Social Network for AI Bots Mistakenly Disclosed Private Messages

A buzzy new social network where artificial intelligence-powered bots appear to swap code and gossip about their human owners had a major flaw that exposed private data on thousands of real people, according to research published by cybersecurity firm Wiz. Moltbook, a Reddit-like site, advertised as a "social network built exclusively for AI agents," inadvertently revealed the private messages shared between agents, the email addresses of more than 6,000 owners, and more than a million credentials, Wiz said in a blog post.

Ex-Google Engineer Convicted of Stealing AI-Related Trade Secrets

A former Google engineer was convicted of stealing AI-related trade secrets from the tech giant for Chinese companies, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of California. Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, was found guilty of seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of thefts of trade secrets, after stealing more than 2,000 pages of confidential information from Google.

Music Publishers Sue Anthropic for Misusing Songs to Train Claude

Artificial intelligence startup Anthropic was hit with a new lawsuit in California federal court by music publishers Universal Music Group Concord and ABKCO for allegedly misusing their songs to train Anthropic's chatbot Claude. The publishers said in the lawsuit that Anthropic pirated more than 700 of their works — including the lyrics and sheet music to the Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses," Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" and Elton John's "Bennie and the Jets" — and violated their rights in thousands more.

Meta Faces Trial Over Accusations of Exposing Children to Sex Exploitation

Meta Platforms is set to face trial in a lawsuit brought by the state of New Mexico accusing it of exposing children and teens to sexual exploitation on its platforms and profiting from it, the first case of its kind against the social media giant to reach a jury. The lawsuit, brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, a Democrat, alleges the company promoted illegal content and enabled the sexual exploitation of children on its Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp platforms.

Law Enforcement Probes Claims That Meta Can Access WhatsApp Messages

U.S. law enforcement has been investigating allegations by former Meta Platforms Inc. contractors that Meta personnel can access WhatsApp messages, despite the company’s statements that the chat service is private and encrypted, according to interviews and an agent’s report seen by Bloomberg News. The former contractors’ claims — that they and some Meta staff had “unfettered” access to WhatsApp messages — were being examined by special agents with the U.S. Department of Commerce, according to the law enforcement records, as well as a person familiar with the matter and one of the contractors.

ADL Criticizes Grok for 'Substantial Limitations in Bias Detection'

Grok, the large language model of Elon Musk’s social platform X, came in last place in a new ranking of AI chatbots’ ability to counter antisemitic and extremist content. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said in a report that it ran six popular chatbots through several rounds of questioning related to anti-Jewish, anti-Zionist and extremist biases.

Trial Begins in California Court Over Social Media Link to Addiction

A Los Angeles jury is poised to consider a central question in the debate over social media and teenage welfare: Are platforms such as Instagram and TikTok causing mental-health disorders? A personal-injury trial begins over a young woman’s claim that social-media platforms built products that fostered addiction in adolescents and caused her a host of mental-health problems.

French Bill Would Ban Children Under 15 from Using Social Media

France's National Assembly backed legislation to ban children under 15 years old from social media, amid growing concerns about online bullying and mental health risks. The bill proposes banning under-15s from social networks and "social networking functionalities" embedded within broader platforms, and reflects rising public angst over the impact of social media on minors.

YouTubers Add Snap as Defendant in Lawsuit Over AI Scraping

A group of YouTubers who are suing tech giants for scraping their videos without permission to train AI models has now added Snap to their list of defendants. The plaintiffs — internet content creators behind a trio of YouTube channels with roughly 6.2 million collective subscribers — allege that Snap has trained its AI systems on their video content for use in AI features like the app’s “Imagine Lens,” which allows users to edit images using text prompts.

TikTok Users Accuse Platform of Suppressing Videos from Minn. Shooting

Throngs of TikTok users say the social media platform suppressed or delayed videos about the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis man by federal immigration personnel, alleging that posts tied to the incident drew few views or were stalled amid broader technical issues on the site. Some said their posts about the deadly encounter stalled, while others complained their videos received a fraction of their normal viewership.

EU Launches Investigation of Sexualized Images on Musk's Grok

The European Union (EU) said it is launching a new probe into Elon Musk’s social platform X over the deployment of the AI chatbot Grok following a recent surge in sexualized images of women and children. The EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, is investigating whether X “properly assessed and mitigated risks” from Grok, including the dissemination of illegal content.

TikTok Ends Legal Threats with Deal with Non-Chinese Investors

TikTok said that its Chinese owner, ByteDance, had struck a deal with a group of non-Chinese investors to create a new U.S. TikTok, concluding a six-year legal saga that saw the app banned by Congress and ensnared in politicking between two global superpowers. Investors including the software giant Oracle; MGX, an Emirati investment firm; and Silver Lake, another investment firm, will own more than 80 percent of the new venture.

Snap Settles Social Media Addiction Lawsuit on Eve of Trial

Snap reached an agreement to settle a tech addiction lawsuit, ahead of a landmark trial in a case that claims the social media giants engineered products to hook an entire generation of young users. The case is the first of several social media addiction lawsuits that are set to go to trial this year against Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube.

California Investigating xAI for Creating Nonconsensual Intimate Images

California’s attorney general said the state had opened an investigation into Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, for generating sexualized images of women and children. The inquiry will examine whether xAI, which owns the social media platform X and created the AI chatbot Grok, violated state law by facilitating the creation of nonconsensual intimate images.

India Issues Final Warning to Apple About Antitrust Case

India has issued a final warning to Apple that it will proceed in an antitrust case against the U.S. tech giant as the company has delayed responses to officials for over a year and undermined the investigation, a confidential order shows. Apple has said it fears it could be fined up to $38 billion if India's competition watchdog uses its global turnover calculation for penalties, after an investigation found it had abused its position on its app store.

U.S. Used Cyberweapons to Assist in Attack on Venezuela

The cyberattack that plunged Venezuela’s capital into darkness was one of the most public displays of offensive U.S. cyber-capabilities in recent years. It showed that at least with a country like Venezuela, whose military does not have sophisticated defenses against cyberattacks, the United States could use cyberweapons with powerful and precise effects, including to interfere with air defense radar.

British Authorities Pressure X's Sexual Images as New Law Takes Effect

British authorities increased pressure on X, Elon Musk’s social media platform, after it was used to create and spread artificially generated sexual images of women and children. The government will begin more aggressively enforcing a law that makes it illegal for individuals to create nonconsensual intimate images, said Liz Kendall, Britain’s technology secretary.

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