James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
Character.AI sued over slew of harmful chatbot messages sent to children
A lawsuit today was launched against Google LLC-funded chatbot service Character.AI Inc. it’s alleging the chatbot groomed children and induced them into committing violence and self-harm. The suit follows another one against the company in October by a Florida mother who claimed her 14-year-old son’s suicide was a consequence of his addiction to one of the hyperrealistic ...
TikTok makes a last stand as it asks for emergency pause on US ban
Chinese social media app TikTok today asked a court for an emergency injunction to prevent it from becoming unavailable to U.S. users next month. Last Friday, the company lost an appeal to save its existence in the U.S. when it argued in an appeals court that the ban signed into legislation earlier in 2024 is ...
Waymo’s driverless taxis are coming to Miami
Alphabet Inc.-owned Waymo LLC announced today that its continued expansion of robotaxi services into U.S. cities will now include Miami, Florida, where it will set up shop in 2026. The fleet of driverless taxis will take to the streets first in 2025 with a human test driver at the wheel, after which the full driverless ...
Trump nominates Gail Slater to lead antitrust at DOJ and crypto backer Paul Atkins for head of SEC
President-elect Donald Trump today picked Big Tech critic Gail Slater to become the assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice in a slew of nominations that also included crypto-friendly Paul Atkins as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Slater served Trump during his first presidential term as a tech ...
Biden administration hits out at China’s chip industry with export controls
The Biden administration today announced new restrictions on advanced chip technology that can be exported to China in a further effort to curb the country’s ambitions in artificial intelligence and the development of high-end military technology. According to the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, the new export controls will see over 100 Chinese ...
Australian Senate bill means under 16s will be banned from using social media
Australian lawmakers today approved a landmark ban on social media for children under 16 in an attempt to address the negative impact of various apps on young people’s physical and mental health. The world-first ban will affect most major platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, Snapchat and Reddit, although Google LLC-owned YouTube hasn’t made the ...
TikTok to block beauty filters over mental health concerns among the young
The embattled Chinese social media app TikTok has said that over the coming weeks it will start blocking beauty filters after growing research showing that transforming one’s face from its reality causes anxiety and issues with self-esteem, adding to the mental health crisis affecting the young. It’s long been known – and let’s face it, ...
X claims ownership of all X accounts in battle for The Onion to acquire Alex Jones’ Infowars
Who actually owns your social media account came into question on Monday after lawyers for Elon Musk’s X Corp. argued that the accounts belonging to Alex Jones’ bankrupt InfoWars site were its exclusive property. The Onion’s bid to buy the website through auction was recently put on hold after Jones and one of the losing ...
Meta takes down millions of accounts related to ‘pig-butchering’ scams
To thwart one of the fastest-growing and most sophisticated online scam industries, Meta Platforms Inc. today said it has removed about 2 million accounts related to investment scams known as “pig-butchering.” The name refers to taking a pig — the human victim — to the slaughter after a period of online grooming when the scammer ...
Meta is now letting users tinker with Instagram’s algorithm recommendation system
In a move that will please some of Instagram’s critics, the company will now allow users to reset the recommendation system that powers what they see in their feeds. For years now, Instagram has been in the sights of child health experts who believe apps such as Instagram are addictive and perhaps harmful in part ...