AI companion app maker Character.ai filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware, saying the platform had become too expensive to develop while facing litigation and regulatory pressure. CEO Colin Adams said a court-supervised sale offers the best chance to maximize value for stakeholders, and Disney has agreed to act as a stalking horse bidder, offering $20 million to license some of the company's intellectual property.
cnbc.com
· 2026-10-13
Microsoft announced it is retiring its Microsoft 365 companion apps—Calendar, People, and Files—effective December 16, 2026, after which they will stop functioning and lose support. The company is telling IT administrators to uninstall the apps from managed devices before that date. The move comes roughly a year after Microsoft began automatically pushing these taskbar-integrated apps to Windows 11 enterprise devices running Microsoft 365 desktop clients.
bleepingcomputer.com
· 2026-09-21
The Advertising Standards Authority has banned five social media adverts, all hosted on Meta platforms, that promoted AI companion and video-generation apps by objectifying and sexualising women. One ad reportedly used sexualised imagery of a girl under 18, while others encouraged users to upload photos of a 'crush' or turn images into explicit videos without consent. Meta had already taken the ads down before the ASA's ruling.
bbc.co.uk
· 2026-09-15
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