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Coda Music is rolling out tools for labeling and blocking AI-generated tunes, WhatsApp will face further EU regulation, and Threads is adding features for creators to promote their podcasts Nov 12, 2025

Show notes

-Coda Music used the recent backlash around Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek as a way to differentiate itself from the number one streamer, calling out Ek’s controversial funding of defense technology firm Helsing earlier in the year. Coda Music announced a new feature that feels designed to answer another of the recent Spotify controversies: AI slop music flooding the platform. In response, Coda Music is launching AI identification tools with the purpose of finding and labeling songs that weren’t composed by actual humans.

-WhatsApp is following in the footsteps of fellow Meta-owned companies, Instagram and Facebook. Bloomberg reported that the European Commission will give WhatsApp's open channels the designation of Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) under the Digital Services Act.

-Threads is rolling out some new features for sharing podcasts and podcast episodes. Creators have the option to add the link to their show to their bio page; after that, their posts with show and episode links will appear with an audio preview.

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Patreon is adding a discovery feed to help creators avoid social media platforms Nov 11, 2025

Show notes

"I feel like we're competing with what Instagram should have and could have become, but did not," Patreon CEO Jack Conte said.

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Broadcom announced an AI chipset that translates audio in real time, Meta is killing off the external Facebook Like button, and Ford's F-150 Lightning may be sunset Nov 11, 2025

Show notes

-Broadcom and a company called CAMB.AI are teaming up to bring on-device audio translation to a chipset. This would allow devices that use the SoC to complete translation, dubbing and audio description tasks without having to dip into the cloud.

-Next year will see the end arrive for two of Facebook's external social plugins. The platform's Like button and Share button for third-party websites will be discontinued on February 10, 2026.

-Ford may be on the verge of sunsetting the F-150 Lightning truck. The model is an electric pick-up truck, and the best-selling one in the US, but the publication cited Ford execs who said the company would consider halting production completely on the F-150 Lightning.

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Apple is reportedly working on more satellite features for iPhone Nov 10, 2025

Show notes

Apple is reportedly looking to expand its iPhone's satellite capabilities beyond emergency assistance and texting.

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China told Apple to remove LGBTQ+ dating apps, Denmark is set to ban social media for users under 15, and Blizzard confirmed it's adding a virtual currency for WoW Nov 10, 2025

Show notes

-LGBTQ+ rights and acceptance have taken another hit in China, with Apple removing two of the countries biggest LGBTQ+ dating apps. Wired reports that Blued and Finka are no longer available on the iOS App Store or certain Android App Stores following orders from the Cyberspace Administration of China, the country's internet regulator and censor. Apple told Wired that it must "follow the laws in the countries where we operate."

-The government of Denmark said on Friday that lawmakers from its political right, left and center have reached an agreement to ban social media for anyone under 15.

-Ahead of its 21st anniversary, World of Warcraft is dealing with some controversy around its latest update. Developer Blizzard has confirmed that WoW is introducing a new "Hearthsteel" housing-related virtual currency with its upcoming Midnight expansion, and users are worried that it could become a microtransaction trap on a game that already costs $15 a month to play.

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Meta is making billions of dollars from scam ads on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp Nov 07, 2025

Show notes

The company estimated that scams could account for 10 percent of its 2024 revenue.

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Grand Theft Auto VI's release delayed again, SpaceX acquired more spectrum licenses from EchoStar, and Amazon is testing an AI tool that automatically translates books into other languages Nov 07, 2025

Show notes

-Rockstar Games has announced that Grand Theft Auto VI has been delayed once again to November 19, 2026. The open world game was previously delayed from its 2025 launch window to a May 2026 release earlier this year.

-SpaceX is acquiring more spectrum licenses from EchoStar in exchange for about $2.6 billion worth of shares in Elon Musk's aerospace company. The transaction is an expansion of the $17 billion deal struck between the companies in September.

-Amazon just introduced an AI tool that will automatically translate books into other languages. The appropriately-named Kindle Translate is being advertised as a resource for authors that self publish on the platform. The company says the tool can translate entire books between English and Spanish and German to English. Amazon promises that more languages are coming down the pike.

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The MPA tells Meta to stop using PG-13 to describe teen accounts Nov 06, 2025

Show notes

Meta was slapped with a cease-an-desist letter warning it off comparing its content restrictions to the movie-ratings system.

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Your next Heineken may be brewed with steam from a 100MWh heat battery, Netflix is going big on video podcasts, and Sony has a new benchmark for ethical AI Nov 06, 2025

Show notes

-Heineken is teaming with a battery and electric company on a new solution at its Lisbon, Portugal brewery. They're building a 100MWh grid- and solar-powered heat battery that will generate the steam while reducing carbon emissions.

-Next year is seemingly going to be the year that Netflix gets aggressive with podcasting. We already knew that the streamer will start licensing video podcasts from Spotify Studios and The Ringer in the new year.

-Sony AI released a dataset that tests the fairness and bias of AI models. It's called the Fair Human-Centric Image Benchmark. The company describes it as the "first publicly available, globally diverse, consent-based human image dataset for evaluating bias across a wide variety of computer vision tasks."

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Meta finally made a proper WhatsApp app for Apple Watch Nov 05, 2025

Show notes

Call notifications, full messages, voice message support and other features are included in the app, which is available today.

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