Engadget Podcast: iPhone 16e review and Amazon's AI-powered Alexa+

The keyword for the iPhone 16e seems to be "compromise." In this episode, Devindra chats with Cherlynn about her iPhone 16e review and try to figure out who this phone is actually for. Also, [...]

Surprising no one, researchers confirm that AI chatbots are incredibly sycophantic

We all have anecdotal evidence of chatbots blowing smoke up our butts, but now we have science to back it up. Researchers at Stanford, Harvard and other institutions just published a study in Nature a [...]

Malware apps posing as free VPNs are on the rise

Cybersecurity firm Cleafy just issued a report warning against a rising malware called Klopatra, which infects personal devices by posing as a free VPN app called Mobdro Pro IP + VPN. This is the late [...]

Illinois is the first state to ban AI therapists

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has signed a bill into law banning AI therapy in the state. This makes Illinois the first state to regulate the use of AI in mental health services. The law highlights th [...]

Meta reportedly allowed unauthorized celebrity AI chatbots on its services

Meta hosted several AI chatbots with the names and likenesses of celebrities without their permission, according to Reuters. The unauthorized chatbots that Reuters discovered during its investigation [...]

Meta’s AI chatbots were reportedly able to engage in sexual conversations with minors

Meta’s AI chatbots were caught having sexual roleplay conversations with accounts labeled as underage, which sometimes involved its celebrity-voiced chatbots, according to a report from the Wall Str [...]

Mark Zuckerberg was initially opposed to parental controls for AI chatbots, according to legal filing

Meta has faced some serious questions about how it allows its underage users to interact with AI-powered chatbots. Most recently, internal communications obtained by the New Mexico Attorney General� [...]

Meta has introduced revised guardrails for its AI chatbots to prevent inappropriate conversations with children

Business Insider has obtained the guidelines that Meta contractors are reportedly now using to train its AI chatbots, showing how it's attempting to more effectively address potential child sexua [...]

Bipartisan GUARD Act proposes age restrictions on AI chatbots

US lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have introduced a bill called the "GUARD Act," which is meant to protect minor users from AI chatbots. "In their race to the bottom, AI compani [...]