Pinterest CEO calls on governments to ban social media for users under 16
Pinterest’s chief compares social media to tobacco and alcohol, saying children need similar protections.
Law
Congress considers blowing up internet law
Internet platforms’ liability shield Section 230 faced another round of attack at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Wednesday, this time with two distinct undercurrents complicating the conversation. One was an unprecedented wave of ongoing legal challenges to the law’s scope, and the second was a heightened bipartisan concern over government censorship. “Section 230 is […]
Adobe will pay $75 million to settle US cancellation fee lawsuit
Adobe says it will pay $75 million to resolve a lawsuit filed by the US government alleging that the creative software giant harmed consumers by making its subscriptions intentionally hard to cancel and concealing termination fees. The payment aims to resolve the complaint raised in June 2024, in which the US Justice Department accused Adobe […]
What it was like to watch grieving parents stare down Mark Zuckerberg in court
Around a dozen parents huddled in the dim hallway outside the courtroom in February, nervously gripping paper tickets. They were glaring at a gray tote bag held by a member of the court staff – the one who’d determine, by lottery, if they made it inside. Pinned on bags and coats, butterfly clips honored children […]
Anthropic is suing the Department of Defense
Anthropic has sued the US government over its designation as a supply-chain risk, the latest move in a weekslong battle between it and the Pentagon over the acceptable use cases for its military AI tech. The suit, filed in a California district court, accuses the Trump administration of illegally punishing the company for setting “red […]
This phone starts fires on purpose
Until now, most mobile phone companies have worked to ensure their phones won’t start fires. (Occasional Samsung devices excepted, of course.) But this week at Mobile World Congress, we found a company that dared to go in a different direction. Oukitel’s WP63 rugged smartphone includes a built-in fire starter, and this is what it looks […]
Supreme Court won’t hear AI-generated art copyright case
The US Supreme Court has declined to hear a case over whether AI-generated art can obtain a copyright, as reported earlier by Reuters. The Monday decision comes after Stephen Thaler, a computer scientist from Missouri, appealed a court’s decision to uphold a ruling that found AI-generated art can’t be copyrighted. In 2019, the US Copyright […]
Archer Aviation accuses rival Vertical Aerospace of ripping off its air taxi designs
Look at the two air taxi designs above. Look similar? The company that designed the one on the left sure thinks so, which is why it’s accusing the firm that designed the one on the right of patent infringement. On Monday, Archer Aviation filed a complaint in the US District Court Eastern District of Texas […]
The executive that helped build Meta’s ad machine is trying to expose it
Brian Boland spent more than a decade figuring out how to build a system that would make Meta money. On Thursday, he told a California jury it incentivized drawing more and more users, including teens, onto Facebook and Instagram – despite the risks. Boland’s testimony came a day after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the […]
Mark Zuckerberg and his Ray-Ban entourage have their day in court
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg entered a downtown Los Angeles courthouse in largely the same way as all the attorneys, reporters, and advocates who’d come to watch his landmark trial testimony, but with one notable difference: he was flanked by an entourage that appeared to be wearing Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses. To get to the courtroom, […]