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EU says age-check app 'ready' in push to protect children online

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday that an EU-developed age verification app was ready to go, as the bloc pushes to better protect children from online harm.

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From 'BuddhaBot' to $1.99 chats with AI Jesus, the faith-based tech boom is here

For some evangelical Christians, faith is about having a personal relationship with Jesus. At $1.99 per minute, the tech company Just Like Me is taking that concept to a new level.

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Meta says testing subscription tier for Instagram

Instagram is testing a pay tier that offers features including letting subscribers discreetly view "Story" posts that normally vanish after 24 hours, Meta told AFP on Monday, confirming a report by news website TechCrunch.

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'Manners for machines': How new rules could stop AI scrapers destroying the internet

Australians are among the most anxious in the world about artificial intelligence (AI).

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Here's how AI can (and can't) help you in your job hunt

For many job seekers, it might seem like there's never been a harder time to find a job. Hiring for white-collar jobs has been especially weak, part of what economists call a "low-hire, low-fire" job market in which businesses ...

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Dating app algorithms: What's love got to do with it?

Love is mysterious. You feel it in your chest, your knees, your soul. Love will put you on budget airplanes across the world, leave you hiding from your own phone after a sent text message or perhaps standing in the rain ...

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YouTube says brief outage fixed

YouTube said late Tuesday it had fixed a widespread outage that hit hundreds of thousands of users around the world.

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Zuckerberg to testify in landmark social media addiction trial

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is set to testify Wednesday at a groundbreaking social media addiction trial, summoned by lawyers representing a plaintiff who alleges Instagram and other platforms were deliberately designed to make ...

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WhatsApp introduces first major advertising features

WhatsApp announced Monday it will introduce its boldest advertising features yet, marking a significant shift for the messaging platform that has largely remained ad-free since its launch.

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Google turns internet queries into conversations

Google on Friday began letting people turn online searches into conversations, with generative artificial intelligence providing spoken summaries of query results.

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Google rejects app store age verification for online content

American tech heavyweight Google on Friday reiterated its opposition to verifying the age of a device's user through the app stores built into operating systems, calling a proposal from Facebook and Instagram parent Meta ...

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New push in Europe to curb children's social media use

From dangerous diet tips to disinformation, cyberbullying to hate speech, the glut of online content harmful to children grows every day. But several European countries have had enough and agree the EU should do more to prevent ...

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Hey chatbot, is this true? AI 'factchecks' sow misinformation

As misinformation exploded during India's four-day conflict with Pakistan, social media users turned to an AI chatbot for verification—only to encounter more falsehoods, underscoring its unreliability as a fact-checking tool.

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Google says to appeal online search antitrust ruling

Google said Saturday it will appeal a ruling against it for anti-competitive practices in online search, a day after urging a US judge to reject the suggestion it spin off its Chrome browser.

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Large language model accurately predicts online chat derailments

Online chat rooms and social networking platforms frequently experience harmful behavior as discussions drift from their intended topics toward personal conflict. Traditional predictive models typically depend on platform-specific ...

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German court says Meta can use user data to train AI

A German court on Friday dismissed an injunction request brought by consumer protection groups to prevent US tech giant Meta from using user data from Facebook and Instagram to train artificial intelligence systems.