Free AI training for UK population, TikTok settles ahead of social media addiction trial – Tech Digest

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Free artificial intelligence training is being made available to everyone in the UK as the government steps up efforts to prepare the workforce for rapid technological change. However, ministers acknowledge the programme will only succeed if businesses and workers choose to adopt it. From today, adults can access short, practical courses through the government’s upgraded AI Skills Hub, designed to help people use AI tools in the workplace. The training covers everyday tasks such as drafting text, creating content, and automating administrative work – with some courses taking less than 20 minutes to complete. Sky News 

TikTok has reached a settlement to avoid it being involved in a landmark social media addiction trial – a matter of hours before jury selection was due to begin in California. The plaintiff, a 20-year-old woman identified by the initials KGM, alleges the design of platforms’ algorithms left her addicted to social media and negatively affected her mental health. “The parties are pleased to have reached an amicable resolution of this dispute,” the Social Media Victims Law Center said of the TikTok settlement, adding the terms were confidential. BBC 

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, approved allowing minors to access artificial intelligence chatbot companions that safety staffers warned were capable of sexual interactions, according to internal Meta documents filed in a New Mexico state court case and made public on Monday. The lawsuit – brought by the state’s attorney general, Raul Torrez, and scheduled for trial next month – alleges Meta “failed to stem the tide of damaging sexual material and sexual propositions delivered to children” on Facebook and Instagram. Guardian 

Huawei has officially confirmed that a new Runner smartwatch is in the making and will debut soon. It has recently announced its partnership with the Swiss-Dutch global company, DSM Firmenich, for its upcoming flagship wearable creation. With the onset of this month, Eliud Kipchoge – a Kenyan distance runner, shared a post on Weibo, suggesting that Huawei and DSM are cooking something new for consumers. Now both companies have confirmed their iconic partnership. Huawei Central

Gavin Newsom has launched an investigation into claims that TikTok’s US arm is censoring content criticising Donald Trump. The Democrat governor of California has tasked officials with reviewing the app’s content moderation policies, just days after its American operations were taken over by a consortium of bidders backed by the US president. Thousands of users have experienced problems with the site in the wake of the takeover, prompting unverified claims that Trump-critical posts are being suppressed. Telegraph

Midway through the seventh paragraph of its press release about the new AirTag, Apple reiterates its surprisingly unambiguous position on the device’s intended usage. “Designed exclusively for tracking objects,” the company writes, “and not people or pets, the new AirTag incorporates a suite of industry-first protections against unwanted tracking…” It may have got a louder speaker and longer effective tracking range, but the updated AirTag still doesn’t have “tracking anything with a pulse” on its feature list. MacWorld 

This is interesting and new. The latest twist in the ongoing battle between regulators, lawmakers and adult websites will shock millions of users. Access to sites will be blocked from Feb. 2 for any users not yet registered and verified. This affects U.K. users for now and the country’s Online Safety Act — albeit Pornhub, the world’s largest operator, has taken broad issue with the way regulatory restrictions have been implemented. This is likely just the start of a campaign to change minds. Forbes 

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