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TikTok users will soon be able to send voice notes, images and videos in chats, and more tech news Sep 01, 2025

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TikTok is taking another step towards becoming more than just a platform for infinitely scrolling through short videos. The social media app told TechCrunch that its users will soon be able to send voice notes, images and videos in direct messages or group chats.

In other tech news, Meta hosted several AI chatbots with the names and likenesses of celebrities without their permission, according to Reuters. The unauthorized chatbots that Reuters discovered during its investigation included Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Anne Hathaway and Scarlett Johansson, and they were available on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

And, xAI doesn't want its secret recipe for Grok to get out, and it's filing a lawsuit to make sure of that. In a lawsuit filed last week, xAI claimed that former employee Xuechen Li stole the company's confidential info and trade secrets before joining the team at OpenAI.

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Meta is experimenting with long-form text on Threads Aug 29, 2025

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The feature has begun appearing for some users but hasn't rolled out widely yet.

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Microsoft introduced a pair of in-house AI models, NVIDIA is (really) profiting, and Fubo Sports debuts Sept. 2 Aug 29, 2025

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Microsoft is expanding its AI footprint with the release of two new models that its teams trained completely in-house. MAI-Voice-1 is the tech major's first natural speech generation model, while MAI-1-preview is text-based and is the company's first foundation model trained end-to-end. MAI-Voice-1 is currently being used in the Copilot Daily and Podcast features. Microsoft has made MAI-1-preview available for public tests on LMArena, and will begin previewing it in select Copilot situations in the coming weeks. In other news, NVIDIA revealed that its revenue for the second quarter rose 56 percent compared to the same period last year, and that's without shipping any H20 chips to China. It reported a revenue of $46.7 billion and a net income of $26.4 billion. And Fubo is making a move to attract new subscribers ahead of the NFL season. The company's new Fubo Sports bundle includes content from ESPN, Fox and local affiliates. The football-friendly package costs $56 monthly.

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Anthropic admits its AI is being used to conduct cybercrime Aug 28, 2025

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The company's threat report detailed a 'vibe hacking' extortion scheme powered by Claude.

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OpenAI and Anthropic conducted safety evaluations of each other's AI systems, WhatsApp offering an AI-powered writing assistant, and Microsoft Copilot is now a talking blob on Samsung TVs Aug 28, 2025

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Most of the time, AI companies are locked in a race to the top, treating each other as rivals and competitors. Today, OpenAI and Anthropic revealed that they agreed to evaluate the alignment of each other's publicly available systems and shared the results of their analyses. The full reports get pretty technical, but are worth a read for anyone who's following the nuts and bolts of AI development. In other news, WhatsApp just introduced an AI-powered writing assistant, in case you need help with a text or whatever. The AI provides suggestions in various styles, like professional, funny or supportive. Once generated, the user can continue editing the message if required. And, Copilot, Microsoft's AI assistant that's integrated into Windows and Microsoft 365, is making the jump to your living room.

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US Attorneys General tell AI companies they 'will be held accountable' for child safety failures Aug 27, 2025

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They singled out the behaviors of Meta's AI chatbots in their letter.

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SpaceX's Starship deployed its payload for the first time, Anthropic reached a settlement over a class-action piracy lawsuit, and Meta is launching a California super PAC Aug 27, 2025

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SpaceX has successfully launched the Starship for its 10th test flight after it was delayed a couple of times due to weather conditions and other issues. This time, the company was able to achieve its objectives without the vehicle and its booster exploding mid-test. In other tech news, Anthropic has settled a class-action lawsuit brought by a group of authors for an undisclosed sum. The move means the company will avoid a potentially more costly ruling if the case regarding its use of copyright materials to train artificial intelligence tools had moved forward. And, Meta is throwing its resources behind a new super PAC in California. According to Politico, the group will support state-level political candidates who espouse tech-friendly policies, particularly those with a loose approach to regulating artificial intelligence.

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NVIDIA releases the next generation of its cutting-edge 'robot brain' Aug 26, 2025

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The Jetson AGX Thor developer kit retails for $3,499.

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US AGs tell AI companies they 'will be held accountable' for child safety failures, Elon Musk is suing Apple and OpenAI, and Netflix announced opening dates for its brick and mortar entertainment hubs Aug 26, 2025

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The US Attorneys General of 44 jurisdictions have signed a letter addressed to the Chief Executive Officers of multiple AI companies, urging them to protect children "from exploitation by predatory artificial intelligence products." In other news, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI is suing Apple and OpenAI, as reported by Reuters. The suit accuses the companies of illegally conspiring to stop rival AI companies from getting a fair shot on the App Store, alleging they have "locked up markets to maintain their monopolies and prevent innovators like X and xAI from competing." And, the 100,000-square-foot amusement centers will be centered around all things Netflix and will include a retail component, a restaurant called Netflix Bites and numerous "immersive story-driven experiences" based on the company's most successful properties. The Netflix House in Philadelphia will open November 12 at the King of Prussia Mall, and the Dallas location will open December 11 at Galleria Texas. A third location is planned for Las Vegas in 2027.

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Grok 2.5 goes open source Aug 25, 2025

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xAI made the older Grok model available for all, while Elon Musk said the upcoming Grok 3 will follow suit.

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