The New York legislature passed a bill prohibiting social media companies from providing children with so-called “addictive feeds” without parental consent. The Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act specifies addictive feeds as those that prioritize exposure to content (using a recommendation engine, or other means) based on information collected about the user or device. “Non-addictive feeds,” in which the algorithm serves content in chronological order, are still permitted under the bill, which New York Governor Kathy Hochul has vowed to sign into law. Read more

Microsoft has three new Xbox consoles slated for the holiday shopping season, including an all-digital Xbox Series X model in Robot White. This $450 discless iteration has up to 4K resolution, 1TB of SDDS storage and the same performance as the Carbon Black Series X introduced last year. A white Xbox Series S with disc drive is also coming, for $350, “for players who wanted more storage without the full power of Series X.” For power users, a 2TB Galaxy Black Xbox Series X Special Edition that offers “the same speed, performance and features of Xbox Series X” is priced at $600. Read more

Nielsen will begin measuring the performance of Lionsgate‘s MovieSphere channel (available on 18 streaming platforms), making it the first major FAST service to get a deep dive regularly disseminated to clients by the analytics firm. Nielsen also collects data from Roku, Peacock, Pluto and Tubi, compiling them as part of the macro view in its monthly trends report “The Gauge.” Detailed MovieSphere data will now be collected and distributed to Nielsen’s ad buyer clients along with the material they receive for traditional networks. Lionsgate launched MovieSphere in 2020, serving-up free movies in AVOD and linear formats. Read more

Work management platform Asana is attempting to rebrand the “AI assistant” as “AI teammates” — custom assistants designed to execute key parts of workflows. Currently in beta, AI teammates are more collaborative and goal-oriented and able to “take action with the relevant context and rules of engagement,” Asana explains, contrasting that with “other AI solutions that aimlessly scour data and take action based on unreliable information.” The firm is also debuting a conversational AI chat agent that can answer questions such as: “What blockers are putting this goal at risk?” or “Who at my company knows about this topic?” Read more

Twitch is rolling out its licensed DJ Program to allow music live streamers to pursue their craft without having to deal with takedown notices. The popular gaming platform, owned by Amazon, has been dealing with copyright infringement complaints, and now offers what it calls a “first-of-its-kind” compliance solution that provides creators who opt-in with “millions of tracks” that will be legally safe to use. Participating DJs will be required to pay copyright holders a percentage of their earnings from the stream in which the music is used. Twitch did not disclose the percentage but said it would split the cost 50/50 with creators. Read more