Meta launched a Mac app to put its AI to work for businesses
Meta launched a Mac app to put its AI to work for businesses

Meta has released a dedicated Mac app for Meta AI, its chatbot. The company is pushing to turn the assistant into a tool for businesses and creators. The app can watch a window on your screen and answer questions about what it sees, Meta said on Wednes…

Flock built an AI tool that lets police search for people by how they drive
Flock built an AI tool that lets police search for people by how they drive

The surveillance firm Flock Safety has told the public for years that its cameras “cannot recognize, identify, or track individuals.” It has now built a tool that does both, according to a new investigation. The artificial-intelligence system lets poli…

A watchdog says Meta pays influencers to fight teen bans worldwide
A watchdog says Meta pays influencers to fight teen bans worldwide

Meta is running a global campaign to push back against laws that would ban teenagers from social media, according to a new investigation by the Tech Transparency Project. The effort relies on paid influencers and funded parent groups, the watchdog said…

Comcast adds motion sensing to millions of its newer routers, with a privacy catch

A new feature added to Comcast’s newest routers can detect if there is motion is inside your home without needing traditional motion sensors.

Apple leaked a video of its camera-equipped AirPods in macOS Tahoe
Apple leaked a video of its camera-equipped AirPods in macOS Tahoe

Apple appears to have leaked its own camera-equipped AirPods. A demo video sat inside the macOS Tahoe 26.7 release candidate, and MacRumors found it there on Monday. Juli Clover reported that the earbuds look nearly ready to launch. The clip runs 13 se…

OpenAI launches ChatGPT for Teens and will auto-enrol under-18s
OpenAI launches ChatGPT for Teens and will auto-enrol under-18s

OpenAI launched ChatGPT for Teens on Tuesday. It is a separate version of the chatbot, and under-18s land in it automatically. Anyone who says they are 13 to 17 gets it by default. So does anyone the company’s age-prediction system estimates is under 1…

Google picked and paid for the firm anonymising the Spirit Airlines data
Google picked and paid for the firm anonymising the Spirit Airlines data

Google has agreed to pay $10mn for what a dead airline knew. A judge considers the sale on Wednesday morning. Reuters reported the price on Monday. Every account of the deal rests on one word. The data is deidentified, so nobody need worry. The Spirit …

Opening statements begin in the biggest consumer protection case in the US
Opening statements begin in the biggest consumer protection case in the US

Opening statements in the states’ case against Meta begin today in Oakland. The court seated a jury last week. The trial should run about five weeks. Twenty-nine state attorneys general brought the case in 2023. Lawyers for California, Colorado, Kentuc…

France’s tax agency lost data on 678,000 people to a stolen login
France’s tax agency lost data on 678,000 people to a stolen login

The French tax agency says an attacker took data belonging to 678,000 individuals and businesses. The intrusions happened in June and July. The agency did not establish that anything had left its systems until the attacker said so in August. The Direct…

Trump’s dumb border wall
Trump’s dumb border wall

About 22 miles south of the former mining town of Patagonia, Arizona, down a winding, unpaved mountain road that passes cows grazing on open range, stands a cottonwood tree believed to be at least 200 years old. The “grandmother” tree, as some locals call it, is imperiled and already showing signs of stress, almost as […]