Engadget News + Next

Rumors had suggested the company would reveal new iPads and MacBooks that week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-X is facing yet another investigation into Grok's reported creation of nonconsensual sexual images on the platform. Ireland's Data Protection Commission has announced an inquiry into X regarding the harmful, intimate images and processing of EU and EEA individuals' personal data — including children. -The European Commission has opened an investigation into low-cost fast fashion retailer Shein. E...

Beyond improving search, Airbnb wants to lean heavily into artificial intelligence to help users with with booking, managing listings and customer service. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-ByteDance is going to curb the new media generator's use of prohibited content. In a statement to the BBC, ByteDance said, "We are taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorised use of intellectual property and likeness by users." -Sam Altman has announced that OpenAI has absorbed OpenClaw by hiring developer Peter Steinberger "to drive the next generation of...

The company is going to release its capabilities in portions over future software updates, according to Bloomberg. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-Ring has canceled its partnership with Flock Safety, after receiving backlash for running a Super Bowl ad touting its Search Party feature. -Gail Slater, a former JD Vance adviser and Fox Corp VP, reportedly clashed with Attorney General Pam Bondi. Their longstanding feud is said to have centered around Slater's skepticism of corporate mergers. -European Union regulators have already fined Google...

The feature accepts both image and text prompts, but is still in beta at the moment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-After warnings from lawmakers last year, WhatsApp has been blocked in Russia for as many as 100 million users, the Financial Times reported. Russian authorities removed the app from an online directory, effectively wiping it from Russia's internet. -Anthropic is upgrading Claude's free tier, apparently to capitalize on OpenAI's planned integration of ads into ChatGPT. -Meta is turning those "Dear...

The company plans to offer rides to the public in Nashville sometime this year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-In an xAI meeting with employees, Musk said the company needed to build an AI satellite factory on the moon with a gigantic catapult to launch them into space, according to audio heard by The New York Times. -Discord will require all users to have a "teen-appropriate experience" by default by March. -Numerous major social platforms including Meta, YouTube, TikTok and Snap say they will submit to...

This is similar to Uber's toolset. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-House Judiciary Committee member Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, has asked the US Department of Justice to turn over all its communications with both Apple and Google regarding the companies' decisions to remove apps that shared information about sightings of US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers. -Elon Musk says SpaceX has shifted its near-term priorities from Mars settlement...

A report from The Wall Street Journal said the probe will include looking into Netflix's potentially monopolistic practices. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-On Friday, New York State Senators Liz Krueger and Kristen Gonzales introduced a bill that would stop the issuance of permits for new data centers for at least three years and ninety days to give time for impact assessments and to update regulations. -Apple is gearing up for a slew of hardware announcements that will include upgrades for the entry-level iPad, iPad Air, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air...

Gamers, schmamers. We have AI data centers to power! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-The company started a pilot program last year to allow developers to create dedicated AI note writers.  X’s Keith Coleman told Engadget that AI writers are “prolific” and that one has contributed more than 1,000 notes that were rated as helpful by other contributors. -Vibes was introduced as a feature in the Meta AI app in September 2025. Similar to OpenAI's Sora app, Vibes lets users prompt Meta...

The company said that integrating advertising would 'work against' the core principles of the chatbot. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-The backdrop to the SCAM Act is a Reuters report from last November. Meta reportedly estimated that up to 10 percent of its 2024 revenue came from scam ads. The company is said to have calculated that as much as $16 billion of its revenue that year was from scams, including "fraudulent e-commerce and investment schemes, illegal online casinos and the sale of banned medical products." -While it's...

We're tracking all of the rumors about Apple's foldable phone, including when it could launch and possible price. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-he Luffu mobile app "uses AI quietly in the background" to collect and organize family health information. But the definition of family isn't limited to parents raising children. The company sees its tool as especially valuable for caregivers in their 40s and 50s who may be managing the needs of both aging parents and kids. It even tracks pets' health habits. -Microsoft could launch the next-gene...

The latest Power On newsletter from Bloomberg hints at an Apple competitor to Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-The searches are part of an investigation that has been ongoing for nearly a year over the functioning of X’s algorithms that are “likely to have distorted the operation of an automated data processing system,” investigators said at the time. -On February 24, or possibly earlier, Mozilla will roll out Firefox 148, which will include an AI controls section in the desktop browser settings. From her...

In a recent filing, Elon Musk's aerospace company requested to build an "orbital data center" that relies on solar power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-In December, Perseverance successfully completed a route through a section of the Jezero crater plotted by Anthropic's Claude chatbot, marking the first time NASA has used a large language model to plot a course for  the car-sized robot. -You now select each spec of your new Mac device when purchasing through the website. As first spotted by MacWorld, Apple updated its online configuration tool f...

The project covered 3,000 miles of road in Ohio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices