Meta has begun testing ads on Threads in the U.S. and Japan with a select group of invited brands. The initial image ads will be slotted between pieces of content in the Threads home feed and will be visible to only a small percentage of users. Drawing from Meta’s existing ads systems framework, “the familiar visual feed format will enable advertisers to easily extend existing image ads to Threads with the check of a box,” according to Meta. Emulating Google, the company will provide users with controls to skip or hide ads. Threads advertisers will be afforded control using the Inventory Filter tool Meta has implemented for Facebook and Instagram Feed and Reels. Continue reading Threads Testing Ads with Select Advertisers in U.S. and Japan

Perplexity joins the list of AI companies launching agents, debuting the Perplexity Assistant for Android. The tool uses reasoning, search, browsers and apps to help mobile users with daily tasks. Concurrently, Perplexity — independently founded in 2022 as a conversational AI search engine — has launched an API called Sonar intended for enterprise and developers who want real-time intelligent search, taking on heavyweights like Google, OpenAI and Anthropic. While to date AI search has largely been limited to answers informed by training data, which freezes their knowledge in time, next-gen tools can pull from the Internet in real time. Continue reading Perplexity Bows Real-Time AI Search Tool, Android Assistant

Samsung’s new Galaxy S25 line — the Galaxy S25 Ultra, Galaxy S25+ and Galaxy S25 — will more tightly integrate AI, including AI agents, becoming “true AI companions” at a level previously unknown to mobile devices. That leap is credited largely to a “first-of-its-kind” Snapdragon 8 Elite customization for the Galaxy chipset that “delivers greater on-device processing power for Galaxy AI and superior camera range and control with Galaxy’s next-gen ProVisual Engine,” according to Samsung. In addition, the top-of-the-line Galaxy S25 Ultra has been redesigned with a slightly larger 6.9-inch screen and rounded bevel. Continue reading Galaxy Unpacked: More AI for S25 and a Peek at AR Glasses

YouTube is rolling out new experimental features for Premium users and letting those paid plan subscribers access more than one test feature at a time. Among the exploratory features now available to YouTube Premium users is high-quality 256kbps audio on music videos and the ability to “jump ahead” on the web, something previously available only on mobile devices. For iOS users, picture-in-picture and smart downloads for YouTube Shorts are also among the new features. In addition, the company announced bundled pricing for those users who subscribe to both YouTube Premium and Google One Premium. Continue reading YouTube Premium Offers Speed Controls and Improved Audio

Nvidia is hoping interest in artificial intelligence will translate to consumer sales of a relatively low-priced computer optimized for basic AI functionality. Last month, the company upgraded its Jetson line with a $249 “compact AI supercomputer,” the Jetson Orin Nano Super Developer Kit. At half the price of the original, the model aims to attract students, developers, hobbyists, small- and medium-sized businesses, and anyone who is AI curious. “As the AI world is moving from task-specific models into foundation models, it provides an accessible platform to transform ideas into reality,” according to Nvidia. Continue reading Nvidia Targets Consumers with $249 Compact Supercomputer

TCL announced three different smart glasses at CES 2025, led by the flagship RayNeo X3 Pro. Powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 chipset, its lenses feature full-color micro LED screens. The specs also boast a dual-camera setup — one for picture-taking and augmented reality vision and the other to assist with things like room- and hand-tracking. The midrange RayNeo V3 doesn’t have integrated lens screens, but comes with a 12MP Sony IMX681 sensor, on-device speakers and a trio of microphones. Rounding out the bunch, the RayNeo Air 3 AR smart glasses need to connect to a compatible USB-C device to create a 201-inch virtual screen floating screen. Continue reading CES: TCL Introduces Three Models of RayNeo Smart Glasses

Disney+ is the latest major streaming service to deploy HDR10+, which adds dynamic metadata to any video source to optimize picture quality on a frame-by-frame basis. In doing so, it joins other big streamers: Apple TV+, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+, and Google’s YouTube. The HDR10+ standard, which replaces SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) provides improved brightness and contrast as well as the benefits of standardization and global certification. HDR, originally debuted in 2017 by Samsung and Panasonic, now has over 160 adopters and more than 13,000 compatible products. CES featured a collection of additional HDR10+ announcements. Continue reading CES: Disney+ to Support HDR10+ High Dynamic Range Video

OpenAI has unveiled a new frontier model, OpenAI o3, which it claims can “reason” through challenges involving math, science and computer programming. Available to safety and research testers, it is expected to be available to individuals and businesses this year. OpenAI o3 is said to be over 20 percent more efficient at common programming tasks than its predecessor OpenAI o1 and beat a company scientist on a programming test. Model o3 is part of a broader effort to create AI systems that can reason through complex problems. In late December Google debuted a similar platform, the experimental Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking Mode. Continue reading OpenAI Previews Two New Reasoning Models: o3 and o3-Mini

Google TV is incorporating Gemini AI to make it easier to converse with a voice assistant as well as generating helpful onscreen information. These new Google TV devices will also feature an upgraded, Gemini-powered voice experience capable of handling more complex voice commands. “You and your family will be able to gather together and have a natural conversation with your TV,” Google announced at CES 2025, where it shared a preview of the new capabilities. The Gemini model also lets Google TV users create customized artwork, control smart home devices and get an overview of the day’s news. Continue reading CES: Google TV Integrates Gemini AI for a Conversational Feel

A federal appeals court axed the FCC’s net neutrality rules, punctuating a 20-year battle to classify broadband Internet providers as utilities. The Cincinnati-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit — with jurisdiction over Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee — said the FCC lacks the authority to prevent ISPs from thwarting access to Internet content. Citing the Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision from June, the three judge panel wrote that government agencies lack the authority to deploy and administer such regulations. Since Sixth Circuit decisions aren’t precedent in other states, California says it will keep existing rules intact. Continue reading California Backs Net Neutrality, Despite Recent Court Reversal

Meta is changing its content moderation policies, eliminating third-party fact checking in lieu of a “community notes” model that will be phased in over the coming months, starting in the U.S. The changes were outlined by Joel Kaplan, the company’s new chief global affairs officer, who was promoted following the recent resignation of Nick Clegg, who managed Meta’s public image since 2018 and set up its oversight board. Kaplan says the policy shift “will allow more speech by lifting restrictions on some topics that are part of mainstream discourse and focusing our enforcement on illegal and high-severity violations.” Continue reading Meta Platforms Replaces Fact Checking with Community Notes

Samsung Electronics has teamed with Google on a new spatial sound standard, Eclipsa Audio, that could emerge as a free alternative to Dolby Atmos. On display at CES 2025 in Las Vegas this week, the format is rolling out across Samsung’s line of 2025 TVs and soundbars, and Google will support it on the content side by enabling Eclipsa 3D audio on some YouTube videos this year. Samsung has been a notable holdout on Dolby Vision HDR embracing instead the competing HDR10+. Now the South Korean electronics giant seems to be staking out its own turf in 3D audio, advocating for open source. Continue reading CES: Samsung and Google Team on Spatial Audio Standard

YouTube has partnered with Creative Artists Agency to develop technology that will help celebrities identify and remove deepfake videos created by AI to exploit their images. YouTube announced the tech in September and has now gained CAA’s support in the form of “critical feedback to help us build our detection systems and refine the controls.” In exchange, “several of the world’s most influential figures will have access to early-stage technology designed to identify and manage AI-generated content that features their likeness, including their face, on YouTube at scale,” the streamer announced. CAA’s clients includes celebrity talent spanning acting, music and sports. Continue reading CAA to Help YouTube Develop an AI Deepfake Removal Tool

Artist-led generative AI film and animation studio Asteria has joined with AI research startup Moonvalley to create Marey, “the entertainment industry’s first clean foundational AI model.” Trained exclusively on “ethically sourced data” owned by Asteria, Marey is named after the French physiologist who helped put the “motion” in motion pictures, Étienne-Jules Marey. Asteria says Marey is being trained for a 2025 debut targeting major Hollywood productions with a pitch that says it has not and will not rely on scraped data, something Big Tech competitors have taken heat on. Continue reading Asteria and Moonvalley Team Up on Ethical AI for Hollywood

Attempting to stay ahead of OpenAI in the generative video race, Google announced Veo 2, which it says can output 4K clips of two-minutes-plus at 4096 x 2160 pixels. Competitor Sora can generate video of up to 20 seconds at 1080p. However, TechCrunch says Veo 2’s supremacy is “theoretical” since it is currently available only through Google Labs’ experimental VideoFX platform, which is limited to videos of up to 8-seconds at 720p. VideoFX is also waitlisted, but Google says it will expand access this week (with no comment on expanding the cap). Continue reading Veo 2 Is Unveiled Weeks After Google Debuted Veo in Preview