Character AI will offer interactive ‘Stories’ to kids instead of open-ended chat; plus, OpenAI and Perplexity are launching AI shopping assistants

The commercial robotaxi service launched last year. Now, the human safety operator is gone. Also, an easy-to-exploit vulnerability in a jury system made by Tyler Technologies exposed the personally identifiable data of jurors, including names, home addresses, emails, and phone numbers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The company announced last month that it would no longer allow minors to use its chat features. Also, startup founders building AI shopping tools think general-purpose models are too broad to deliver truly personalized shopping experiences. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-Roblox CEO Dave Baszuki joined the Hard Fork podcast to discuss the gaming platform’s new age verification feature — but he seemed to get frustrated at the number of questions focused on child safety. -A new feature seemingly revealed many right-wing “America First” accounts are actually based outside the United States. But the data seems questionable. -Major insurers including AIG, Great American, and WR Berkley are asking U.S. regulators for permission to exclude AI-related liabilities from corporate policies. One underwriter describes the AI models’ outputs to the FT as "too much of a black box." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Altman and Ive tease a simple AI device aimed at calm, distraction-free computing, launching within two years. Also, DOGE members are reportedly worried that they could face prosecution for some of their activities conducted while under the leadership of Elon Musk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Reuters reports that the executive order has been put on hold. If signed, the order would probably face significant opposition, including from Republicans who previously criticized the proposed moratorium on state regulation. Waymo continues to expand its reach, with the robotaxi company posting Friday that it’s now “officially authorized to drive fully autonomously across more of the Golden State.” Waymo already operates in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Los Angeles, as well as outside of California, in Atlanta, Austin, and Phoenix. Bloomberg reports that both Meta and Microsoft are asking for federal approval to trade power (Apple has already received this approval). According to Meta, this will allow it to make long-term commitments to buy electricity from new plants, while mitigating the risk by having the ability to resell some of that power on wholesale power markets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-Cybersecurity giant CrowdStrike denied it had been hacked following claims from a hacker group, which leaked screenshots from inside CrowdStrike's network. -X's new feature will show where users are based, how they're connected to X, and how many times they've changed their username. -Two Trump-appointed FCC officials voted to undo the telecom industry's cybersecurity rules. One Democratic commissioner dissented, saying the decision leaves the United States "less safe" at a time when threats are increasing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

According to Grok, Elon Musk can out slug the MLB's greatest power hitters... except Ohtani. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google is upgrading its image generation model with new editing chops, higher resolutions, more accurate text rendering, and the ability to search the web. Also, the fire that broke out at the Oswego, NY Is the second major fire -- and the third overall -- in the last few months at the Novelis plant, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Written by: Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai The story of the Ghost in the Shell’s main villain the Puppet Master hinted at a future where governments use hackers for espionage, at a time when most of the world had never connected to the internet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers has resigned from OpenAI’s board days after Congress released an extensive cache of emails with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which included details of intimate affairs. OpenAI is pushing deeper into retail, with Target set to debut a new ChatGPT-powered app for shoppers in coming weeks. The news follows OpenAI’s move last month to start adding dedicated retail apps to ChatGPT, including Canva, Coursera, Figma, Expedia, Spotify, and Zillow. It also comes as OpenAI races to rake in AI-driven commerce via new products like “Instant Checkout” that let users make purchases within conversations with retailers like Etsy and Shopify. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices