Tech

Meta on Friday previewed its upcoming parental control features for teens’ conversations with AI characters on its platforms. The features, which will be rolled out next year, include the ability to block certain characters and monitor conversation topics. Starting in the coming months, parents will be able to turn off chats with AI characters entirely for teens. This action won’t …

If you’ve never toured a whiskey distillery, the experience can be uncommonly old-fashioned. While newer distilleries thrive on automation, many still tout their “by hand” operations as a defining characteristic, a heritage that gives them street cred. Many distilleries are downright smug about the lack of computers or even climate control in any facet of their operations—even if this means …

ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has built what is currently the most popular AI chatbot in China: Doubao. Launched in 2023, the app has risen to the top of the country’s generative AI market, reaching more than 157 million monthly active users by August, according to Chinese analytics firm QuestMobile. But what’s less known is that Doubao also has …

It was early January 2025 when a faint light spot was observed at the Mt. Lemmon Observatory in Arizona. Follow-up observations revealed that the object was a comet visiting from the outer edge of the solar system, and it was named Comet Lemmon (C/2025 A6). Its “period”—the time it takes to complete its lengthy orbit of the sun—is about 1,350 …

The Switch has 10 vibration modes (five internal and five external) with 16 intensity levels. I’ve never been into patterns, but if you are, you have plenty to choose from. But it’s the 16 intensity levels that deserve a round of applause. You can take the Switch from the faintest murmur to such a powerful height that your legs quiver …

Reddit announced Thursday that it is expanding its AI-powered search experience to five new languages: French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. With this expansion, the feature is now available in countries like Brazil, France, Germany, Spain, Mexico, and Italy. Users who have set one of these languages as their default, instead of English, can now chat with the AI in …

OpenAI announced Thursday it paused the ability for users to generate videos resembling the late civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. using its AI video model, Sora. The company says it’s adding this safeguard at the request of Dr. King’s estate after some Sora users generated “disrespectful depictions” of his image. “While there are strong free speech interests in …

Electric aircraft startup Lilium may have ceased operations a year ago, but its insolvency filing wasn’t quite the end of the German-based company. There were multiple failed attempts to restructure the company, including a last-ditch effort by Mobile Uplift Corporation, a company set up by investors from Europe and North America, to acquire the operating assets of the startup’s two …

Ron Conway, the founder of venture firm SV Angel, known for its early investments into Google, Airbnb, and Meta, has resigned from Salesforce Foundation, the New York Times reported. The resignation following Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff saying last week he “fully supported” President Trump and thought National Guard troops should patrol San Francisco streets. Conway has been on the board …

The sprawling metropolis of Phoenix continues to be a testbed for Waymo, and not just on the technical front. The Alphabet-owned company has used its first testing and commercial market to experiment with its business model, too, including delivery. Waymo is known for its robotaxis, but it has tested how its tech could be used for delivery. The company previously …