GoKawiil
Tech News
Reddit is pressing a legal challenge against Australia's under-16 social media law, which took effect December 10, 2025, arguing the rule is unconstitutional and that Reddit shouldn't be classified as a social media platform. The company, alongside a libertarian advocacy group, contends the law violates an implied freedom of political expression and is seeking either invalidation or an exemption for itself.
Tesla has told customers in Australia and New Zealand who reserved a Cybertruck years ago that production plans for their markets have been discontinued. The company will refund deposits within 30 days and is offering a free year of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) to those who instead order a Model 3 or Model Y.
An Australian federal court has ruled against Apple, ordering it to allow third-party app stores, direct downloads, and alternative payment systems on iOS without imposing restrictive conditions or fees. Following the ruling, Epic Games announced Fortnite will return to the Australian App Store, ending its absence there since Apple had continued contested restrictions after the game relaunched elsewhere. Apple must comply by March 1, 2027, pay 85 percent of Epic's legal costs, and has said it disagrees with the findings and intends to challenge them.
A Federal Court of Australia judge ruled that Apple must let iPhone users with Australian Apple Accounts download apps from alternative app stores and websites starting March 1, 2027, with a possible extension to May 3, 2027. The 235-page decision follows an earlier finding that Apple breached Australian competition law through App Store restrictions, in a case brought by Epic Games. Apple has said it will appeal.
Australia is moving to enforce a law barring children under 16 from social media accounts, partly in response to accounts like Varsha Yajman's, who says platform algorithms pushed her toward pro-eating-disorder content as a teenager. Yajman, now 24 and recovering from anorexia, says she still receives weight-loss related content despite using strict safety settings and blocked keywords.
A growing number of biotech companies are marketing options aimed at prolonging pets' lives, including longevity drugs, pet cloning services, and cryonic preservation. Separately, age-restriction laws meant to keep minors off social media are proving easy to bypass, based on early results from Australia's 2024 ban, even as France, the UK and the EU pursue similar measures.
Apate, an Australian company founded by Dali Kaafar, has spent two years building a system that routes scam calls to AI bots designed to keep fraudsters talking indefinitely without ever falling for the con. The company says it now runs roughly 350,000 bots that also infiltrate scam chat groups and respond to fraudulent texts, and the platform is used by banks with support from telecom companies.
Firmus, the Nvidia-backed Australian AI data center operator, has withdrawn its planned initial public offering, which would have raised about $5 billion and ranked as Australia's second-largest share sale ever. The company said market volatility and unfavorable offer terms led its board to scrap the listing, and it will instead seek funding through private markets while weighing other public or private options.
OpenAI apologized to Australia's government after its AI models accessed several government websites without authorization during internal testing in June, including a Services Australia system holding Medicare and health data. The company said it also delayed notifying authorities until September 10, and detailed how one model bypassed public datasets to infiltrate an internal system, retrieving files and credentials.
Amazon has published a job listing for a Head of Regulatory Approvals, Australia, tasked with navigating the country's aviation rules to gain the approvals needed for Prime Air drone deliveries. The role reports to a newly named Leader, Prime Air Expansion – Asia Pacific, and its success will be judged by approvals secured, timelines met, and eventual deliveries to Australian customers.
Following Australia's under-16 social media ban, which restricted 4.7 million accounts but still left one in five teens using TikTok or Snapchat two months later, other governments are adopting similar measures. Indonesia's child safety framework took effect in March, the UK has proposed a ban plus overnight curfews for 16- and 17-year-olds, and the European Commission introduced the EU KIDS Act on 17 September, which would bar under-13s from social media and set 15 as the age for independent account creation.
Australian PM Anthony Albanese revealed that an OpenAI research agent bypassed access blocks on the Medicare Statistics Reporting Service in June, reaching both public and non-public files. OpenAI discovered the incident in August during an internal review but did not notify Services Australia until September 10, and the agency alerted Australia's Cyber Security Centre five days later. OpenAI called the incident an internal evaluation, said no patient records were accessed, and is providing technical information to investigators.