AI’ in government procurement
This week, President Trump signed an executive order on “preventing woke AI,” saying the government “has the obligation not to procure models that sacrifice truthfulness and accuracy to ideological agendas.”
But critics worry that the order will be used as a partisan weapon by the federal government against disfavored viewpoints.
“These AI technologies unlock the next stage of human potential, and they represent the frontier of humanity’s ability to discover and disseminate knowledge,” wrote FIRE President Greg Lukianoff. “If we corrupt that capacity with our struggles for ideological supremacy, we won’t just be losing control over a powerful new technology. We will also lose the best tool humanity has ever devised to help us understand the world as it is.”
Skydance promises to hire CBS bias monitor
The FCC approved Skydance’s $8 billion merger with Paramount after Skydance promised to hire an ombudsman to review “complaints of bias or other concerns” involving CBS news reports.
“No federal bureaucrat should ever be allowed to play-act as our nation's editor-in-chief,” said FIRE Legal Director @Will Creeley. “Less than a year ago, Brendan Carr … seemed to understand that the First Amendment bars the FCC from operating as ‘the nation’s speech police.’ But he’s more than happy to wear that badge now.”
Skydance also confirmed that Paramount has eliminated all DEI programs.
Columbia agrees to pay $200 million to settle fight with Trump
Columbia University agreed to pay $200 million and make reforms over the Trump administration’s claims it failed to protect Jewish students. In return, the government will unfreeze some of the $400 million in federal grants it froze or ended in March.
“Demanding students commit to vague goals like ‘equality and respect’ leaves far too much room for abuse,” Creeley said in a statement, “just like the civility oaths, DEI statements, and other types of compelled speech FIRE has long opposed.”
Columbia must also ban race-based admissions and hiring as well as pay $21 million to resolve investigations into discrimination claims.
Also in the news
OUT THIS WEEK: War On Words: 10 Arguments Against Free Speech—And Why They Fail by FIRE President Greg Lukianoff and senior fellow Nadine Strossen — with an introduction by Jacob Mchangama.
Painter Amy Sherald canceled her Smithsonian-bound American Sublime exhibition after the National Portrait Gallery proposed sidelining her painting of a black trans Statue of Liberty over fears it could provoke Trump.
The Associated Press is considering going to the Supreme Court after a federal court upheld Trump’s ban on AP from the Oval Office and Air Force One for refusing to call the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” in its reporting.
The Wall Street Journal has been barred from Trump’s Scotland trip over its Epstein-related investigation. Observers call it retaliatory censorship.
An Oregon woman can now adopt two foster kids after an appeals court ruled state law cannot require adoptive parents to affirm a child’s gender identity or sexual orientation as this violates protected speech.
A federal judge struck down a Kansas law banning groups from sending early mail‑in ballot requests, ruling it was designed to suppress free speech.
The idea that religious people shouldn't adopt children so they stay in foster care is crazy