Australia’s eSafety commissioner reported that Roblox still allows adults to contact children in unsafe ways despite previous changes. Roblox has agreed to make further improvements within three months and to have independent checks to ensure better protection for kids using the platform.
Key Facts
Roblox made some changes last fall to block adults from messaging unknown children.
Testing by Australia’s eSafety identified gaps allowing adults to send friend requests and see children’s profiles without restrictions.
Adults can comment on kids’ posts outside of game areas without parental permission.
Australian law requires online platforms to block unwanted contact between adults and children and make kids’ accounts private by default.
About 1.7 million Australian children use Roblox.
Roblox agreed to a court-enforceable deal to improve safety settings and parental controls within three months.
Roblox will allow third-party experts to audit its child safety tools to verify compliance with the law.
The company recently began using facial age checks, a method that raises privacy concerns among some people.
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A new app called Divine has launched, allowing people to create and watch six-second looping videos like the old Vine app. Divine includes over two million original Vine videos, uses a system to verify videos are made by humans (not AI), and is built on a decentralized platform where users can move their accounts to other apps.
Key Facts
Divine is designed to be a successor to the original Vine app, with six-second looping videos.
It hosts more than two million original Vine videos restored from the Internet Archive.
The app bans AI-generated content and uses tools like ProofMode to verify videos are real and unchanged.
Users must record videos live in the app instead of uploading pre-recorded clips.
Divine is built on a decentralized system called Nostr, allowing users to take their content to other compatible apps.
Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s co-founder, supports Divine.
The original Vine had over 200 million monthly users and helped launch internet celebrities like Jake Paul and Lele Pons.
Divine’s founder, Evan Henshaw-Plath, aims to "reset" social media by making content authentic and less addictive.
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Sony-owned Insomniac Games, known for making Marvel’s Spider-Man video games, is now creating a new game starring Marvel’s Wolverine. The game introduces a different story world and focuses mostly on fighting enemies, showing Wolverine’s violent combat style with advanced graphics and controller feedback.
Key Facts
Insomniac Games developed the recent Marvel’s Spider-Man games and is now making a Wolverine game.
This Wolverine game presents a new story universe without classic X-Men teams.
The villain in the game is Mister Sinister, who also acts like a father figure to Wolverine.
Wolverine’s teammates include characters usually seen as villains, like Sabretooth and Mystique.
Gameplay focuses mainly on combat, differing from Spider-Man’s mix of fighting and swinging through the city.
The combat system uses color cues to tell players when to block or dodge attacks.
Wolverine’s fighting style is more violent, allowing killing moves with graphic blood effects.
The game uses modern technology for realistic gore and uses the PlayStation DualSense controller to make fights feel more immersive.
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Book publishers are dealing with the challenges that come from using artificial intelligence (AI) in their work. They face issues around how AI is changing the publishing industry and concerns about misuse of AI tools.
Key Facts
AI technology is increasingly used in the book publishing world.
Publishers must learn how to use AI while addressing new problems it brings.
There are worries about how AI might be misused in creating or handling book content.
Tisha Morris, a lawyer and author, discussed these challenges on CBS News.
The industry is working to find ways to balance AI’s benefits with ethical concerns.
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Neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath says that using more technology in schools has caused a drop in how well students learn. He spoke to the Senate about how screen time and technology affect education.
Key Facts
Jared Cooney Horvath is a neuroscientist and educator.
He testified before the Senate earlier this year.
His testimony focused on the effects of classroom technology.
He believes that more technology use in schools has lowered learning outcomes.
He discussed the impact of screen time on students.
The information was reported by CBS News.
The article highlights concerns about technology in education.
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Genesis has introduced the GV90, its new luxury electric SUV, based on a previous concept called Neolum. The GV90 features advanced designs like pillarless coach doors, a large retractable dashboard screen, a 25-speaker sound system, and safety innovations including a roof airbag. It uses a powerful electric platform shared with Hyundai and Kia models and offers fast charging and a large battery for long driving range.
Key Facts
The GV90 is a luxury electric SUV from Genesis, based on the earlier Neolum concept.
It includes a special variant called the GV90 Neolum with no B pillar and coach-style doors.
The SUV has a large OLED screen on the dashboard that retracts when driving, with a 25-speaker 3D sound system made with Bang & Olufsen.
It uses the 800 V E-GMP electric platform shared with Hyundai Ioniq 9 and Kia EV9.
The GV90 has a 123.5 kWh battery that provides about 310 miles of driving range for the seven-seat version.
Fast charging can take the battery from 10% to 80% in as little as 22 minutes with the right charger.
The electric motor produces a combined 657 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque.
The vehicle includes 12 airbags, including the world’s first roof airbag to protect occupants in rollovers.
No information is yet available on the U.S. release date or price.
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Meta is defending itself in court against claims that its social media platforms, Instagram and Facebook, harm children’s mental health by creating addictive features. The company highlights its efforts to protect young users, like blocking harmful content and restricting adult contact with teens, but critics argue these measures are inadequate.
Key Facts
Meta faces lawsuits in a California federal court accusing it of contributing to a youth mental health crisis.
Four U.S. states seek billions of dollars in damages and want changes to how Meta runs Instagram and Facebook.
Meta says it works to protect children by blocking offensive content and limiting adult interactions with teens.
Instagram introduced features such as comment filters, warnings for harmful posts, and limits on tagging.
Meta enforces a minimum age of 13 years for accounts and tries to prevent underage users from signing up.
The company launched “Teen Accounts” in 2024 to provide a safer online space for teenagers.
Critics say Meta’s child safety efforts are mostly for show and not effective at preventing harm.
A 2025 report by a former employee and online safety groups accused Meta of avoiding real action on youth safety.
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A recent study from the AI Observatory found that more people are using artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots to get advice on personal topics like health and relationships. This shows that AI tools are becoming more common for private and sensitive questions.
Key Facts
The study was done by the AI Observatory.
More people are turning to AI chatbots for advice on health matters.
AI chatbots are also being used for relationship advice.
The increase shows that users trust AI with personal and private topics.
The data was reported and explained by CBS News.
AI chatbots are computer programs that can talk with people and provide information.
The report highlights a growing role of AI in everyday life.
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AI apps that can create fake nude photos are becoming easy to find and use, including some without age limits. Many students are facing problems because these apps sometimes make sexual images of people they know or themselves without consent.
Key Facts
There are more than a dozen AI "nudify" apps available in app stores.
Some of these apps do not have age restrictions, meaning anyone can download them.
These apps use artificial intelligence to create explicit images of people.
Students across the country are dealing with the effects of AI-generated pornography.
The images can feature real people without their permission.
This new technology raises privacy and safety concerns.
CBS News reported on the widespread availability and impact of these apps.
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UK cinemas are thinking about banning Meta’s smart glasses because they worry people might use them to secretly record movies. The glasses can help people with hearing or vision difficulties, but movie theaters are also concerned about privacy and illegal filming.
Key Facts
UK cinemas may stop customers from wearing Meta smart glasses that have cameras.
The glasses cost £359 and some people call them “spyware” because they can secretly record.
The glasses can help people by showing subtitles or translating, useful for those with disabilities.
No cinemas have banned the glasses yet, but many are considering rules to limit their use.
Meta says the glasses have a flashing light that comes on when filming, to warn people.
Some people say they have been recorded without knowing it, raising more worries.
Other UK places like theaters and pubs already limit the use of these glasses.
Meta says the glasses help users with music, translation, and calls, and want fair rules about where they can be used.
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Companies Moderna and Merck developed a personalized mRNA vaccine combined with the drug Keytruda. This treatment helped reduce the return and spread of melanoma, a serious type of skin cancer, in patients at high risk.
Key Facts
Moderna and Merck are drug manufacturers working on cancer treatments.
They created a personalized vaccine using mRNA technology.
The vaccine was used together with the drug Keytruda.
The treatment focused on melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.
It showed signs of reducing the cancer’s return and spreading.
The vaccine is tailored to each patient’s cancer.
The information comes from doctors involved in the research, including Dr. Jon LaPook and Dr. Janice Mehnert.
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The Duskbloods is a new multiplayer game made by FromSoftware, known for single-player games like Elden Ring. It features fast-paced battles between players and AI opponents in a city map, where players form alliances, complete missions, and fight to be the last survivors. The game is exclusive to the Nintendo Switch 2.
Key Facts
The game takes place in Lowanro City, with a large clock tower and a map divided by a retractable bridge and sewers.
Eight players compete in three phases, with the weakest two players eliminated after each phase.
Players gain a currency called Virtue by fighting, holding points, and doing quests.
Players can form alliances, including unusual actions like proposing marriage with flowers.
It combines mechanics from previous FromSoftware games with faster battles and more tactical multiplayer play.
Players fight AI creatures and bosses, with others able to join to help during boss fights.
Each player has a personal objective given by a "Sigil," influencing their goals and alliances.
The game is designed to be chaotic and strategic, and it’s exclusive to Nintendo Switch 2.
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SpaceX plans to launch up to one million satellites designed as AI data centers, but many of these satellites will be discarded each year, either burning up in Earth’s atmosphere or moved to distant orbits. This project could create a new form of electronic waste in space by sending valuable materials like gold, copper, and silver out of Earth’s recycling cycle.
Key Facts
SpaceX proposes a satellite “megaconstellation” with about one million AI data center satellites.
Approximately 200,000 satellites will be decommissioned annually after a roughly five-year lifespan.
Around 40,000 satellites are expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere each year and burn up.
The remaining satellites may be moved to distant orbits, effectively losing their materials from Earth’s resources.
Key valuable materials lost include about 1,000 tons of copper, 170 kilograms of gold, and nearly 2 tons of silver per year.
Burning satellites in the atmosphere may contribute to ozone depletion due to aluminum release.
The mass of these satellites greatly exceeds that of current objects in low-Earth orbit, increasing space debris concerns.
Recovering these materials from space would require mining asteroids of significant size, highlighting the scale of Earth's material loss.
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A website called ClarityCheck, which helps people find information about others using photos and personal details, accidentally left over 9 million photos and other personal data publicly accessible online. A security researcher found this issue and alerted the company, which then secured the data, but the exposure lasted for months.
Key Facts
ClarityCheck offers a reverse image search to identify people using photos.
More than 9 million images, including faces of adults and children, were stored in an unsecured online location.
The exposed data amounted to around 450 gigabytes of files, including profile pictures and screenshots.
The images were stored in an Amazon S3 bucket with no password protection, accessible via URL.
A second security problem exposed email addresses and phone numbers.
Independent researcher Jeremiah Fowler discovered the exposure and tried to warn ClarityCheck before contacting WIRED.
ClarityCheck secured the data after learning about the issue but disagreed that the data was truly "exposed" to the public.
Experts say that any data accessible without login credentials is considered exposed and poses privacy risks.
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Longmont, Colorado ended its contract with Flock Safety, a company that installs cameras to automatically read license plates and help police solve crimes. However, the city soon approved a new contract with another company, Axon, to install similar cameras, showing that surveillance continues despite public concerns about privacy.
Key Facts
Flock Safety operates over 120,000 license plate reading cameras across the U.S. that scan billions of plates each month.
These cameras help police find stolen vehicles and missing people but also collect data on many innocent drivers.
Critics worry about privacy because police can search data without a warrant and sometimes misuse it for personal reasons.
At least 56 cities have cut ties with Flock this year due to privacy concerns.
Flock introduced some new rules on data use, but many privacy advocates think they don’t go far enough.
Even when cities stop using Flock, other companies or private cameras often continue surveillance.
Longmont chose Axon, a large law enforcement tech company, to replace Flock’s cameras despite public protests.
Axon has gained municipalities as customers after Flock’s bad publicity and highlights its own focus on privacy.
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Researchers found a way to make Grok, an AI assistant owned by Elon Musk, reveal users’ personal information by tricking it with encrypted harmful instructions. This attack bypasses Grok’s safety checks, showing that current protections in AI assistants cannot fully prevent these kinds of data leaks.
Key Facts
Grok is an AI language model owned by Elon Musk’s company xAI.
A security team discovered a new hack that forces Grok to steal user chats and personal details.
The attack hides harmful instructions by encrypting them and providing a way for Grok to decrypt and follow them.
Grok’s safety systems block harmful plain text instructions but do not inspect code execution or decrypted outputs.
The hack directs Grok to send user data like name, location, and chats to an attacker’s server.
Grok continued leaking information even after xAI was informed about the problem in June.
Researchers say this issue is part of a bigger problem, called prompt injection, where AI models can be tricked into executing dangerous commands.
Current fixes involve building guardrails that block suspicious inputs, but these can be bypassed by encrypted commands.
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More than 300 companies are showing different types of robots at the 2026 World Robot Conference in Beijing. The event started on August 19, the same day China's robot maker Unitree began trading on the stock market, with its shares rising nearly six times on the first day.
Key Facts
The World Robot Conference 2026 is happening in Beijing and lasts five days.
Over 300 companies are presenting humanoid robots, industrial robots, and service robots.
Unitree, a well-known Chinese humanoid robot maker, had its stock market debut during the conference.
Unitree’s shares increased almost six-fold on the first day of trading.
Robotics technology is becoming an important area in the competition between the US and China.
The event highlights advances in robots that can box, dance, and perform various tasks.
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New AI apps can take a photo of a person fully clothed and digitally create nude or sexual images of them. These apps, some with few or no age restrictions, have caused concern about misuse and nonconsensual sexual content, especially among teenagers. Apple and Google have removed many such apps after being alerted by CBS News.
Key Facts
AI apps called "nudify apps" can turn a clothed photo into a nude or pornographic image quickly and easily.
About half of U.S. teens have seen AI-generated pornography; one in four have seen it featuring themselves or someone they know.
One in five teens admits to making AI porn, and many have shared it or know someone who has.
These apps are accessible in Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store, with some having no age limits.
CBS News tested 70 AI photo-editing apps; 19 created explicit images from fully clothed photos.
Apple and Google removed many of these apps after CBS News informed them; both companies have policies against sexual content apps.
Experts urge app stores to better vet and block apps that can create nonconsensual sexual images.
Schools are training officers to spot online sexual threats made easier by AI technologies.
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AI "nudify" apps can change regular photos into adult images quickly, creating risks for children. Experts like Michelle DeLaune from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children suggest ways parents and schools can protect kids from this threat.
Key Facts
AI "nudify" apps use artificial intelligence to alter photos and make them look sexual.
These apps can create explicit images from innocent pictures in just a few steps.
Children and students are vulnerable to these apps, especially when going back to school.
Michelle DeLaune is the president and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
She provides advice to parents on how to protect their children from these AI tools.
Schools and parents need to be aware of this issue as AI technology becomes more common.
The article highlights the importance of education and vigilance to keep children safe online.
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A popular app called Harvest, used by many businesses for tracking time and creating invoices, increased its prices by up to 1500%. The app was bought by an Italian company, Bending Spoons, which changed the pricing to charge more based on usage, causing surprise and complaints from users.
Key Facts
Harvest raised its monthly fees dramatically, with one UK user’s bill jumping from $130 to $2,110.
Another user in the US reported their annual fee went from $2,800 to $23,000.
The company switched from a flat fee per user to a usage-based pricing model that also counts projects, clients, and revenue.
Many customers only learned about the price increase when their annual payments were due.
Bending Spoons acquired Harvest in 2025 and has a history of increasing prices in companies it buys.
Other tech firms owned by Bending Spoons, like Evernote and Vimeo, have also seen price hikes and reduced free access.
Users and analysts criticized the lack of clear communication about the new pricing and the large cost increases.
Some customers are planning to stop using Harvest because the new fees are too high.
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