Meta Says It Won't Sign Europe's Code of Practice for AI

Meta Platforms Inc. said it won’t sign the code of practice for Europe’s new set of laws governing artificial intelligence, calling the guidelines to help companies follow the AI Act overreach. “Europe is heading down the wrong path on AI,” Meta’s head of global affairs Joel Kaplan said in a post on LinkedIn. “This code introduces a number of legal uncertainties for model developers, as well as measures which go far beyond the scope of the AI Act.”

Lawmaker Warns WhatsApp to 'Prepare to Leave Russian Market'

WhatsApp should prepare to leave the Russian market, a lawmaker who regulates the IT sector said, warning that the messaging app owned by Meta Platforms was likely to be put on a list of restricted software. President Vladimir Putin last month signed a law authorizing the development of a state-backed messaging app integrated with government services, as Russia strives to reduce its dependence on platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram.

White House Preparing Executive Order Targeting 'Woke' AI Models

White House officials are preparing an executive order targeting tech companies with what they see as “woke” artificial-intelligence models, their latest effort to go after diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, people familiar with the matter said. The order would dictate that AI companies getting federal contracts be politically neutral and unbiased in their AI models, an effort to combat what administration officials see as liberal bias in some models, the people said.

Russian Law Punishes Users for Searching for 'Extremist Materials'

Russian lawmakers passed controversial legislation that would dramatically expand the government’s ability to punish internet users — not for sharing forbidden content but for simply looking it up. The new measures, which sailed through the Russian parliament and will take effect in September, envision fining people who “deliberately searched for knowingly extremist materials” and gained access to them through means such as virtual private networks, or VPNs, which let users bypass government blocks.

House Passes Regulatory Framework for Cryptocurrency Tokens

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to create a regulatory framework for U.S.-dollar-pegged cryptocurrency tokens known as stablecoins, sending the bill to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it into law. The vote marks a watershed moment for the digital asset industry, which has been pushing for federal legislation for years and poured money into last year's elections to promote pro-crypto candidates.

Despite Terms of Service, WeTransfer Says It Won't Use Content to Train AI

The popular filesharing service WeTransfer has said user content will not be used to train artificial intelligence after a change in its service terms had triggered a public backlash. The company, which is regularly used by creative professionals to transfer their work online, had suggested in new terms that uploaded files could be used to “improve machine learning models.”

Crypto Theft Tops $2 Billion in First Half of Year, Exceeding All of 2024

Hackers have stolen more than $2 billion in crypto during the first half of 2025, according to new data from crypto analysis firm Chainalysis, marking the worst year-to-date on record for crypto thefts. The blockchain analysis company said in a new report that the $2.17 billion stolen during the first half of 2025 has already surpassed the amount of crypto lost last year.

Zuckerberg, Former Meta Directors Settle Privacy Suit with Users

Mark Zuckerberg and current and former directors and officers of Meta Platforms agreed to settle claims seeking $8 billion for the damage they allegedly caused the company by allowing repeated violations of Facebook users’ privacy, a lawyer for the shareholders told a Delaware judge. The parties did not disclose details of the settlement and defense lawyers did not address the judge, Kathaleen McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery.

  • Read the article: CNBC

Trial Focuses on Whether Meta Violated FTC Agreement on User Data

An $8 billion trial by Meta Platforms shareholders against Mark Zuckerberg and other current and former company leaders kicks off over claims that they illegally harvested the data of Facebook users in violation of a 2012 agreement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Jeffrey Zients, White House chief of staff under President Joe Biden and a Meta director for two years starting in May 2018, is expected to be one of the first witnesses to take the stand in the non-jury trial before Kathaleen McCormick, chief judge of the Delaware Chancery Court.

Civil Society Organizations Complain to EU About X's User Data

Elon Musk's X social media platform has been hit by complaints by nine civil society organizations to EU and French regulators over what they say is its use of users' data for targeted advertising that may breach EU tech rules. The organizations — AI Forensics, the Centre for Democracy and Technology Europe, Entropy, European Digital Rights, Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte e.V. (GFF), Global Witness, Panoptykon Foundation, Stichting Bits of Freedom and VoxPublic — said they took their complaint to the European Commission and the French media regulator Arcom.

Former U.S. Army Soldier Pleads Guilty to Hacking Telecom Databases

A former U.S. Army soldier pleaded guilty to hacking telecommunications companies' databases, stealing records, and demanding ransoms for the stolen data, the U.S. Department of Justice said. Cameron John Wagenius, 21, defrauded at least 10 organizations by obtaining login credentials for their private computer networks, stealing data, and attempting to extort at least $1 million from the targets, according to the DOJ.

Hacks from Suspected Chinese Government Actors Doubled, Firm Says

Undeterred by recent indictments alleging widespread cyberespionage against American agencies, journalists and infrastructure targets, Chinese hackers are hitting a wider range of targets and battling harder to stay inside once detected, seven current and former U.S. officials said in interviews. Hacks from suspected Chinese government actors detected by security firm CrowdStrike more than doubled from 2023 to more than 330 last year and continued to climb as the new administration took over, the company said.

  • Read the article: The Washington Post

Musk's xAI Deletes Antisemitic Posts from Grok Chatbot

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence firm xAI has deleted “inappropriate” posts on X after the company’s chatbot, Grok, began praising Adolf Hitler, referring to itself as MechaHitler and making antisemitic comments in response to user queries. In some now-deleted posts, it referred to a person with a common Jewish surname as someone who was “celebrating the tragic deaths of white kids” in the Texas floods as “future fascists”.

Bodyguards Using Fitness App Disclose Location of Swedish Leaders

Trying to keep fit with runs through Central Park, a jog around a tropical island and a bicycle ride around Stockholm, bodyguards in Sweden inadvertently revealed the secret locations of the Swedish leaders they were assigned to protect. An investigation by a Swedish newspaper revealed that bodyguards for Sweden’s royal family and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson uploaded their workout routes to Strava, a fitness app that allows users to map and share their movements

ITU Urges Companies to Use Tech to Fight Deepfake Content

Companies must use advanced tools to detect and stamp out misinformation and deepfake content to help counter growing risks of election interference and financial fraud, the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union urged in a report. Deepfakes such as AI-generated images and videos, and audio that convincingly impersonates real people, pose mounting risks, the ITU said in the report released at its "AI for Good Summit" in Geneva.

Hackers Steal Customer Data from British Unit of Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton UK said hackers have stolen some customer data as the luxury brand becomes the latest target in a string of cyberattacks against retailers. On July 2, an unauthorized third party accessed the systems of the British unit of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE’s flagship brand and took information such as names, contact details and purchase history. No financial data like bank details were accessed, the company said in an email to customers.

The GigaLaw Firm helps companies of all sizes protect their brands online, using domain name dispute policies – such as the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) – and other legal tools available to copyright and trademark owners on the Internet.