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The lawsuit alleges that anti-competitive practices reduce options for renters and advertisers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-Apple has removed ICEBlock from the app store.  The app allowed users to put a pin on a map to show where ICE agents have recently been spotted. It has also pulled other apps that served a similar purpose. -Fitness tech appears to be having a strange spat. Earlier this week, Strava filed a lawsuit alleging that Garmin infringed on its patents for two features related to tracking exercise routes: segments and heatmaps. It's also claiming that Garmin violated a Master Cooperation Agreement by developing its own heat map feature. -Now that Threads has grown to more than 400 million users, Meta is adding more features that could help the platform establish an identity. The company is testing a new "communities" feature that creates dedicated spaces for people to chat about specific topics and interests. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It goes into effect on December 16th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-Forbes has published an investigation into Amazon's efforts to court law enforcement clients for artificial intelligence and surveillance services. The article reveals that not only is the company promoting Amazon Web Services as a potential police tool, but it has been partnering with other businesses in that sector to use its cloud infrastructure. -The Federal Trade Commission is suing home-search website Zillow, alleging that it paid rival Redfin $100 million to eliminate competition in the online listing business. The suit refers to a deal inked back in February between the two companies in which Redfin allegedly agreed to become "an exclusive syndicator of Zillow listings." -On Wednesday, scientists published a paper outlining the increasing complexity of molecules emitted from beneath the moon's surface. "We now have all elements required for Enceladus to harbor life.” Enceladus gives researchers a unique window into its subsurface world. The Cassini mission already taught us that plumes of water ice shoot 6,000 miles into space from Enceladus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just tell the assistant to make the buttons do what you want. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-(00:39) Disney has demanded that Character.AI stop using its copyrighted characters. Axios reports that the entertainment juggernaut sent a cease and desist letter to Character.AI, claiming that it has chatbots based on its franchises, including Pixar films, Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. -(02:25) One day after Wired reported that OpenAI was preparing to release a new AI social video app, the company has revealed it to the wider world. It's called the Sora app, and it's powered by OpenAI's new Sora 2 video model, allowing it to generate AI-made clips of nearly anything. -(04:21) Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek will be transitioning to the role of executive chairman on January 1 of next year. The current Co-President and Chief Product and Technology Officer Gustav Söderström and Co-President and Chief Business Officer Alex Norström will take his place as co-CEOs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The company has released new tools for AI-powered workflows in its Office products. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-(00:39) Alphabet will pay President Donald Trump $22 million as part of a settlement in a class action lawsuit brought against the company over the suspension of various YouTube accounts following the January 6 riot at the US capitol. -(02:34) In a development that should surprise no one, OpenAI is preparing to release a standalone social app powered by its upcoming Sora 2 video model, Wired reports. The app reportedly "closely resembles" TikTok, with a vertical video feed and swipe-to-scroll navigation. The catch? It will only feature AI-generated content. -(04:46) Researchers have discovered major security flaws with Tile tracking tags, according to a report by Wired. These flaws could allow both the company itself and tech-savvy stalkers to track a user's location. The security issue could also let a malicious actor falsely frame a Tile owner for stalking, as the flaw can make it appear as if a particular tag is constantly in the vicinity of somebody else's tag. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus, Apple is reportedly nearing production for its latest M5-powered MacBooks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the latest Apple silicon is about to hit the assembly lines. In the latest Power On newsletter, Gurman said that Apple "is nearing mass production of its next MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs and two new Mac monitors." Gurman added that these upgraded products are scheduled for release sometime between the end of this year and the first quarter of next year. -Electronic Arts is close to reaching a $50 billion deal that will turn it into a privately held company. That's according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The video game company filed for an IPO way back in 1990 and has been public ever since, but now a group of investors are in talks with the company to take it private. -Assuming it can turn its Project Orion augmented reality glasses into a real product people can buy, Meta apparently wants to get into robots next. That's according to Sources' Alex Heath, who spoke to Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth and reports that much like Apple, Google and Tesla, Meta is researching robotics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The company will also have to make it easier for consumers to cancel a Prime membership. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-Elon Musk's xAI is suing OpenAI, alleging that the ChatGPT maker has stolen its trade secrets. The lawsuit comes after the company recently sued a former employee, Xuechen Li, for allegedly stealing confidential information from the company before taking a job at OpenAI. -Spotify has announced a set of policy changes surrounding AI-generated music and spam on its streaming platform. The company is helping to develop an industry standard for AI disclosure in music credits, alongside DDEX. It will be strengthening its approach to AI-assisted spam, such as unauthorized vocal clones, as well as uploaded music that fraudulently delivers music to another artist's profile. -The European Union has summarily rejected calls from Apple to repeal and replace its Digital Markets Act, the law that governs much about how giant tech companies must operate within the 27-nation bloc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-Qualcomm has unveiled its new Snapdragon X Series chips for laptops, in addition to its new system-on-a-chip for flagship phones. The Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme chip meant for "ultra-premium" Windows 11 laptops are designed to handle "complex, expert-level workloads" and to enable fast AI processing, as well as a multi-day battery life -Following the announcement of its first smart glasses with a built-in display, Meta is opening several temporary retail locations where you'll be able to demo the Meta Ray-Ban Display, their Meta Neural Band controller and the rest of the company's Reality Labs products. -If you use Proton Mail on your phone, things are about to pick up. The company is rolling out new apps for Android and iOS. The updated mobile applications are rebuilt from the ground up with a "cleaner, faster and more private experience." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

They come with a better camera, battery life and water resistance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Secret Service says it thwarted a telecommunications cyber-op in New York City. On Tuesday, the agency announced that it seized a network of SIM servers. It was capable of jamming cell towers, conducting DDoS attacks and enabling encrypted communications. The discovery came ahead of world leaders gathering for the UN General Assembly this week. Also, Apple has delayed the release of its new series The Savant just three days before it was supposed to premiere this week. The timing of the sudden delay, and the lack of explanation for why the company is delaying the show, could be telling. Disney made a similar knee-jerk reaction in placing Jimmy Kimmel Live! on indefinite hiatus following a joke Kimmel made about the reaction to the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. And, AI is an enormous energy drain, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions at a time when the planet desperately needs progress in the opposite direction. Although most of that comes from running GPUs, cooling them is another significant overhead. So, it's worth noting when a company of Microsoft's stature claims to have achieved a breakthrough in chip cooling. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A hacker group claimed to have obtained 18 million records. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meta is allowing more governments to access its suite of Llama AI models. The group includes France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and South Korea and organizations associated with the European Union and NATO. The move comes after the company took similar steps last year to bring Llama to the US government and its contractors. Also, Google might have found a way Gemini could be useful while you're playing games on your phone. The company is introducing a new software overlay today it calls the Play Games Sidekick that gives you access to Gemini Live while you play, alongside a host of other gaming-focused updates to Google Play that could make the app platform a better home for gamers. Facebook Dating has added two new AI tools, because clearly a large language model is what the search for love and companionship has been missing all this time. The social media platform introduced a chatbot called dating assistant that can help find prospective dates based on a user's interests. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Andrew Bosworth revealed why Meta's smart glasses glitched on stage during their launch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Neuralink plans to begin another US clinical trial in October, using the implant to translate thoughts into text. The study will be held through an FDA investigational device exemption. The idea is to help people with speech impairments communicate through thought. In other news, a new hypercar has dethroned Bugatti's record for the fastest production car, and unsurprisingly, it's an electric vehicle. During a livestream at the Automotive Testing Papenburg testing site in Germany, the YangWang U9 Extreme hit a facemelting top speed of around 308.33 mph. And, the latest update in the convoluted lawsuit between Subnautica's developer, Unknown Worlds, and its parent company, Krafton, represents a complete 180 with one of the case's key claims. According to a PC Gamer report, Krafton said that "documents relating to the readiness of the game were irrelevant to the termination" of Unknown Worlds' leadership, which was one of the main disagreements that led to the legal action in the first place. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The move is part of a pilot program and Samsung says it adds “value” for its customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meta's lineup of smart glasses could soon get a lot more capabilities. The company will begin allowing outside developers to bring their apps to its RayBan and Oakley smart glasses, Meta announced on the second day of its Connect event. The FTC and seven states sued Ticketmaster owner Live Nation on Wednesday. The lawsuit accused the company of knowingly allowing brokers to buy tickets in bulk. Ticketmaster allegedly then let them resell the tickets at a significant markup on its own second-hand market. The FTC claims Ticketmaster was aware that resellers routinely bypassed its security measures for these purchases. A former lobbyist for Meta is now in charge of the EU's chief regulator for big tech firms, according to reporting by The Irish Times. Niamh Sweeney has been named commissioner of the Data Protection Commission, which is one of the largest EU data protection authorities. Prior to this, she worked at Meta for six years. Sweeney was director of European public policy at WhatsApp and head of Irish public policy at Facebook for many of those years. She becomes the third active commissioner of the regulatory body. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chinese shareholders will still have a stake. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

he Meta CEO kicked off Meta Connect 2025 confirming the rumors with the reveal of Meta's first pair of AR glasses with a built-in screen. They'll cost $800 and will come to a limited number of brick-and-mortar stores in the US beginning September 30. Those retailers include Best Buy, LensCrafters, Ray-Ban and Verizon, and availability will expand to Canada, France, Italy and the UK early next year. Also, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Melanie Stansbury are leading a group of congressional Democrats investigating White House Special Advisor David Sacks for possibly serving in his position for longer than he's allowed. Sacks, a former PayPal executive and venture capitalist at Craft Ventures, was originally picked by President Donald Trump to be the "White House A.I. & Crypto Czar." And Google's Discover content feed is getting some new features. It'll soon include more than just articles from throughout the web. The company says the platform will be incorporating stuff like social media posts from platforms like Instagram and X along with YouTube Shorts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The three largest movie studios in the US allege brazen copyright infringement across dozens of protected works. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The NHTSA said it opened an investigation into the automaker's electrically powered doors. The problem: They stop working if the vehicle's low-voltage battery fails. The NHTSA's probe will cover the 2021 Model Y, which covers an estimated 174,000 vehicles. Also, another family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against popular AI chatbot tool Character AI. This is the third suit of its kind after a 2024 lawsuit, also against Character AI, involving the suicide of a 14-year-old in Florida, and a lawsuit last month alleging OpenAI's ChatGPT helped a teenage boy commit suicide. And, LimeWire has announced that it's acquired the rights to Fyre Festival, the disastrous, influencer-fueled 2017 music festival. The newly revived company — which now acts as a NFT music marketplace rather than a file-sharing service — bought the rights for $245,000 in an eBay auction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said unnamed parties reached a framework agreement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A regulator has accused NVIDIA of violating China's antitrust laws over its acquisition of chipmaker Mellanox. In its preliminary findings of an investigation it commenced in December, the State Administration for Market Regulation claimed that the company breached both national regulations and the conditional terms China outlined when it rubber-stamped the $6.9 billion takeover. Also, on Monday, the state's Attorney General Letitia James released more specifics about what the SAFE for Kids Act will entail in practice. And, Valve has apparently updated its Steam Early Access policy to no longer accept games with what the company deems to be "mature themes." As first reported by Gamesmarkt earlier this month, gaming studio Dammitbird, which develops the adult adventure game Heavy Hearts, was not allowed to put the title on Steam Early Access because of its content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's now hiring specialist AI tutors after downsizing its generalist AI tutor team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Even though Google's AI Overviews were introduced with a comically rocky start, it's about to face a far more serious challenge. Penske Media, the publisher for Rolling Stone, Variety, Billboard and others, filed a lawsuit against Google, claiming the tech giant illegally powers its AI Overviews feature with content from its sites; a California bill that would require operating system and app store providers to verify users' ages before they can download apps has cleared the Assembly 58-0, and will now move on to Gov. Gavin Newsom; and the rear-wheel drive trim of the Tesla Cybertruck lasted about five months before it was unceremoniously removed from online sales. The Long Range model represented the most affordable Cybertruck option with its starting price of $69,990 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Seven companies are being asked to share how they're mitigating harm to younger users. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Microsoft and OpenAI have issued a joint statement to say that they have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding for the "next phase" of their partnership. The companies are still finalizing the terms of agreement and haven't shared the details of what their future would look like exactly. In other tech news, Grok has once again been caught spreading blatant misinformation on X. In several bizarre exchanges, the chatbot repeatedly claimed that Charlie Kirk was "fine" and that gruesome videos of his assassination were a "meme edit." And, Merriam-Webster and its parent company Encyclopedia Britannica are the latest to take on AI in court. The plaintiffs have sued Perplexity, claiming that AI company's "answer engine" product unlawfully copies their copyrighted materials. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The group is looking to music royalty nonprofits for inspiration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amazon may be muscling into the field of augmented reality glasses. According to a report by The Information, sources claimed that the company is working on AR glasses for consumers, allegedly with plans to release the product in late 2026 or early 2027. In other news, David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, plans to make HBO more expensive, and passwords a lot harder to share, according to The Hollywood Reporter. And, Lyft and May Mobility have teamed up to launch a fleet of autonomous vehicles in Atlanta. It's a pilot program, so it's currently only available to Lyft riders in the area of midtown Atlanta. The companies promise a "measured, safety-first approach" with this rollout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With the start of September comes the promise of crisp, fall-like weather and, like clockwork, new iPhones. Apple's "awe dropping" iPhone event this year had execs showing off the latest iPhones from Cupertino and reminding folks of the changes Liquid Glass and iOS 26 will bring to their handsets in the coming week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Microsoft reportedly plans to begin using Anthropic's latest Claude models to power some of the Copilot features in its Office 365 apps. In a report published Tuesday, The Information said the tech giant would announce the change "in the coming weeks." Microsoft currently relies on OpenAI's tech to power the majority of AI features found inside of Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint. Also, the FDA approved the biotech company eGenesis to begin human trials of pig-to-human kidney transplants. eGenesis provides pigs with CRISPR-modified genes. These genetic changes reduce the chances of organ rejection in human recipients. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Current and former staffers have come forward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Judge William Alsup has rejected the record-breaking $1.5 billion settlement Anthropic has agreed to for a piracy lawsuit filed by writers. According to Bloomberg Law, the federal judge is concerned that the class lawyers struck a deal that will be forced "down the throat of authors." Alsup reportedly felt misled by the deal and said it was "nowhere close to complete." Also, Vodafone made a commercial starring an AI avatar posing as a real lady. This is interesting because Vodafone is a major global brand and not a fly-by-night TikTok company. The company said it was “testing different styles of advertising — this time with AI." And, Bluesky has added a built-in bookmarking feature so users finally have a way to privately save posts on the platform. The update is out now on Bluesky's website and app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The company, they said, got their books from an online library with pirated works. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apple's so-called ‘Awe dropping' event is tomorrow and the company is all but certain to unveil the iPhone 17 line. The keynote will be livestreamed on YouTube Tuesday at 1PM ET from Cupertino. Three Engadget team members will be reporting, liveblogging and providing their hands-on impressions from Apple Park. Also, Microsoft said its Azure cloud platform has returned to normal service after an incident of cut underwater cables that played out over Saturday. The tech giant reported "undersea fiber cuts" in the Red Sea on Saturday morning, which disrupted Azure service throughout the Middle East and led to potential "increased latency" for users. Microsoft said that the latency issue was resolved by Saturday evening and was able to reroute the Azure traffic through other paths. And for most Hollow Knight: Silksong players, the combat is challenging and the boss fights are punishing. However, there's another layer of complexity for anyone playing the sequel in Simplified Chinese: the bizarre translations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The new bike appears to be based on the company's EV Fun Concept and likely won't be available outside of Europe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The White House hosted several tech and AI leaders at an event today centered on teaching artificial intelligence in US schools. Many of the big tech companies — including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic — have already issued press releases with their commitments to a pledge from the White House to help "foster early interest in Al technology, promote Al literacy and proficiency, and enable comprehensive Al training for parents and educators." Also, A new peer-reviewed study alleges that 18 of the 100 most-downloaded virtual private network apps on the Google Play Store are secretly connected in three large families, despite claiming to be independent providers. Here's the link to the 18 VPNs that have overlaps. https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/vpn/researchers-find-alarming-overlaps-among-18-popular-vpns-191828342.html And Sesame Street creator Sesame Workshop and YouTube have announced a new "extended partnership" that will bring episodes of the iconic children's show to the platform and a series of workshops for creators on "how to create content that is entertaining while also promoting learning." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The updated Sound Tower models go big on noise and lighting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google must pay $425 million to the plaintiffs of a class action lawsuit that accused the company of collecting users' data even after they've turned off a tracking feature, a federal jury has decided. Plus, OpenAI has announced that it's making its Projects feature available to free users of ChatGPT; and the sports broadcasting piracy network Streameast has been shut down after it was investigated for a year by a US-based anti-piracy group. Streameast is the largest illegal sports streaming platform in the world, and while active it offered its users free access to 80 unauthorised domains. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The controls will arrive sometime within the next month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google will not have to divest its Chrome browser but will have to change some of its business practices, a federal judge has ruled. The ruling comes more than a year after the same judge ruled that Google had acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in internet search. Following the ruling last year, the Department of Justice had proposed that Google should be forced to sell Chrome. But in a 230-page decision, Judge Amit Mehta said the government had "overreached" in its request. In other news, Waymo is preparing to launch in two more markets. The company announced today that it will expand into both Denver and Seattle; and the Federal Trade Commission announced that Disney will pay $10 million to settle allegations that the entertainment giant allowed data collection on YouTube videos meant for children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

TechCrunch reports that these new messaging features will roll out in the coming weeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google is officially debunking a series of reports that claimed Gmail has been hit with a "major" security issue in recent days. "We want to reassure our users that Gmail's protections are strong and effective," the company said in a somewhat unusual statement. "Several inaccurate claims surfaced recently that incorrectly stated that we issued a broad warning to all Gmail users about a major Gmail security issue. This is entirely false." Also, major social media platforms in China have started rolling out labels for AI-generated content to comply with a law that took effect on Monday. Users of the likes of WeChat, Douyin, Weibo and RedNote are now seeing such labels on posts. And, following news that Escape from Tarkov is escaping its perpetual beta, the pioneering extraction shooter is also about to make its debut on Steam. Nikita Buyanov, head of the Battlestate Games studio that developed Escape from Tarkov, confirmed on X that the game's Steam page "will be available soon," only teasing that the full details will come later. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus, looking ahead to the Apple iPhone 17 event. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

TikTok is taking another step towards becoming more than just a platform for infinitely scrolling through short videos. The social media app told TechCrunch that its users will soon be able to send voice notes, images and videos in direct messages or group chats. In other tech news, Meta hosted several AI chatbots with the names and likenesses of celebrities without their permission, according to Reuters. The unauthorized chatbots that Reuters discovered during its investigation included Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Anne Hathaway and Scarlett Johansson, and they were available on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. And, xAI doesn't want its secret recipe for Grok to get out, and it's filing a lawsuit to make sure of that. In a lawsuit filed last week, xAI claimed that former employee Xuechen Li stole the company's confidential info and trade secrets before joining the team at OpenAI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The feature has begun appearing for some users but hasn't rolled out widely yet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Microsoft is expanding its AI footprint with the release of two new models that its teams trained completely in-house. MAI-Voice-1 is the tech major's first natural speech generation model, while MAI-1-preview is text-based and is the company's first foundation model trained end-to-end. MAI-Voice-1 is currently being used in the Copilot Daily and Podcast features. Microsoft has made MAI-1-preview available for public tests on LMArena, and will begin previewing it in select Copilot situations in the coming weeks. In other news, NVIDIA revealed that its revenue for the second quarter rose 56 percent compared to the same period last year, and that's without shipping any H20 chips to China. It reported a revenue of $46.7 billion and a net income of $26.4 billion. And Fubo is making a move to attract new subscribers ahead of the NFL season. The company's new Fubo Sports bundle includes content from ESPN, Fox and local affiliates. The football-friendly package costs $56 monthly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices