American tech company behind Snapchat and AR hardware
Meta has settled with Breathitt County School District in Kentucky over claims that its platforms fuel addictive behavior harming students. Terms are undisclosed; the suit sought more than $60 million for a 15-year mental health program. Settlements with TikTok, Snap and YouTube precede this accord, while other bellwether trials are scheduled.
The White House has issued a scaled-back executive order asking frontier AI firms to voluntarily share advanced models 30 days before release for cybersecurity review. Last week the administration has imposed export-style restrictions that forced Anthropic to cut access to its Fable and Mythos models, prompting industry alarm about ad hoc controls and the limits of the voluntary framework.
The UK government has announced plans to block children under 16 from major social media platforms and to restrict livestreaming and stranger contact on gaming services, following Australia’s model. Legislation is expected before Christmas with protections due to take effect in spring 2027; Ofcom will design "highly effective" age checks.
Snap has unveiled Specs, its consumer AR glasses, priced at $2,195 with a $200 refundable deposit. The device aims to merge AI with real-world computing, featuring EyeConnect for shared experiences and on-device AI. Market reaction remains cautious as investors scrutinize affordability and the competitive hardware landscape.
Major tech firms have announced widespread workforce reductions while reporting record AI spending and rising head counts at heavy AI adopters. Oracle, Microsoft, Meta and others have cut roles and cited AI-driven change even as studies from Ramp/Revelio, SignalFire and Draup show engineering hires and entry-level roles growing at AI‑intensive firms and job listings shifting toward judgment and AI-tool fluency.
Meta has announced a new line of smart glasses with AI-assisted features, priced at $299 and developed with EssilorLuxottica. The glasses lack Ray-Ban/Oakley branding, and Meta is positioning them as fashion-forward wearables. Competitors like Snap and Google are racing to release their own AI eyewear.
E. Jean Carroll has received $5,625,005.48 that a 2023 jury awarded after finding Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation. The funds had been held in a court-controlled escrow account while Trump exhausted appeals and sought last-minute delays; his legal team is continuing challenges tied to a separate $83.3m judgment.
Microsoft has announced 4,800 job cuts companywide, including 3,200 roles in Xbox during fiscal 2027 and 1,600 Xbox positions eliminated immediately. Xbox will spin out or divest five studios and reduce management layers as it restructures to strengthen margins while shifting resources toward AI and core franchises. The move has reduced Xbox headcount by about 20%.
A 15-year-old plaintiff known as R.K.C. has withdrawn his claims against Meta over alleged social media addiction, days before a Los Angeles trial was due to start. He had earlier settled with YouTube, TikTok and reached a tentative deal with Snap. Meta says he received no payment and calls the suits baseless.
JPMorgan has restructured its AI leadership, retiring its AI chief and aligning the chief data and analytics office with Global Technology. The changes aim to integrate AI delivery into business units and sustain momentum in AI initiatives, as the bank emphasizes governance and external engagement.
Tennessee alleges Meta ignored internal research showing Instagram harmed teens, keeping features like autoplay, notifications and infinite scroll to boost ad revenue. Meta counters that it is transparent about risks and has tools to protect young users. The trial in Nashville could force changes or penalties if Meta is found liable.
The FTC, with Los Angeles County and Utah, has filed a lawsuit accusing Hims & Hers of sharing users’ sensitive health information with major online advertisers via embedded trackers, despite company assurances of privacy. The agency also alleges deceptive billing and hard-to-cancel subscriptions as part of the case.
The White House has convened a meeting with AI leaders to review a proposed cybersecurity framework for advanced models, following OpenAI's recent agent hacks and calls for greater government access. Attendees include executives from Hugging Face, Anthropic, and others; Meta and Alphabet may participate. Markets show mixed responses as investors watch the policy discussion unfold.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Meta and TikTok cannot appeal early on Section 230 immunity claims, allowing multiple lawsuits over addictive design and youth safety to proceed. Trials for state AG actions and other plaintiffs remain scheduled, with bellwether cases moving forward.
A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta to pay $567 million into an abatement fund and to change product features for young users, adding to a $375 million jury award from March and bringing Meta’s total liability in the case to $942 million. The bulk of the new fund — $420 million — is allocated for youth mental-health treatment; other measures include limits on notifications and enhanced age-assurance steps.
New Mexico has ordered Meta to implement measures to curb youth harm on its platforms, including age-verification improvements, reduced under-18 engagement features, and mandatory safety notices. The ruling allocates $420 million for treatment and prevention services, with the total civil liability reaching $942 million, subject to appeal.
Anthropic has expanded imperceptible watermarks to Claude-generated text and files worldwide to comply with the EU AI Act, sowing debate about effectiveness, editing resilience, and potential misuse. The feature travels with copied text and may persist through editing, while detection remains imperfect.
US states are pursuing changes to Meta platforms and seek up to 1.4 trillion in penalties amid allegations of addictive features harming youth; Meta disputes the claims and points to safety measures.
Reddit has been added to the S&P 500 ahead of trading on Aug. 18, replacing AvalonBay Communities as the index rebalances. The move comes amid Reddit’s expanding data-licensing and AI-related partnerships, which have helped drive revenue growth and position the platform as a valuable data source for tech firms and advertisers.