Techmeme
August 30, 2025, 4:45 AM

Top News

Jeff Horwitz / Reuters:
Meta created and let users create flirty chatbots and intimate images using the names and likenesses of Taylor Swift and other celebs without their permission  —  Meta has appropriated the names and likenesses of celebrities - including Taylor Swift, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway and Selena Gomez …
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Apple's Xcode 26 beta 7 adds support for GPT-5 and Claude Sonnet 4, which developers can use by signing into their paid Claude account  —  Apple has released a new beta of Xcode 26 for developers today with a pair of notable changes.  There's now support for ChatGPT 5, as well as built-in integration with Anthropic's Claude.
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
WhatsApp fixed a zero-click bug in its iOS and Mac apps that was being used, alongside a now-fixed Apple flaw, to hack into devices of “specific targeted users”  —  WhatsApp said on Friday that it fixed a security bug in its iOS and Mac apps that was being used to stealthily hack …
Blake Brittain / Reuters:
xAI sues a former employee in federal court in California for allegedly stealing Grok trade secrets and taking them to OpenAI, where he recently accepted a job  —  Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI has sued a former engineer at the company for allegedly stealing trade secrets related …
The Information:
Sources: Meta Superintelligence Labs' leaders have discussed using Google or OpenAI's models to power Meta AI and other AI features in Meta's social media apps  —  Meta Platforms' plans to improve the artificial intelligence features in its apps could lead the company to partner with Google or OpenAI, two of its biggest AI rivals.
Derek Thompson:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Mastodon says it does not “have the means to apply age verification” to its services and it's up to server admins to observe local laws in places they operate  —  Decentralized social network Mastodon says it can't comply with Mississippi's age verification law …
Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:
Meta is updating how it trains AI chatbots to prioritize teen safety and will limit teen access to certain characters, as it works on long-term safety updates  —  Meta says it's changing the way it trains AI chatbots to prioritize teen safety, a spokesperson exclusively told TechCrunch …
Isabelle Bousquette / Wall Street Journal:
Taco Bell, which deployed voice AI-powered ordering at 500+ drive-through locations, is now reconsidering the tech after viral videos of glitches and pranks  —  More artificial intelligence isn't always better, the chain is realizing, as it considers when and how bots should be deployed
Richard Bravo / Bloomberg:
French President Emmanuel Macron vows a strong response if any country takes measures that undermine Europe's digital sovereignty  —  French President Emmanuel Macron vowed a strong response if any country takes measures that undermine Europe's digital sovereignty.
Financial Times:
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Alibaba developed a new AI inference chip to compete with H20; it is manufactured by a Chinese company unlike an earlier AI chip made by TSMC  —  Chinese tech companies spark market exuberance by signaling they are catching up to U.S.  —  Click for Sound

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Earlier Picks

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Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch:
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Lydia Beyoud / Bloomberg: