GoKawiil
Tech News
WhatsApp has extended its parental control system, previously limited to pre-teen accounts, to teen accounts as well. The update lets parents receive alerts about group activity, set rules for Channels and Status visibility, and choose between a standard or 'Limited Content' version of Meta AI for their teen's account.
WhatsApp announced new parental controls that let parents restrict who can see a teen's profile photo, invite them to groups, or message them, along with limits on channels and status updates. The controls also extend to Meta AI's chatbot, offering a restricted mode for younger users, and require a single parent-set PIN to activate. WhatsApp says personal messages and calls remain private even from parents who enable the controls.
The New York Times reported that Meta has been securing tax credits and incentives from local governments to help finance construction of its AI-focused data centers. The report characterizes this practice as controversial, noting that taxpayers are effectively subsidizing part of the infrastructure build-out for a highly profitable company.
WhatsApp is rolling out parental controls letting guardians manage who teens interact with, including channel usage, Status visibility, group additions, and profile picture access. Parents can also receive notifications about teens' group activity and set Meta AI content restrictions, choosing between a default 13+ setting or a stricter 'Limited Content' mode that disables features like incognito chat. All settings require a parent-set PIN to change, and WhatsApp says messages and calls remain end-to-end encrypted.
Meta has launched Muse, an AI agent designed to handle tasks like drafting emails and making online purchases on a user's behalf. The company says Muse can complete these tasks effectively, though doing so requires users to share personal data and payment information with Meta. Meta has also revealed plans for a Tamagotchi-style wearable called Muse Charm tied to the AI mascot.
Meta announced that its Muse AI agent is now available to small businesses, with new integrations for Shopify, Dropbox, Slack, Stripe, QuickBooks and other widely used tools. Muse can also connect to Instagram analytics, Facebook Pages and Meta ad accounts to help owners manage operations and find customers. The service is free with usage limits, with paid subscription plans for heavier use.
Meta is rolling out new AI-powered offerings targeted at companies, aiming to turn its heavy AI infrastructure spending into revenue-generating products. The push involves selling AI tools and services to enterprise clients rather than only consumer-facing features.
Meta is opening early access to two new AI tools, a mobile app called Horizon Create and a browser-based Horizon Studio, that let creators generate 2D or 3D mobile games from text prompts. The generated games can include multiplayer, progression systems, art direction and difficulty balancing, and can be edited after an initial version is produced. Meta says these games will also be playable directly inside Facebook and Instagram feeds without downloading a separate app.
At Meta Connect, the company showcased an unreleased line of audio-only smart glasses featuring six microphones but no camera, focused on music playback and hands-free calls. The glasses will integrate with Meta's Muse AI agent, allowing users to issue verbal commands and choose a personalized digital avatar to represent the assistant.
Meta is rolling out a new privacy setting in the Meta AI app that lets smart glasses owners opt out of having their 'visual data' used to train the company's AI models. The setting is found under each glasses pair's Meta AI settings and requires the device to be connected to a phone. Meta says opting out means the data won't be stored after processing, but it will disable some features, such as visual reminders based on objects a user has looked at.
Meta's personal AI agent Muse is reportedly growing faster than ChatGPT did in its early days, and the company plans to bring it to smart glasses and a small Tamagotchi-style device. The news came during a busy week for AI model releases, with Anthropic launching Opus 5.5 and OpenAI following with GPT-6 updates roughly 90 minutes later.
Meta's Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 glasses offer up to 9 hours of battery life (versus 8 for Gen 2) and up to 50 hours with the charging case (versus 48). The Gen 3 also gains a sixth microphone with a redesigned array for better noise reduction, and inherits an action button from Meta's other glasses lines that can trigger Meta AI, capture photos, or be customized for other shortcuts, unlike the Gen 2's capture-only button.