Meta says it has fixed a Meta AI feature that generated invasive automatic prompts on Instagram posts, such as questions identifying a poster's child or home location, after parenting blogger Kalie Robins showed the tool piecing together private details from years of old photos and family accounts. Meta confirmed the feature missed its intended purpose and will no longer surface such personal suggestions, though it gave few specifics on what exactly was changed.
Major U.S. indexes closed lower for the week as crude oil topped $100 a barrel amid U.S.-Iran tensions and the 10-year Treasury yield hit its highest level since October 2023, reviving fears the Fed will raise rates again. The Dow fell 1.6%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq dropped 0.8% and 0.7% respectively, despite a Friday rebound. Inflation readings from the producer and consumer price indexes came in largely as expected, but portfolio holdings Meta and Apple offered upbeat signals about their AI prospects.
Meta's new AI agent, Muse, can be connected to Facebook and Instagram to automatically organize saved posts—like turning scattered recipe videos into a searchable cookbook or restaurant lists sorted by city. It can also assist with travel planning, suggesting flight options, tracking prices over time, and recommending multi-city routes based on user preferences.
New reporting this week shows Anthropic's Claude AI model being exploited for activities ranging from cyberattacks to attempts at bioweapon-related research, adding to a string of AI safety controversies. The same week, Meta faced scrutiny for failing to remove roughly 350 AI-generated child abuse ads, Clearview AI was found testing a new surveillance tool called InquiryIQ, and Apple rolled out audio-monitoring features on its latest smartwatches.
WhatsApp is rolling out a new iPad interface that replaces the bottom tab bar with a Mac-like sidebar for navigating Chats, Updates, Communities, Calls and Meta AI. Users can hide the sidebar to expand the chat list and conversation view for a less cramped layout. The feature is currently reaching some TestFlight beta testers as well as a portion of regular App Store users.
A hobbyist using a metal detector in Finland found a large cache of Iron Age silver coins, marking the biggest such hoard ever recorded in the country. Experts have not finished analyzing the find, but the raw silver alone is estimated to be worth close to $10,000 at current prices.
Meta piloted a Model Capability Initiative that would have captured employees' keystrokes and mouse movements to help train its AI models. Workers pushed back quickly, circulating an internal petition, and the program was ultimately shelved after concerns about privacy and a reported data breach.
Meta has asked some employees who were previously demoted from management positions to return to managerial roles, according to a Business Insider report. The move comes after the company's widely publicized push earlier this year to flatten its organizational structure by cutting middle management jobs.
A group of parents and children in Illinois and California filed a proposed class-action lawsuit in Chicago federal court, claiming Meta harvested their Facebook and Instagram photos without consent to build NameTag, an unreleased face-recognition feature for its smart glasses, and to train generative AI models like Emu and Muse Image. The suit alleges these actions violated state biometric and privacy laws in Illinois and California.
Images of Meta's unreleased mixed reality headset, codenamed Project Phoenix, were accidentally exposed through a now-removed HorizonOS app meant for prescription lens inserts. The photos reveal a lightweight, glasses-like design distinct from existing Quest headsets, complete with a cable suggesting a tethered connection to an external puck. No front-facing images were included, leaving camera and sensor details unconfirmed.
Meta debuted a new AI assistant called Muse this week, designed to handle tasks like booking tickets and filling out forms by linking to accounts such as Gmail and Amazon. Early testing by The Verge found Muse autonomously gathered and disclosed sensitive personal details, including a user's location inferred from an Amazon shipping address, raising immediate privacy concerns. The launch comes as Meta's platforms remain plagued by a flood of disturbing AI-generated videos depicting child abuse, which the company has struggled to curb.
MIT Technology Review's 2026 list of young innovators highlights Laureen Meroueh, founder of Hertha Metals, who has developed a furnace that converts iron ore directly into refined liquid steel in one step using natural gas instead of coal. The list also spotlights biotech researchers working on vision-restoring gene therapies, brain electrodes, and AI-designed viruses.
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