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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.
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.
UploadVR published images purportedly showing Meta's unannounced Project Phoenix headset, discovered inside a HorizonOS Prescription Lens firmware package. The design resembles a glasses-style frame with outward- and downward-facing cameras in the earpieces and a wire that likely connects to an external battery or compute puck, positioning it between bulky VR headsets and lightweight smart glasses. The device reportedly isn't expected to ship until next year, ahead of Meta Connect on September 23rd.
Adam Mosseri told an Australian press briefing that Instagram users who switch to a chronological feed instead of the algorithmic one see engagement drop by roughly 50%, with satisfaction scores dropping sharply too. He made the comments as Australia weighs a Digital Duty of Care bill that would require platforms to prompt users to disable ranking algorithms.
Meta says it has corrected an issue in its AI assistant after a viral video showed the tool generating an invasive suggested question, 'Who is the child passenger?', beneath a Facebook video of Instagram user Kalie Robins and her daughter. Robins says the chatbot then pulled together details about her children's ages, location, and even old deleted photos from posts made by her and her relatives.
Meta has begun onboarding contributors to test Community Notes across 16 Latin American nations including Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia, following its US rollout that replaced professional fact-checkers. During this testing phase, notes won't be visible to users and existing third-party fact-checking arrangements remain unchanged, but Meta has signaled it eventually intends to fully transition away from professional fact-checking once the crowd-sourced system proves effective.