TikTok settles as social media giants face landmark trial over youth addiction claims
LOS ANGELES — TikTok agreed to settle a landmark social media addiction lawsuit just before the trial kicked off, the plaintiff’s attorneys confirmed. The social video platform was one of three companies — along with Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube — facing claims that their platforms deliberately addict and harm...
Not ready for robots in homes? The maker of a friendly new humanoid thinks it might change your mind
NEW YORK — As the new robot called Sprout walks around a Manhattan office, nodding its rectangular head, lifting its windshield wiper-like “eyebrows” and offering to shake your hand with its grippers, it looks nothing like the sleek and intimidating humanoids built by companies like Tesla. Sprout’s charm is the...
TikTok outage hampers ability to post videos
Some TikTok users continue to report problems posting videos and viewing metrics following a weekend outage. The outage came after TikTok was sold by its Chinese owner, ByteDance, to a group of investors to create a new U.S. TikTok, the New York Times reported. This allowed TikTok to avoid the...
European Union opens investigation into Musk’s AI chatbot Grok over sexual deepfakes
LONDON — The European Union opened a formal investigation into Elon Musk’s social media platform X on Monday after his artificial intelligence chatbot Grok spewed nonconsensual sexualized deepfake images on the platform. European regulators also widened a separate, ongoing investigation into X’s recommendation systems after the platform said it would...
Meta pauses teen access to AI characters
Meta is halting teens’ access to artificial intelligence characters, at least temporarily, the company said in a blog post Friday. Meta Platforms Inc., which own Instagram and WhatsApp, said, starting in the “coming weeks,” teens will no longer be able to access AI characters “until the updated experience is ready”...
TikTok finalizes a deal to form a new American entity
TikTok has finalized a deal to create a new American entity, avoiding the looming threat of a ban in the United States that has been in discussion for years on the platform now used by more than 200 million Americans. The social video platform company signed agreements with major investors...
Broadband expansion on hold as feds miss self-imposed deadline to review Pa.’s spending plan
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Hundreds of millions of dollars to expand broadband access in Pennsylvania is still on hold, after federal...
Viral Chinese app ‘Are you dead?’ comes to U.S.
“Are you dead?” That’s the question a viral app has been trying to ask people who are living alone in China. The app is called Sileme in Chinese, which translates to “Are you dead?” in English, and it has surged in downloads online, Reuters reported. It’s “a lightweight safety tool...
‘Read the room’: Western Pennsylvanians weigh in on cellphone etiquette
Pastor James Arter of First Evangelical Lutheran Church and Cross Roads Community Presbyterian Church in Leechburg vividly recalls the moment he experienced a cellphone etiquette faux pas during a funeral viewing. Arter witnessed a female snapping selfies with her phone over an open casket that contained the deceased. “I had...
ChatGPT’s free ride is ending: Here’s what OpenAI plans for advertising on the chatbot
OpenAI says it will soon start showing advertisements to ChatGPT users who aren’t paying for a premium version of the chatbot. The artificial intelligence company said Friday it hasn’t yet rolled out ads but will start testing them in the coming weeks. It’s the latest effort by the San Francisco-based...
Grok blocked from undressing images in places where it’s illegal, X says
BANGKOK — Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok won’t be able to edit photos to portray real people in revealing clothing in places where that is illegal, according to a statement posted on X. The announcement late Wednesday followed a global backlash over sexualized images of women and children, including bans...
Taiwan computer chipmaker TSMC’s to expand investment as profit jumps 35%
HONG KONG — Taiwan-based TSMC, the world’s largest computer chipmaker, plans to increase its capital spending by as much as nearly 40% this year after it reported a 35% jump in its net profit for the latest quarter thanks to the boom in artificial intelligence, the company said Thursday. Taiwan...
Verizon outage disrupts calling and data services for phone customers across the country
NEW YORK — Many Verizon customers encountered a widespread outage on Wednesday, disrupting calling and other cellular services across the U.S. The New York-based carrier acknowledged that there was an “issue impacting wireless voice and data services.” Verizon didn’t specify what was causing the disruptions, but said in an update...
Microsoft’s Brad Smith pushes Big Tech to ‘pay our way’ for AI data centers amid rising opposition
It won’t be easy for Big Tech companies to win the hearts and minds of Americans who are angered about massive artificial intelligence data centers sprouting up in their neighborhoods, straining electricity grids and drawing on local reservoirs. Microsoft is trying anyway. The software giant’s president, Brad Smith, is meeting...
Pentagon is embracing Musk’s Grok AI chatbot as it draws global outcry
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday that Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok will join Google’s generative AI engine in operating inside the Pentagon network, as part of a broader push to feed as much of the military’s data as possible into the developing technology. “Very soon we...
Apple calls on Google to help smarten up Siri and bring other AI features to iPhone
Apple will rely on Google to help finish its efforts to smarten up its virtual assistant Siri and bring other artificial intelligence features to the iPhone as the trendsetting company plays catch up in technology’s latest craze. The deal allowing Apple to tap into Google’s AI technology was disclosed Monday...
Dina Powell McCormick, wife of U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, named Meta president
Dina Powell McCormick, a close ally of the Trump administration and the wife of U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, is Meta’s new president and vice chairman. The Facebook parent company announced her appointment Monday, making a figure with Southwestern Pennsylvania ties a central decision-maker for one of the world’s largest tech...
Google teams up with Walmart and other retailers to enable shopping within Gemini AI chatbot
NEW YORK — Google said Sunday that it is expanding the shopping features in its AI chatbot by teaming up with Walmart, Shopify, Wayfair and other big retailers to turn the Gemini app into a virtual merchant as well as an assistant. An instant checkout function will allow customers to...
Meta funds expansion of Beaver Valley nuclear plant to help power AI
Meta announced Friday it’s funding an expansion of the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station as the tech giant hoovers up energy for its “superintelligence” initiative. The deal caps a dramatic reversal of fortunes for the Vistra-owned plant in Shippingport, Beaver County, which was at one point scheduled to shutter in...
Musk’s AI chatbot faces global backlash over sexualized images of women and children
LONDON — Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok is facing a backlash from governments around the world after a recent surge in sexualized images of women and children generated without consent by the artificial intelligence-powered tool. On Tuesday, Britain’s top technology official demanded that Musk’s social media platform X take urgent...
Trump Mobile’s golden phone remains nowhere to be found
A golden phone that President Donald Trump’s family business promised to release last year remains mysteriously under wraps as the technology industry serves up a glut of new gadgets at CES in Las Vegas this week. When the Trump Organization launched a mobile phone service last June, it was supposed...
Tesla loses title as world’s biggest electric vehicle maker as sales fall for 2nd year in a row
NEW YORK — Tesla lost its crown as the world’s bestselling electric vehicle maker on Friday as a customer revolt over Elon Musk’s right-wing politics, expiring U.S. tax breaks for buyers and stiff overseas competition pushed sales down for a second year in a row. Tesla said that it delivered...
‘The past gives comfort’: Finding refuge on analog islands amid deepening digital seas
As technology distracts, polarizes and automates, people are still finding refuge on analog islands in the digital sea. The holdouts span the generation gaps, uniting elderly and middle-aged enclaves born in the pre-internet times with the digital natives raised in the era of online ubiquity. They are setting down their...
AI prompts increased human interaction at this cyber security company
In an age of artificial intelligence, Dennis Underwood is working it “old school.” He is prioritizing face time. Underwood is CEO of Cyber Crucible, a cybersecurity software company in Fox Chapel that focuses on preventing data theft, identity theft and ransomware. He said the introduction of mainstream AI in the...
Majority of job hunters turn to AI to help land next gig
Mallory Helbling turned to her own professional advice when she found herself laid off in December 2024. Among them: using artificial intelligence tools to assist in her job search as a career coach. “I was able to get my first contract role in February 2025,” said Helbling, 37, of Sharpsburg,...
