Etsy faces user boycott over ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ branded products
Etsy users are boycotting the site over its “Alligator Alcatraz” merchandise.
72% of US teens have used AI companions, study finds
By “companion,” the study is focused on AI chatbots that are designed for users to have more personal conversations with, not AI assistants that work as homework helpers, image generators, or voice assistants that just answer questions.
Grok’s AI companions drove downloads, but its latest model is the one making money
Grok’s unfiltered AI companions may be making headlines for their unhinged and NSFW responses, but it’s Grok 4 that’s driven the app’s revenue of late.
Twitch starts testing vertical video streams
Twitch’s tests are not widespread at this point, as Appsensa’s research only found a handful of references in the app’s code that mentioned the tests would focus on just “a few streamers” for the time being.
Spotify expands audiobook access to family plan members for the first time
Spotify is expanding access to audiobooks with two new plans, one of which offers access to family members.
Jack Dorsey pumps $10 million into a nonprofit focused on open-source social media
Jack Dorsey backs nonprofit ‘and Other Stuff’ with $10M to build open social technology.
Apple News+ adds a new game that uses emoji and Genmoji to sovle puzzles
Released to coincide with World Emoji Day, the new Emoji Game is part logic, part word game that’s inspired by how we use emojis to communicate.
Beeper’s all-in-one messaging app relaunches with an on-device model and premium upgrades
Multi-service messaging app Beeper, which allows people to connect to all their chat apps from one interface, is relaunching its app on Wednesday to offer a more secure version that no longer requires use of its own cloud services.
Google Discover adds AI summaries, threatening publishers with further traffic declines
As publishers fret about decreased traffic from Google, the search giant has begun rolling out AI summaries in Discover, the main news feed inside Google’s search app on iOS and Android. Now, instead of seeing a headline from a major publication,…
Following YouTube, Meta announces crackdown on ‘unoriginal’ Facebook content
Like YouTube, Meta says it won’t penalize users who are engaging with other people’s content, doing things like making reaction videos, joining a trend, or adding their own takes.