2026-07-01

Judge clears states to try claim that Meta hooked children on Facebook and Instagram

Meta will have to defend in court the accusation that it built Facebook and Instagram to addict children, after a federal judge on Monday refused to dismiss the heart of a lawsuit brought by attorneys general from 29 states. US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, sitting in Oakland, California, let the states press claims that Meta […]<br /> This story continues at The Next Web [...]

2026-07-01

Playground Games says Fable uses the same engine as Forza Horizon with 'a ton of additional technology on top' — 'Using that base for Fable is just a match made in heaven'

Fable will utilize the same engine as the Forza Horizon series, which Playground Games says has been a "gift" for the upcoming RPG. [...]

2026-07-01

Anthropic's Fable 5 is back worldwide after a two-week government ban over a jailbreak

After a two-week ban, the US government is letting Anthropic ship Fable 5 globally again. Amazon researchers had found a jailbreak, but Anthropic says even much smaller models like Claude Haiku 4.5 could pull off the same exploit. A new safety classifier blocks the technique in over 99 percent of cases, though it also flags more harmless requests in the process.<br /> The article Anthropic&# [...]

2026-07-01

Bending Spoons prices IPO above range to raise $1.68bn ahead of Nasdaq debut

Bending Spoons, the Milan software group that owns Vimeo, WeTransfer and Evernote, has priced its US initial public offering above the marketed range to raise $1.68bn. The company and existing shareholders, including Baillie Gifford, sold 57.97 million shares at $29 each, according to a statement reported by Bloomberg. That is above the $26 to $28 range […]<br /> This story continues at T [...]

2026-07-01

Visa, Mastercard and 140 firms launch Open USD, a stablecoin built to undercut Circle

Aconsortium of more than 140 financial and technology companies, among them Visa, Mastercard, Stripe and Coinbase, launched a new dollar-pegged stablecoin on Tuesday called Open USD. The venture, run by an independent company named Open Standard, is a direct swipe at the economics that have made Circle and Tether the dominant issuers in the sector. […]<br /> This story continues at The Nex [...]

2026-07-01

Uber-backed Lime prices its IPO at $25 a share, raising about $174m

Lime has priced its US initial public offering at $25 a share, according to Bloomberg News. That is the midpoint of the $24 to $26 range the company had marketed. The offering raised roughly $174m in total. Neutron Holdings, the corporate entity behind Lime, sold 6.68 million shares in the deal. Shareholders including chief executive Wayne […]<br /> This story continues at The Next Web [...]

2026-07-01

South Korea accuses Google of abusing Android app-store power over ‘Project Hug’

South Korea’s competition regulator has accused Google of abusing its dominant position in the Android app market, and signalled it will recommend corrective measures and a financial penalty. The Korea Fair Trade Commission said on Wednesday that its Market Surveillance Bureau found conduct affecting 14.16 trillion won, or roughly $9.1bn, in relevant revenue, according to Reuters. […]<br / [...]

2026-07-01

AI hardware demand keeps Asia’s factories humming as the Iran war bites

Asia’s factories grew again in June, and the global scramble for AI hardware is doing much of the lifting, according to survey data published this week. Brisk demand for chips, servers, and data-centre equipment kept order books full even as the Iran war pushed up energy costs and lengthened shipping times across the region. The […]<br /> This story continues at The Next Web [...]

2026-07-01

US lifts export controls on Anthropic’s Fable 5, clearing the model’s return

The US Commerce Department has lifted the export controls it placed on Anthropic’s most advanced models, ending a roughly three-week freeze that had pulled the company’s Claude Fable 5 offline. Reuters first reported the move on Tuesday, 30 June, citing a person familiar with the decision. Within hours, Anthropic confirmed it on the record in […]<br /> This story continues at The Next [...]