South Korea's government will roll out a free generative AI program called 'AI for All' starting with beta testing in September, expanding to the whole population later this year. Three consortia, including groups led by the nation's top telecom carriers and Kakao's operator, will build apps that connect to government systems for tasks like booking medical appointments, apartment hunting, and tax filing, with no token limits on usage.
Researchers from Meta AI and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign built EvoHarness-RL, a training framework that teaches a small 8-billion-parameter model to decide when to read, update, or consolidate information it gathers from its execution environment during long, multi-step tasks. Rather than following rigid, human-written scripts for tool use, the model learns to manage its own memory and error recovery, reportedly reaching performance comparable to Claude Opus 4.5 on complex agentic workflows.
Meta is pushing an update that stops its AI glasses from recording if the indicator LED is covered mid-capture, closing a workaround where users could start filming and then hide the light afterward. Wearables executive Alex Himel confirmed the fix on Threads, saying it ensures the light reliably signals to bystanders when they're being filmed.
OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, AMD and over 100 other companies and organizations signed a joint letter urging businesses and governments to urgently strengthen cybersecurity defenses as AI-driven threats accelerate. The signatories called for stronger security tools, wider adoption of both low-cost and frontier AI models, and government funding to help under-resourced sectors like hospitals and water utilities defend themselves.
Google published a memo detailing enforcement of new per-app memory limits introduced with Android 17, first rolling out on Pixel devices. Apps that exceed the thresholds will be slowed down or terminated, and starting in February 2027, non-compliant apps could face reduced visibility and publishing restrictions on the Play Store.
Meta has settled a lawsuit brought by attorneys general from 29 US states over allegations it built systems exploiting minors' data while downplaying known harms to young users. The company will pay roughly $18 billion over ten years and adopt new restrictions including a two-hour daily usage cap for minors, nighttime access blocks, school-hours limits, tougher age verification, and curbs on social comparison features.
Google announced that starting February 2027, Android apps and games on the Play Store must comply with new per-app memory limits based on a device's total RAM, with games given more lenient thresholds than apps. Titles that fail to meet these caps risk reduced visibility in the Play Store or being blocked from publication altogether. The rules build on per-app memory limits first tested on Pixel phones under Android 17, now expanding device-wide.
Ring is rolling out a new default encryption system called TAKE (Throw Away the Key Encryption) across its video doorbell and camera lineup worldwide. Footage is encrypted with keys that rotate every five minutes, and Ring can only temporarily access those keys via an isolated AWS Nitro Enclave to power features like Smart Alerts before permanently deleting its copies within 24 hours. Users can still opt for full end-to-end encryption instead, though that disables cloud-based processing features.
Meta reached a proposed settlement with a coalition of state attorneys general over lawsuits alleging harm to young users, avoiding a federal trial in Northern California. The deal, approved by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, includes payments of up to $16.7 billion over a decade and new teen-focused features like forced time limits, notification blocks, and a chronological feed option.
Amazon-owned Ring is introducing an encryption system called Throw Away the Key Encryption (TAKE), which uses rotating keys that are deleted within 24 hours while still allowing AI features like smart alerts and video search. The rollout begins in September and will become the default for all Ring users, subscribers or not.
Researchers compiled river chemistry data from basaltic watersheds worldwide to recalculate how much carbon dioxide is naturally absorbed through silicate rock weathering. They found that critical zone processes—such as atmospheric deposition, hydrothermal contamination and secondary mineral formation—reduce the alkalinity that actually reaches rivers, meaning basalt weathering contributes a smaller share of global CO2 drawdown than prior estimates suggested, roughly 0.3% of annual anthropogenic emissions.
Adam Mosseri testified in Meta's multistate trial over child safety that he was unaware a company lawyer instructed Instagram employees to strip certain teen-safety statistics from a 2023 presentation before it reached him. The removed data showed teens viewed suicide, self-harm and eating-disorder content, as well as other 'non-recommendable' material, at significantly higher rates than adults. Mosseri said he never asked to be shielded from such information and understood lawyers' role as reviewing documents for legal accuracy.
GoKawiil