Meta Platforms is adding new safety features to provide parents more control as to how children — most pointedly teens — interact with AI chatbots and characters. The move follows the September launch of an FTC investigation of Meta and five other companies on the potentially harmful effects of their AI on children and teens. Meta’s new guardrails will allow parents to turn off one-on-one chats with AI characters completely or just block specific characters. They’ll also be able to glean insight into topics their underage household members are discussing with AI, including Meta’s own AI assistant. Continue reading Meta Bolsters Parental Controls for AI in Wake of FTC Inquiry

OpenAI has expanded its alliance with Broadcom, announcing a plan to create enough custom AI accelerator chips to consume 10 gigawatts of power. News of the custom chip collaboration leaked out last month. Now that it is ready to go public, OpenAI says designing its own chips and systems will allow the startup to leverage directly into the hardware what it has learned from developing frontier models. The racks, scaled entirely with Ethernet and other connectivity solutions from Broadcom, will be deployed across OpenAI’s facilities and partner data centers beginning in the second half of 2026. Continue reading OpenAI & Broadcom Developing Custom AI Accelerator Chips

Anthropic and IBM have formed a strategic alliance that will see Anthropic’s Claude models integrated into select IBM software products, the first of which is a new AI-first integrated development environment (IDE) called Project Bob, now in private preview, which aims to help enterprise clients do things like modernize software. At its TechXchange 2025 conference in Orlando, IBM also debuted a new capability for AgentOps. The AgentOps practices unveiled at IBM Think in May was showcased here as a real-time governance and observability integration to help ensure autonomous agents don’t run amok. Continue reading IBM Previews Its Project Bob IDE, Intros Real-Time AgentOps

Meta Platforms has updated its Facebook recommendation algorithm to boost Reels use, adding a topic search filter as well as prioritizing same-day content, with a 50 percent increase in pushing Reels videos posted within 24-hours of user scrolls. In July, Meta said time spent watching videos on Facebook in the United States had expanded more than 20 percent year-over-year, and the company wants to continue boosting that number. Taking a page from the TikTok playbook, Facebook is adding topic search links to Reels displays to help users find material of interest. Facebook is also trying to accommodate user pushback against AI slop by urging use of a “Not Interested” button. Continue reading Meta Updates Recommendation Algorithm for Facebook Reels

More than 20 researchers have exited jobs at Meta Platforms, OpenAI, Google DeepMind and other leading AI enterprises in recent weeks to join a Silicon Valley startup called Periodic Labs whose main goal is “to accelerate science,” focusing on areas including physics and chemistry. The venture has secured more than $300 million in seed funding led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and started work at a makeshift facility in San Francisco as it lays groundwork for a dedicated Menlo Park facility where “physical robots” will run scientific experiments on a very large scale. Continue reading AI Startup Periodic Labs Raises $300M for Scientific Research

Meta Platforms is launching new AI features including Business AI, a new sales concierge service that aims to guide customers “from discovery to purchase” with AI-powered messaging agents appearing on Meta ads, threads and your company’s website. Meta is launching the Meta AI business assistant, an AI chat experience that will help optimize campaign targeting and resolve account issues, via Ads Manager and Business Support Home. There are also new generative video tools and expanded access to Meta’s creator discovery APIs to matchmake businesses with influencers and other grassroots partners. The news was shared as marketers convene for Advertising Week New York. Continue reading Meta Boosts AI Ad Tools: Adds Brand Chatbots, Creator APIs

Adobe is bringing a free “pro quality” version of Premiere to iPhone, so YouTubers, filmmakers, music video editors, commercial producers and other creators can edit video on the fly. While tools like ByteDance’s CapCut and Meta’s Edits have become popular for mobile, Adobe’s move marks a major productivity step for those aspiring to more than social video, particularly through integration with the entire Adobe tools ecosystem. The Adobe Premiere mobile app features what Adobe promises are “studio-quality audio enhancements, perfectly timed AI sound effects, precision editing on a multi-track timeline, AI content generation and more.” Continue reading Adobe’s Pro Quality Premiere Video Editor Is Free for iPhones

Meta Platforms is rolling out Vibes, a short-form AI video generator now in early preview. Using Meta AI, Vibes allows the visually adventurous to create videos from their own ideas or remix existing ones by adding music or changing the style to make it your own. Vibes has its own feed featuring “a range of AI-generated videos from creators and communities.” As you use it, “the feed will become more personalized over time,” according to Meta. Vibes videos can also be cross-posted to Instagram and Facebook Stories and Reels or shared with friends via DM. Vibes is available on the Meta AI app and the Web at Meta.ai. Continue reading Meta Previews Its Vibes AI Video Generator for Social Sharing

Anthropic has released its latest frontier AI model, Claude Sonnet 4.5, built for high-performance coding and building complex agents. Anthropic claims it is “the best coding model in the world” and “the best model at using computers,” with substantial gains in reasoning and math. Claude Sonnet 4.5 is distinctive in that it can build “production-ready” applications and is not limited to prototypes, Anthropic says, describing it as a major gain over previous models. The new model also excels in research as well as enterprise basics like cybersecurity and finance, per Anthropic. Continue reading Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4.5 Good at Coding and Collegiality

California has become the first state in the nation to enact an AI safety law. The Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act requires major AI firms to regularly report safety information, keeping government apprised of the guardrails imposed when building models as well as ongoing risks presented. California is home to leading AI companies including OpenAI, Alphabet, Anthropic, Meta Platforms, Nvidia and xAI, which means the law will be something of a national standard, as the rules imposed on those companies will have follow-through effects in all states. The law also bolsters whistle-blower protections for employees of the affected firms. Continue reading California Enacts an AI Law Focused on Frontier Model Safety

Instagram has hit 3 billion monthly users, parent Meta Platforms announced this week, an increase of one billion since the company last disclosed figures in October 2022. Meta’s other social platforms, Facebook and WhatsApp, both crossed the 3 billion mark earlier this year. The milestone coincides with a redesign of the Instagram app’s homepage putting more emphasis on Reels short-form videos and private messaging that have largely driven the platform’s growth. Meta has begun testing a version of the app in India that opens directly into Reels instead of a traditional feed. Continue reading Instagram Touts 3 Billion Global Users, Redesigns Homepage

Meta Connect just wrapped after showcasing the company’s latest offerings in XR, Meta AI wearables, and more. The long-awaited reveal of the Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses confirmed they are the first Meta glasses with a built-in high-resolution HUD color screen and use an EMG wristband for controls. Meta’s high-performance sports eyewear got an upgrade with the Oakley Meta Vanguard, offering Garmin and Strava integration and video recording in 3K Ultra HD. The Quest VR headset’s new beta feature, Hyperscape, was previewed, turning real-world spaces into virtual worlds. Also, the Quest now features a Horizon TV entertainment hub for streaming. Continue reading Meta Platforms Unveils New Smart Glasses and AI Wearables

Snap Inc. has released Snap OS 2.0 in advance of the release of its next-generation Spectacles AR glasses, due for release next year. The OS 2.0 XR operating system will power both the fifth and sixth generation Spectacles, the first that the company will market directly to consumers after years of selling AR glasses made for developers building AR experiences for the Snapchat app. The new OS aims to simplify content viewing and sharing with Spectacles as well as heightening Internet exploration via a native browser with WebXR support. Snap is still keeping details like pricing and the specific release date for the consumer Spectacles under wraps. Continue reading New OS Will Power Snap’s Upcoming Consumer AR Glasses

Meta Platforms has unveiled new advertising options at its annual Brand Building Summit, touting in-stream opportunities for Reels and carousel ads for Threads, which now has 400 million monthly active users. To make it easier for brands to leverage that user base, Meta has enabled the creation of a Threads profile using an Instagram account. Additionally, existing Facebook or Instagram posts can now be used to create a Threads ad in Ads Manager. Meta also says that as of November, qualified advertisers will be able to use Ads Manager to tap into Reels trending content on a self-serve basis. Continue reading Meta Rolls Out New Advertising Options for Reels and Threads

Robinhood, the online brokerage aimed at individual investors, is launching Robinhood Social, which will allow users to follow each other’s profits and losses and feature public figure profiles. Membership will initially be extended to select Robinhood customers, starting early next year, with broader availability to follow. Robinhood says the move is based on feedback from active traders who say they rely heavily on social media to navigate the markets. Since it can be challenging to differentiate between legitimate posts and sponsored message or misinformation, Robinhood Social aims to make the process more transparent, according to the company. Continue reading Robinhood Brokerage Set to Launch a Social Media Platform