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This week, Figma CEO Dylan Field said the company will temporarily disable its “Make Design” AI feature after it was accused of “heavily” training the tool on existing apps. The feature, unveiled at the company’s annual Config conference, was intended to jumpstart the design process by generating UI layouts and components from text prompts, but drew criticism after it appeared to mimic the layout of Apple’s Weather app.
YouTube quietly rolled out a policy change this week that allows people to request the removal of AI-generated or other synthetic content that simulates their face or voice. The move marks a shift in YouTube’s stance, with the company now viewing deepfakes as a privacy issue, rather than just a content moderation issue.
Fisker has asked the Delaware bankruptcy judge overseeing the Chapter 11 case to approve the sale of its remaining inventory of all-electric Ocean SUVs. If approved, the company could sell its completed EVs to a New York-based auto leasing company for about $14,000 per vehicle — a sharp drop from the $70,000 starting price some of them once fetched.
News
Twitter Meets Myspace for GenZ: Aiming to put the “social” back into “social media,” a new app called noplace, which acts like a modern MySpace with colorful, customizable profiles, has now hit the top of the App Store. read more
How to avoid AI-driven scams: Generative AI has made online scams easier, cheaper and even more convincing. We’ve put together a handy guide on what you can do to protect yourself and your loved ones. read more
Turn off those crazy reactions on video calls: If you’ve ever seen thumbs up and confetti flying across your screen during a video call, you’re not alone. Here’s how to turn off the setting on your Apple devices. read more
Amazon discontinues Astro for Business: Amazon has decided to discontinue production of its Astro for Business security robot, just seven months after its launch. The company is now focusing on the home version of Astro. read more
A natural 1 for safety: Popular online board game and role-playing platform Roll20 has suffered a data breach, exposing the personal information of some of its users. The platform is currently notifying users of the breach. read more
Cloudflare takes on AI bots: The publicly traded cloud service provider has launched a new, free tool to prevent bots from scraping websites on its platform for data to train AI models. read more
Is Gemini as good as Google claims?: Google claims its AI models can perform previously impossible tasks, such as summarizing documents hundreds of pages long. But new research suggests the models aren’t as good as the company claims. read more
1 Billion Stolen Records and Counting: This year has seen some of the largest, most damaging data breaches in recent history. From AT&T to Ticketmaster, here are the biggest data breaches of 2024 so far. read more
Analysis
A year of Threads: Threads, Meta’s Twitter alternative, recently celebrated its first birthday. The social network has 175 million monthly active users, but it’s still trying to find its voice. Threads isn’t as curious as X, nor as open as Mastodon or Bluesky — at least not yet. Ivan Mehta looks back on the app’s first year and what it can learn from other social networks. read more
Supreme Court declares hunting season open for regulators: In a 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court delivered what may be one of the most consequential decisions it has ever made in the context of the tech industry, overturning the 1984 case Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council. On paper, wetlands and the EPA may seem like they have little to do with technology, but as Devin Coldewey writes, the decision opens regulators up to endless interference. read more