ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In a room with more buttons than a pilot’s dashboard, Jose Rivera shows prospective students different training systems they will learn in two new SMART Tech courses.
“So this room is going to be one of the newest labs for the program that we have here at SPC,” Rivera said.
Rivera is one of the instructors. Each box-like system teaches a different manufacturing skill.
“Pneumatics, AC/DC electronics, robotics,” said Rivera, listing just a few.
St. Petersburg College Dean of Workforce Development and Corporate Partnerships Belinthia Berry said those courses will lead to employment.
“And not just any job, a high skill, high wage job,” Berry said.
The equipment is all to support SPC’s SMART Tech program, which is offering a variety of certifications.
“Semiconductor, mechatronics, artificial intelligence, your robotics, your technician-type courses that are in your advanced manufacturing,” Berry said.
Two new courses starting in February include electronic board assembly operations and robotic and semiconductor technician operations.
For SPC student Kalon Houston, who spent his 20s working in the culinary world, these skills equate to a future with more financial stability.
“It gives you an opportunity to find, skill-set a job that people are paying you that 20 threshold or more. Like as soon as you get the degrees for it,” Houston said.
But the biggest selling point for these new courses at SPC — they are all free. They are funded through the Florida Job Growth Grant.
“So the state says, you know what, we’re going to give scholarships to everyone for the first two years. And so we’re in our first year all the way up until next year of 2027. All of our courses are free,” Berry said.
For Houston and others, these free certifications are a step toward finding more than just a job. He is on the hunt for a career.
“I think it’s good for people to know that, like, it doesn’t really matter your age or what route you took in life. Like, it’s never too late to take another route,” Houston said.
Coming later this year, SPC said it will also launch an Automated Production Technician Program.
The new American version of TikTok is under scrutiny as some users claim the app is suppressing anti-ICE or anti-Trump content. Now, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is launching an investigation into the complaints. CBS News MoneyWatch correspondent Kelly O’Grady reports.
A NASA research plane malfunctioned and had to touch down in Texas without landing gear on Tuesday, sliding across the runway on its belly and sending plumes of flame behind it, a video posted to social media showed.
The crew landed the plane at Ellington Airport, southeast of Houston, and are “all safe at this time,” NASA said in a post on X. The federal space agency added that there was “mechanical issue” that will be investigated.
The aircraft with its distinct thin fuselage is the NASA WB-57. The plane with two crew seats is capable of flying for about 6 1/2 hours at high altitudes — beyond 63,000 feet (19,200 meters).
Video shows the plane slowly descending toward the runway, then touching down with a jolt, its wings bouncing as yellow fire and white smoke bursts from beneath it. It steadily slides down the track, the flames bursting and disappearing in a cloud of smoke. The aircraft begins to slow before the video ends.
Local news footage from KHOU 11 shows the plane at a stop, the cockpit hatch open, fire trucks flashing nearby and emergency responders working around the black nose of the aircraft.
The NASA WB-57 has flown research missions since the 1970s and continues to be an asset for the scientific community, according to the agency’s website.
Pinterest plans to cut its workforce by 15% this year, a move the company said will allow it to reallocate resources to the build-out of its artificial intelligence capabilities.
The San Francisco-based company disclosed the plan in a regulatory filing on Tuesday, noting that the reduction will affect “less than 15% of the company’s workforce” and will include office space reductions.
Pinterest is cutting costs to create more cash flow for AI-focused roles and teams, AI‑powered products and to help accelerate how it conducts sales, according to the company’s filing.
“We are making organizational changes to further deliver on our AI-forward strategy, which includes hiring AI-proficient talent,” a Pinterest spokesperson said in a statement. “As a result, we’ve made the difficult decision to say goodbye to some of our team members.”
Founded in 2008, Pinterest allows users to find and save recipes, decor and other content, and shop for products. The San Francisco-based company has 4,666 employees, according to the financial data platform FactSet.
Pinterest’s restructuring plan is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2026, and will include pre-tax charges of approximately $35 million to $45 million, Pinterest said Tuesday.
Pinterest is the latest in a series of companies to cite AI in their layoff decisions. On Monday, Nike said it was cutting approximately 775 employees as it seeks to streamline operations and accelerate the “use of advanced technology and automation.”
NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Neil Young is giving the people of Greenland the gift of song — his songs, that is.
The veteran rocker announced Tuesday on his blog that he is providing free access to his entire music catalog to residents of Denmark’s semiautonomous territory, whose futures have lately become a point of tension between the U.S. and NATO.
“I hope my music and music films will ease some of the unwarranted stress and threats you are experiencing from our unpopular and hopefully temporary government,” Young wrote. “It is my sincere wish for you to be able to enjoy all of my music in your beautiful Greenland home, in its highest quality.”
The offer is for a year — though Young said renewing is possible — and applicants need to have a Greenland-based cellphone. “This is an offer of Peace and Love,” he wrote.
The offer is in stark contrast to Young’s recent decision to deny listeners his catalog on the streaming Amazon Music platform, a swipe at its founder, Jeff Bezos, who has supported U.S. President Donald Trump.
“Amazon is owned by Jeff Bezos, a billionaire backer of the president,” Young wrote last week. “The president’s international policies and his support of ICE make it impossible for me to ignore his actions. If you feel as I do, I strongly recommend that you do not use Amazon.”
A representative for Amazon Music didn’t immediately respond for comment. Young’s manager also didn’t reply to questions.
Young has long sparred with streaming platforms, like when he pulled his music from Spotify in protest of podcaster Joe Rogan’s episodes on COVID-19 vaccines. Young later relented and his music was added back.
Young, whose hits include “Rockin’ in the Free World” and “Heart of Gold,” has never been a huge fan of Spotify. At his insistence, much of his music was removed from the platform for several months beginning in 2015 because of his concerns about audio quality. But his music is there, as it is on Apple Music.
PARIS — French lawmakers approved a bill banning social media for children under 15, paving the way for the measure to enter into force at the start of the next school year in September, as the idea of setting a minimum age for use of the platforms gains momentum across Europe.
The bill, which also bans the use of mobile phones in high schools, was adopted by a 130-21 vote late Monday. French President Emmanuel Macron has requested that the legislation be fast-tracked and it will now be discussed by the Senate in the coming weeks.
“Banning social media for those under 15: this is what scientists recommend, and this is what the French people are overwhelmingly calling for,” Macron said after the vote. “Because our children’s brains are not for sale — neither to American platforms nor to Chinese networks. Because their dreams must not be dictated by algorithms.”
The issue is one of the very few in a divided National Assembly to attract such broad support, despite critics from the hard left denouncing provisions of the bill as infringement on civil liberties. Weakened domestically since his decision to dissolve parliament plunged France into a prolonged political crisis, Macron has strongly supported the ban, which could become one of the final major measures adopted under his leadership before he leaves office next year.
The vote in the assembly came just days after the British government said it will consider banning young teenagers from social media as it tightens laws designed to protect children from harmful content and excessive screen time.
The French bill has been devised to be compliant with the European Union’s Digital Services Act, which imposes a set of strict requirements designed to keep internet users safe online. In November, European lawmakers called for action at EU level to protect minors online, including a bloc-wide minimum age of 16 and bans on the most harmful practices.
According to France’s health watchdog, one in two teenagers spends between two and five hours a day on a smartphone. In a report published in December, it said that some 90% of children aged between 12 and 17 use smartphones daily to access the internet, with 58% of them using their devices for social networks.
The report highlighted a range of harmful effects stemming from the use of social networks, including reduced self-esteem and increased exposure to content associated with risky behaviors such as self-harm, drug use and suicide. Several families in France have sued TikTok over teen suicides they say are linked to harmful content.
The French ban won’t cover online encyclopedias, educational or scientific directories, or platforms for the development and sharing of open-source software.
In Australia, social media companies have revoked access to about 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to children since the country banned use of the platforms by those under 16, officials said. The law provoked fraught debates in Australia about technology use, privacy, child safety and mental health and has prompted other countries to consider similar measures.
NEW YORK — As the new robot called Sprout walks around a Manhattan office, nodding its rectangular head, lifting its windshield wiper-like “eyebrows” and offering to shake your hand with its grippers, it looks nothing like the sleek and intimidating humanoids built by companies like Tesla.
Sprout’s charm is the point. A 5-year-old child could comfortably talk at eye level with this humanoid, which stands 3.5 feet (1 meter) tall and wears a soft, padded exterior of sage-green foam.
Forged by stealth startup Fauna Robotics over two years of secret research and development, Sprout’s public debut on Tuesday aims to jump-start a whole new industry of building “approachable” robots for homes, schools and social spaces.
The robot is in many ways the first of its kind, at least in the United States, even as rapid advances in artificial intelligence and robot engineering have finally made it possible to start building such machines. If its emotive expressions and blinking lights seem vaguely familiar, it might be from generations of Star Wars droids and other endearingly clunky robotic sidekicks dreamed up in animation studios and children’s literature.
“Most people in this industry take inspiration from the science fiction that we grew up with,” said Fauna Robotics co-founder and CEO Rob Cochran. “I think some do so from ‘Westworld’ and ‘Terminator.’ We do from WALL-E and Baymax and Rosie Jetson.”
The usual hypothesis for the commercialization of humanoid robots is that they will get their first jobs in warehouses or factories long before they are ready for homes. That’s the path proposed for two of today’s best-known prototypes: Tesla’s Optimus, which CEO Elon Musk sees as the carmaker’s future, and Boston Dynamics’ Atlas, which parent company Hyundai plans to deploy in car manufacturing by 2028.
Fauna looks to skip that step for an entirely different clientele: other robot tinkerers. Much as early personal computers and, later, smartphones sparked a culture of developers designing new games and applications, Sprout is a software developer platform more than just a robot. It’s also a mechanically complex one that will cost buyers $50,000.
That’s a price some university research labs and technology entrepreneurs are already spending on China’s Unitree, which sells a lightweight humanoid often seen at robotics conferences and competitions. Others have avoided Chinese hardware due to tariffs and broader security concerns.
Cochran believes Fauna is “the first American company to be actively shipping robots as a developer platform” and has been hand-delivering the first models. Early customers include Disney and Boston Dynamics.
“You take it out of the box and you can start walking it around immediately,” said Marc Theermann, chief strategy officer at Boston Dynamics, in a recent interview. “Seeing their robot for the first time really lets you see the future a little bit. And if you squint, you can see how a robot like that would be welcomed into people’s homes.”
Sprout can’t lift heavy objects, but it can dance the Twist or the Floss, grab a toy block or teddy bear, or hoist itself from a chair to take a long stroll along the wood floors of Fauna’s headquarters in New York City’s Flatiron District.
Cochran and co-founder Josh Merel, the company’s chief technology officer, demonstrated the robot to The Associated Press in mid-January ahead of its public launch. Fauna employees and an AP reporter piloted the robot, using a video game controller, a phone application and a virtual-reality headset. Sprout also knows the office layout enough to be sent on a planned mission, such as to check out the inventory of the break room refrigerator.
It walks slowly but steadily on uneven ground. Only once it came close to tripping, taking a sharp turn to avoid a person and instead hitting its foot on a protruding table wheel too low to the ground to be seen by Sprout’s camera eyes. But the robot, built to handle what engineers call perturbation, quickly recovered its balance and kept walking, much like a clumsy person might.
“If you step in front of it, it won’t crash into you, it’ll plan a new path around you,” said Ana Pervan, a Fauna research scientist who works on the robot’s mapping and navigation. Among the first batch of Fauna’s 50 employees, and a fan of science fiction writer Isaac Asimov, she previously worked on self-driving cars but was excited about joining a startup building something that might one day serve as a robot butler.
“It’s cute, and it’s not too humanoid, and I think that actually makes it a lot more fun,” Pervan said. “It’s not verging on creepy or trying to be too human. It’s like your buddy, your pal, that’s a different thing than you.”
Starting a robot company can be unforgiving, especially one designing personal robots. One of the few successes, Roomba vacuum maker iRobot, had a decades-long run before filing for bankruptcy protection last month.
Most others didn’t last that long, like Anki, maker of the playful toy robot Cozmo, or Jibo, which went out of business less than a year after its dynamic talking speaker made the cover of Time Magazine’s 2017 “best inventions” edition.
“There were a lot of really brilliant attempts. I think the technology wasn’t quite there,” Cochran said. “I do think we’re right on the precipice now where you could build a companion that is present, engaging, delightful to be around, and can also move around a space in a way that nothing ever has before.”
Merel, an expert in robot locomotion, previously worked for Google’s DeepMind, where he focused on teaching robots using AI learning techniques in simulated environments, a controversial approach but now increasingly how robots are built. The science journal Nature published his study on an AI-powered virtual rat, co-authored with another of Fauna’s research scientists, Diego Aldarondo.
Cochran and Merel later worked together at CTRL-labs, a wearable neurotech company sold to Facebook in 2019. Cochran jokes that he then “spent a misguided four years at Goldman Sachs” before they decided to team up again.
Improvements in AI, motors and batteries have accelerated humanoid development. But Fauna’s founders agreed that the dystopian aesthetic of many prototypes — what Cochran calls “industrial automotive machismo” — conveyed strength and confidence but wouldn’t work for intimate human spaces.
“They were generally quite big and physically dangerous to be around,” Cochran said. “Strong, heavy. If they fell on you, it’d be a real problem.”
The duo brought in Anthony Moschella, who helped design Peloton’s exercise bikes, treadmills and rowers and is an admirer of the abstract designs of Star Wars robots like R2-D2 and BB-8.
“Let’s build a system that human beings actually want to be around,” said Moschella, now Fauna’s vice president of hardware. “I think it’s incredible that so many robotics companies are not versed in the cultural context of what it means to be around a robot.”
Moschella said what happens next with Sprout will depend on how developers play around with it and what they learn. For Cochran, some of the most important judges have already approved. In a home video he keeps on his phone, his 2-year-old twins excitedly jump up and down as Sprout greets them.
LOS ANGELES — TikTok agreed to settle a landmark social media addiction lawsuit just before the trial kicked off, the plaintiff’s attorneys confirmed.
What You Need To Know
TikTok has agreed to settle in a landmark social media addiction lawsuit just before the trial kicked off, the plaintiff’s attorneys confirmed
The social video platform was one of three companies facing claims that their platforms deliberately addict and harm children, along with Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube
Snapchat’s parent company Snap Inc., settled the case last week for an undisclosed sum
Additional details of the settlement with TikTok were not disclosed
The social video platform was one of three companies — along with Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube — facing claims that their platforms deliberately addict and harm children. A fourth company named in the lawsuit, Snapchat parent company Snap Inc., settled the case last week for an undisclosed sum.
Details of the settlement with TikTok were not disclosed, and the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At the core of the case is a 19-year-old identified only by the initials “KGM,” whose case could determine how thousands of other, similar lawsuits against social media companies will play out. She and two other plaintiffs have been selected for bellwether trials — essentially test cases for both sides to see how their arguments play out before a jury and what damages, if any, may be awarded, said Clay Calvert, a nonresident senior fellow of technology policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.
A lawyer for the plaintiff said in a statement Tuesday that TikTok remains a defendant in the other personal injury cases, and that the trial will proceed as scheduled against Meta and YouTube.
Jury selection starts this week in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. It’s the first time the companies will argue their case before a jury, and the outcome could have profound effects on their businesses and how they will handle children using their platforms. The selection process is expected to take at least a few days, with 75 potential jurors questioned each day through at least Thursday. A fourth company named in the lawsuit, Snapchat parent company Snap Inc., settled the case last week for an undisclosed sum.
KGM claims that her use of social media from an early age addicted her to the technology and exacerbated depression and suicidal thoughts. Importantly, the lawsuit claims that this was done through deliberate design choices made by companies that sought to make their platforms more addictive to children to boost profits. This argument, if successful, could sidestep the companies’ First Amendment shield and Section 230, which protects tech companies from liability for material posted on their platforms.
“Borrowing heavily from the behavioral and neurobiological techniques used by slot machines and exploited by the cigarette industry, Defendants deliberately embedded in their products an array of design features aimed at maximizing youth engagement to drive advertising revenue,” the lawsuit says.
Executives, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, are expected to testify at the trial, which will last six to eight weeks. Experts have drawn similarities to the Big Tobacco trials that led to a 1998 settlement requiring cigarette companies to pay billions in health care costs and restrict marketing targeting minors.
“Plaintiffs are not merely the collateral damage of Defendants’ products,” the lawsuit says. “They are the direct victims of the intentional product design choices made by each Defendant. They are the intended targets of the harmful features that pushed them into self-destructive feedback loops.”
The tech companies dispute the claims that their products deliberately harm children, citing a bevy of safeguards they have added over the years and arguing that they are not liable for content posted on their sites by third parties.
“Recently, a number of lawsuits have attempted to place the blame for teen mental health struggles squarely on social media companies,” Meta said in a recent blog post. “But this oversimplifies a serious issue. Clinicians and researchers find that mental health is a deeply complex and multifaceted issue, and trends regarding teens’ well-being aren’t clear-cut or universal. Narrowing the challenges faced by teens to a single factor ignores the scientific research and the many stressors impacting young people today, like academic pressure, school safety, socio-economic challenges and substance abuse.”
A Meta spokesperson said in a statement Monday the company strongly disagrees with the allegations outlined in the lawsuit and that it’s “confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people.”
José Castañeda, a Google Spokesperson, said Monday that the allegations against YouTube are “simply not true.” In a statement, he said “Providing young people with a safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work.”
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
The case will be the first in a slew of cases beginning this year that seek to hold social media companies responsible for harming children’s mental well-being. A federal bellwether trial beginning in June in Oakland, California, will be the first to represent school districts that have sued social media platforms over harms to children.
In addition, more than 40 state attorneys general have filed lawsuits against Meta, claiming it is harming young people and contributing to the youth mental health crisis by deliberately designing features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms. The majority of cases filed their lawsuits in federal court, but some sued in their respective states.
TikTok also faces similar lawsuits in more than a dozen states.
BRUSSELS — The European Union said Tuesday it’s stepping in to make sure Google gives rival AI companies and search engines access to Gemini AI services and data as required by the bloc’s flagship digital rulebook.
The executive arm of the 27-nation bloc said it was opening up so-called “ specification proceedings ” to ensure that Google complies with the sweeping Digital Markets Act, which requires Big Tech companies to give smaller players equal access to hardware and software features.
Brussels said part of the proceedings will specify how Google should give third-party AI companies “equally effective access to the same features” available through its own services.
The EU will also look at whether Google is giving competing search engines fair and reasonable access to Google Search data. This will include whether AI chatbot providers are eligible to access to the data.
The proceedings fall short of an investigation and must wrap up in six months with draft measures that Brussels will impose on Google.
Clare Kelly, Google’s senior competition counsel, said she was concerned about the reasons behind the procedure.
“Android is open by design, and we’re already licensing Search data to competitors under the DMA,” Kelly said in a statement. “However, we are concerned that further rules which are often driven by competitor grievances rather than the interest of consumers, will compromise user privacy, security, and innovation.”
Teresa Ribera, who oversees competition affairs as executive vice president of the European Commission, says it seeks to “maximize the potential and the benefits of this profound technological shift by making sure the playing field is open and fair, not tilted in favor of the largest few.”
The move adds EU pressure on Google, which is facing antitrust scrutiny after the bloc’s regulators last year started investigating whether the company gave itself an unfair advantage through the use of online content for its AI models and services.
DAKAR, Senegal — The American streamer and YouTuber IShowSpeed is on the final leg of a 28-day tour of Africa aimed at showcasing the continent’s cultural diversity, which is often overshadowed by images of poverty and violence.
“I’ve done so many incredible things in my life,” he said during a stop in Botswana. “But this trip is different. It opened my eyes. Africa is not what I thought.”
The 20-nation tour across southern, eastern and North Africa began in Angola in late December. He attended the Africa Cup of Nations final in Morocco on Jan. 18, then visited Senegal, celebrating the national soccer team’s victory with fans, and Nigeria, where he passed 50 million YouTube subscribers and marked his 21st birthday.
On Monday, he visited Ghana, trying jollof rice, meeting a traditional ruler and receiving a massage at the shea butter museum.
“I am back home, there ain’t no better feeling,” the content creator, whose real name is Darren Watkins Jr., said upon arriving in Ghana, revealing that his ancestry traces to the West African country. He arrived on Tuesday in Namibia, likely the tour’s final stop.
For his “Speed Does Africa” series, Watkins streamed live on YouTube. In videos lasting up to nine hours, he sampled local dishes, learned traditional dances and challenged athletes, often shouting in excitement. Large crowds of his followers swarmed him at many of his destinations.
Pape Seye, a 40-year-old resident of Senegal’s capital, Dakar, highlighted Watkins’ visit to the House of Slaves on Gorée Island, a symbol of the Atlantic slave trade that sent millions of Africans into bondage.
“Americans, especially Black Americans, need to know that our histories are tied, that many of our ancestors might have been deported from Gorée,” he said.
Souleymane Ba, a 24-year-old literature student from Senegal, told The Associated Press: “I hope that as Americans learn more about Africa and see its rich cultures, they will realize it is not made up of ‘shithole countries.’”
For some Americans, the message appears to be resonating.
“IShowSpeed is single-handedly changing our view of Africa,” GrowYourEther, another American streamer, said in a TikTok video.
“We had been told Africa is primitive, that it’s dangerous,” said American influencer Caroline Jones in tears on Instagram, adding she was moved by the warm welcome the streamer received on the continent.
Others have been more skeptical. Beninese influencer Nelly Mbaa, known online as Afro Chronik, said that Watkins embodies a Western expectation that young Black men be valued for spectacle rather than intellect. She said he’s followed not for subtle humor, but for performing “an absurd, exaggerated and grotesque character.”
“If he were to abandon this persona — the constant grimacing, shouting and controversial remarks — his audience would likely disappear,” Mbaa said.
IShowSpeed has more than 50 million YouTube subscribers, 45 million Instagram followers and 47 million on TikTok.
He has built his brand on loud, exaggerated and sometimes aggressive reactions that became his online persona, but also sparked controversy. In 2022, he was banned from a professional online gaming competition after a sexist outburst against a female player and briefly suspended from YouTube for showing sexual content in a video game.
PARIS (AP) — French lawmakers approved a bill banning social media for children under 15, paving the way for the measure to enter into force at the start of the next school year in September, as the idea of setting a minimum age for use of the platforms gains momentum across Europe.
The bill, which also bans the use of mobile phones in high schools, was adopted by a 130-21 vote late Monday. French President Emmanuel Macron has requested that the legislation be fast-tracked and it will now be discussed by the Senate in the coming weeks.
“Banning social media for those under 15: this is what scientists recommend, and this is what the French people are overwhelmingly calling for,” Macron said after the vote. “Because our children’s brains are not for sale — neither to American platforms nor to Chinese networks. Because their dreams must not be dictated by algorithms.”
The issue is one of the very few in a divided National Assembly to attract such broad support, despite critics from the hard left denouncing provisions of the bill as infringement on civil liberties. Weakened domestically since his decision to dissolve parliament plunged France into a prolonged political crisis, Macron has strongly supported the ban, which could become one of the final major measures adopted under his leadership before he leaves office next year.
The vote in the assembly came just days after the British government said it will consider banning young teenagers from social media as it tightens laws designed to protect children from harmful content and excessive screen time.
The French bill has been devised to be compliant with the European Union’s Digital Services Act, which imposes a set of strict requirements designed to keep internet users safe online. In November, European lawmakers called for action at EU level to protect minors online, including a bloc-wide minimum age of 16 and bans on the most harmful practices.
According to France’s health watchdog, one in two teenagers spends between two and five hours a day on a smartphone. In a report published in December, it said that some 90% of children aged between 12 and 17 use smartphones daily to access the internet, with 58% of them using their devices for social networks.
The report highlighted a range of harmful effects stemming from the use of social networks, including reduced self-esteem and increased exposure to content associated with risky behaviors such as self-harm, drug use and suicide. Several families in France have sued TikTok over teen suicides they say are linked to harmful content.
The French ban won’t cover online encyclopedias, educational or scientific directories, or platforms for the development and sharing of open-source software.
In Australia, social media companies have revoked access to about 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to children since the country banned use of the platforms by those under 16, officials said. The law provoked fraught debates in Australia about technology use, privacy, child safety and mental health and has prompted other countries to consider similar measures.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Three of the world’s biggest tech companies face a landmark trial in Los Angeles starting this week over claims that their platforms — Meta’s Instagram, ByteDance’s TikTok and Google’s YouTube — deliberately addict and harm children.
Jury selection starts this week in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. It’s the first time the companies will argue their case before a jury, and the outcome could have profound effects on their businesses and how they will handle children using their platforms. The selection process is expected to take at least a few days, with 75 potential jurors questioned each day through at least Thursday. A fourth company named in the lawsuit, Snapchat parent company Snap Inc., settled the case last week for an undisclosed sum.
At the core of the case is a 19-year-old identified only by the initials “KGM,” whose case could determine how thousands of other, similar lawsuits against social media companies will play out. She and two other plaintiffs have been selected for bellwether trials — essentially test cases for both sides to see how their arguments play out before a jury and what damages, if any, may be awarded, said Clay Calvert, a nonresident senior fellow of technology policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.
KGM claims that her use of social media from an early age addicted her to the technology and exacerbated depression and suicidal thoughts. Importantly, the lawsuit claims that this was done through deliberate design choices made by companies that sought to make their platforms more addictive to children to boost profits. This argument, if successful, could sidestep the companies’ First Amendment shield and Section 230, which protects tech companies from liability for material posted on their platforms.
“Borrowing heavily from the behavioral and neurobiological techniques used by slot machines and exploited by the cigarette industry, Defendants deliberately embedded in their products an array of design features aimed at maximizing youth engagement to drive advertising revenue,” the lawsuit says.
Executives, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, are expected to testify at the trial, which will last six to eight weeks. Experts have drawn similarities to the Big Tobacco trials that led to a 1998 settlement requiring cigarette companies to pay billions in healthcare costs and restrict marketing targeting minors.
“Plaintiffs are not merely the collateral damage of Defendants’ products,” the lawsuit says. “They are the direct victims of the intentional product design choices made by each Defendant. They are the intended targets of the harmful features that pushed them into self-destructive feedback loops.”
The tech companies dispute the claims that their products deliberately harm children, citing a bevy of safeguards they have added over the years and arguing that they are not liable for content posted on their sites by third parties.
“Recently, a number of lawsuits have attempted to place the blame for teen mental health struggles squarely on social media companies,” Meta said in a recent blog post. “But this oversimplifies a serious issue. Clinicians and researchers find that mental health is a deeply complex and multifaceted issue, and trends regarding teens’ well-being aren’t clear-cut or universal. Narrowing the challenges faced by teens to a single factor ignores the scientific research and the many stressors impacting young people today, like academic pressure, school safety, socio-economic challenges and substance abuse.”
Meta, YouTube and TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.
The case will be the first in a slew of cases beginning this year that seek to hold social media companies responsible for harming children’s mental well-being. A federal bellwether trial beginning in June in Oakland, California, will be the first to represent school districts that have sued social media platforms over harms to children.
In addition, more than 40 state attorneys general have filed lawsuits against Meta, claiming it is harming young people and contributing to the youth mental health crisis by deliberately designing features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms. The majority of cases filed their lawsuits in federal court, but some sued in their respective states.
TikTok also faces similar lawsuits in more than a dozen states.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — NASA has set the date when it will conduct a fueling test for its Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft that will take four people to the moon.
What You Need To Know
Artemis II will see four astronauts flyby the moon
A wet dress rehearsal simulates the launch of the Artemis II moon rocket
If an issue is discovered, it may push back the launch
The U.S. space agency is considering Saturday, Jan. 31, as the earliest date for its wet dress rehearsal, which will simulate the launch of the Artemis II moon rocket.
“The upcoming wet dress rehearsal is a prelaunch test to fuel the rocket. During the rehearsal, teams demonstrate the ability to load more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellants into the rocket, conduct a launch countdown, and practice safely removing propellant from the rocket without astronauts inside the spacecraft,” stated NASA in a blog.
There will be several test runs of this simulated launch that will test the Artemis II team’s ability to put a hold on the launch and resume it.
“The rehearsal will count down to a simulated launch at 9 p.m. EST, but could run to approximately 1 a.m. if needed. The first run will begin approximately 49 hours before launch when launch teams are called to their stations, to 1 minute 30 seconds before launch, followed by a planned three-minute hold and then countdown resumption to 33 seconds before launch — the point at which the rocket’s automatic launch sequencer will control the final seconds of the countdown,” explained NASA.
If the team detects any issues or anomalies with either the rocket or capsule, the two craft will be rolled from their home on Launch Pad 39B to the Vehicle Assembly Building for work. They were rolled to the launch pad on Saturday, Jan. 17.
This would also push back the launch if they are rolled back. At the moment, NASA is aiming for a Friday, Feb. 06, launch.
NASA also addressed the cold snap that has attacked the Sunshine State this week.
“With cold weather sweeping the country and lower than normal temperatures expected in Florida Tuesday, Jan. 27, technicians are taking steps to ensure environmental control systems keeping Orion and SLS elements at the proper conditions are prepared for the cold,” the American space agency stated.
NASA also revealed that the Artemis II emergency egress system (where baskets will take crew and launch pad personnel from the mobile launcher to the ground) did not work as expected, but has been resolved.
“… the baskets used to transport the crew and other pad personnel from the mobile launcher in an emergency stopped short of the terminus area located inside the pad perimeter. Since then, the brakes of the system have been adjusted to ensure the baskets fully descend,” NASA commented.
Artemis II will see four people — NASA’s Cmdr. Gregory Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut mission specialist Jeremy Hansen — go to the moon for a flyby mission.
The first Artemis I mission in 2022, where the uncrewed rocket and capsule were tested, saw a number of delays.
It was originally expected to launch on Aug. 29, 2022, but a liquid hydrogen leak and temperature issues with the engine forced the first attempt to be scrubbed.
It is not uncommon for rockets, even established ones like SpaceX’s Falcon 9, to be sent back for repairs or adjustments after testing has shown that issues were detected.
TITUSVILLE, Fla. — Who wants a NASA rocket engine? Or signed items from astronauts of the Apollo missions? How about a lunar-dust-stained checklist?
It can all be yours at Titusville’s American Space Museum’s online auction.
What You Need To Know
There are a lot of various items up for auction, with many from the Apollo missions
The online auction started on Sunday, Jan. 25, and it will end on Valentine’s Day.
One of the items up for bid is a NASA Rocketdyne S-3D rocket engine. This particular engine was not used for any of the early Mercury or Apollo missions. It was used for ballistic missiles.
Some of the other items include:
Things signed by Apollo astronauts
Items flown on Apollo missions, like the American flag on the Apollo 15 mission
Patches from John Young’s space suit from when he was the command module pilot of Apollo 10
An Apollo 17 checklist that is stained with lunar dust, signed by Cmdr. Gene Cernan
LONDON — The European Union opened a formal investigation into Elon Musk’s social media platform X on Monday after his artificial intelligence chatbot Grok started spewing nonconsensual sexualized deepfake images on the platform.
European regulators also widened a separate, ongoing investigation into X’s recommendation systems after the platform said it would switch to Grok’s AI system to choose which posts users see.
The scrutiny from Brussels comes after Grok sparked a global backlash by allowing users through its AI image generation and editing capabilities to undress people, putting females in transparent bikinis or revealing clothing. Researchers said some images appeared to include children. Some governments banned the service or issued warnings.
The 27-nation EU’s executive said it was looking into whether X has done enough as required by the bloc’s digital regulations to contain the risks of spreading illegal content such as “manipulated sexually explicit images.”
That includes content that “may amount to child sexual abuse material,” the European Commission said. These risks have now “materialized,” the commission said, exposing the bloc’s citizens to “serious harm.”
Regulators will examine whether Grok is living up to its obligations under the Digital Services Act, the bloc’s wide-ranging rulebook for keeping internet users safe from harmful content and products.
In response to a request for comment, an X spokeswoman directed The Associated Press to an earlier statement that the company remains “committed to making X a safe platform for everyone” and that it has “zero tolerance” for child sexual exploitation, nonconsensual nudity, and unwanted sexual content.
The X statement from Jan. 14 also said it would stop allowing users to depict people in “bikinis, underwear or other revealing attire,” but only in places where it has been deemed illegal.
“Non-consensual sexual deepfakes of women and children are a violent, unacceptable form of degradation,” Henna Virkkunen, an executive vice-president at the commission, said in a statement.
“With this investigation, we will determine whether X has met its legal obligations under the DSA, or whether it treated rights of European citizens — including those of women and children – as collateral damage of its service,” said Virkkunen, who oversees tech sovereignty, security and democracy.
Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI launched Grok’s image tool last summer. But the problem began snowballing only late last month when Grok seemingly granted a large number of user requests to modify images posted by others. The problem was amplified both because Musk pitches his chatbot as an edgier alternative with fewer safeguards than rivals, and because Grok’s images are publicly visible, and can therefore be easily spread.
The EU investigation covers only Grok’s service on X, and not Grok’s website and standalone app. That’s because the DSA applies only to the biggest online platforms.
There’s no deadline for the bloc to resolve the case, which could end in either X pledging to change its behavior or a hefty fine.
In December Brussels issued X with a 120-million euro (then-$140 million) fine as part of the earlier ongoing DSA investigation, for shortcomings including blue checkmarks that broke the rules on “deceptive design practices” that risked exposing users to scams and manipulation.
The bloc has also been scrutinizing X over allegations that Grok generated anti-Semitic material and has asked the site for more information.
CAIRO — Egypt’s Parliament is looking into ways to regulate children’s use of social media platforms to combat what lawmakers called “digital choas,” following some western countries that are considering banning young teenagers from social media.
The House of Representatives said in a statement late Sunday that it will work on a legislation to regulate children’s use of social media and “put an end to the digital chaos our children are facing, and which negatively impacts their future.”
Legislators will consult with the government and expert bodies to draft a law to “protect Egyptian children from any risks that threaten its thoughts and behavior,” the statement said.
The statement came after President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Saturday urged his government and lawmakers to consider adopting legislation restricting children’s use of social media, “until they reach an age when they can handle it properly.”
The president’s televised comments urged his government to look at other countries including Australia and the United Kingdom that are working on legislations to “restrict or ban” children from social media.
About 50% of children under 18 in Egypt use social media platforms where they are likely exposed to harmful content, cyberbullying and abuse, according to a 2024 report by the National Center for Social and Criminological Research, a government-linked think tank.
In December, Australia became the first country to ban social media for children younger than 16. The move triggered fraught debates about technology use, privacy, child safety and mental health and has prompted other countries to consider similar measures.
The British government said it will consider banning young teenagers from social media while tightening laws designed to protect children from harmful content and excessive screen time.
French President Emmanuel Macron urged his government to fast-track the legal process to ensure a social media ban for children under 15 can be enforced at the start of the next school year in September.
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s Parliament is looking into ways to regulate children’s use of social media platforms to combat what lawmakers called “digital choas,” following some western countries that are considering banning young teenagers from social media.
The House of Representatives said in a statement late Sunday that it will work on a legislation to regulate children’s use of social media and “put an end to the digital chaos our children are facing, and which negatively impacts their future.”
Legislators will consult with the government and expert bodies to draft a law to “protect Egyptian children from any risks that threaten its thoughts and behavior,” the statement said.
The statement came after President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Saturday urged his government and lawmakers to consider adopting legislation restricting children’s use of social media, “until they reach an age when they can handle it properly.”
The president’s televised comments urged his government to look at other countries including Australia and the United Kingdom that are working on legislations to “restrict or ban” children from social media.
About 50% of children under 18 in Egypt use social media platforms where they are likely exposed to harmful content, cyberbullying and abuse, according to a 2024 report by the National Center for Social and Criminological Research, a government-linked think tank.
In December, Australia became the first country to ban social media for children younger than 16. The move triggered fraught debates about technology use, privacy, child safety and mental health and has prompted other countries to consider similar measures.
French President Emmanuel Macron urged his government to fast-track the legal process to ensure a social media ban for children under 15 can be enforced at the start of the next school year in September.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Kendrick Lamar and Bad Bunny live at the Grammy Awards and Rose Byrne’s Oscar-nominated performance in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time this week, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: Highguard is the latest entry in the ever-growing field of multiplayer shooters, Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista star in “The Wrecking Crew” and the third season of “Shrinking” checks in on Apple TV.
— If you haven’t seen Rose Byrne’s Oscar-nominated performance in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” Mary Bronstein’s psychological drama arrives Friday, Jan. 30 on HBO Max. Byrne plays the stressed-out mother of a young, unseen child who’s struggling with a mystery illness. In her review, the AP’s Jocelyn Noveck wrote that the film “has given Byrne, an actor of effortless appeal in lighter films, a chance to display versatility and grit in surely the toughest dramatic role of her career.”
— Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista star in “The Wrecking Crew” (Prime Video, Wednesday) as estranged half brothers who reunite after their father’s mysterious death. The action comedy is directed by Angel Manuel Soto, who made 2023’s “Blue Beetle.”
— Ira Sachs’ “Peter Hujar’s Day,” the lead nominee to the Independent Film Spirit Awards, is a marvel of historical yet intimate dramatic resurrection. The film (Criterion Channel, Tuesday) is based on a transcript from a 1974 interview by the writer Linda Rosenkrantz (Rebecca Hall) and her friend, the photographer Peter Hujar (Ben Whishaw). Rosenkrantz had planned a book about how artists spend their time. But the book never happened, and Sachs, after coming across the transcripts, dramatizes their dialogue.
— In “I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not,” the filmmaker Marina Zenovich profiles the irascible “Saturday Night Live” and “Fletch” star. For the film (HBO Max, Saturday, Jan. 31), Zenovich interviews the complicated and sometimes combative comedian about his career, with glimpses of his daily life. Perspectives are offered by Dan Aykroyd, Beverly D’Angelo, Goldie Hawn, Lorne Michaels, Ryan Reynolds and Martin Short.
— ’Tis the season — the 2026 Grammy Awards season, that is. On Sunday Feb. 1, the 68th annual award show will air live on CBS. Watch as Kendrick Lamar, Bad Bunny, Lady Gaga and many more go head-to-head in the top prize categories. Plus, the show doubles as a kind of bespoke live concert viewing experience — and who doesn’t like that? The 2026 Grammys can also be watched through live TV streaming services that include CBS in their lineup, like Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV and FuboTV. Paramount+ premium plan subscribers will be able to stream the Grammys live; Paramount+ essential subscribers will have on-demand access the next day.
— California power pop-punk bands Joyce Manor return with their seventh full-length album Friday, the all-too-appropriately titled “I Used to Go to This Bar.” Spoken like a gently aging band whose penchant for hooks knows no bounds.
— Benedict, the second eldest Bridgerton, takes center stage in season 4 of the Netflix romance series, It’s about the love stories of a large family in London during the Regency Era. Season 4 has “Cinderella” vibes with Luke Thompson’s Benedict looking for an enchanting “woman in silver” who is actually Sophie, a housemaid (Yerin Ha) working for his family. Part 1 drops Thursday with the remaining episodes arriving in February.
— The third season of “Shrinking” checks in Wednesday on Apple TV. The series follows Jason Segel as a therapist named Jimmy, a widowed dad to a teenage girl, who shares a practice with characters played by Harrison Ford and Jessica Williams. Between Jimmy’s colleagues, neighbors and friends, he forms a new kind of family. Season 3 features guest stars Michael J. Fox, Jeff Daniels, Sherry Cola, Isabella Gomez, and Candice Bergen.
— School’s back in session. “School Spirits” starring Peyton List, that is. The Paramount+ series also returns for a third season on Wednesday. List stars as a teen trapped in the afterlife which happens to be her high school. She’s there with other ghosts who are also former students that help Maddie to investigate the circumstances surrounding her death.
— Kaley Cuoco and Sam Claflin star in a new mystery for MGM+ called “Vanished.” Cuoco plays a woman whose boyfriend (Claflin) goes missing on a train to France. The four-part limited-series premieres Sunday, Feb. 1.
— Highguard is the latest entry in the ever-growing field of multiplayer shooters, offering yet another way to get online with your friends and blow stuff up. In this case, you are Wardens — “arcane gunslingers sent to battle for control of a mythical continent.” Judging by the trailer, you’ll be able to ride mythical beasts and wield magical powers along with the typical arsenal of weapons. It comes from a new studio called Wildlight Entertainment, whose founders have worked on hits like Call of Duty, Apex Legends and Titanfall. And it’s free-to-play, so you might as well give it a shot Monday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S on PC.
— Bandai Namco’s Code Vein, from 2019, tried to answer the question: What if you took the demanding combat of Dark Souls and added vampires? The bloodsuckers — known here as Revenants — are back in Code Vein II, but a mysterious force is turning them into mindless monstrosities. Your job is to travel back in time and prevent the damage before all the Revenants get stupid. The good news is that you can still drain blood from your enemies and use it to upgrade your own fighting skills. Quench your thirst Friday, Jan. 30, on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S or PC.
With the region in the grips of a major winter storm, the possibility of power outages looms large. Should the power go out, a generator can keep power flowing into homes or businesses.
The Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI), an international trade association representing manufacturers and suppliers of outdoor power equipment, small engines, battery power systems, portable generators, utility and personal transport vehicles, and golf cars, reminds home and business owners to keep safety in mind when using generators.
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Shaida Ghaemi was last seen Sept. 9, 2007, in Wheat Ridge. (Photo courtesy Colorado Bureau of Investigation)
Arash Ghaemi has wondered for 18 years what happened to his mother after she disappeared from a Wheat Ridge motel.
So Ghaemi, an artificial intelligence developer and entrepreneur, turned his profession into his passion.
“What if I can get the case files and run it through AI?” he said of the police investigation into his mother’s disappearance. “Maybe it will show me something and make the connections. If I could build it to solve my mom’s case, I could likely build it to solve other cases.”
Ghaemi launched CrimeOwl, an AI program that searches cold-case files to generate new leads for investigators, last year.
So far, the AI platform is in the hands of a few private investigators who are using it to chase leads on behalf of families searching for missing loved ones. Ghaemi hopes one day the program will have its big break in solving a case, and maybe — just maybe — it will help figure out what happened to his mother, Shaida Ghaemi, when she disappeared in 2007.
Ghaemi, who goes by “Ash,” on Tuesday met with investigators, information-technology staff and commanders at the Wheat Ridge Police Department to show off his AI tool and to ask for an update on his mother’s case.
For now, Wheat Ridge police say CrimeOwl is too unproven to use in the department’s investigations, including Shaida Ghaemi’s disappearance.
And they are tight-lipped about her case.
“We were really happy to meet with Ash. It’s part of our philosophy of relationship policing,” said Alex Rose, a Wheat Ridge police spokesman. “It was a twofold meeting to explain what we could about the case and to give some professional insight on the AI tool so it can become more widespread and of use to agencies across the country.”
‘Still trying to make sense of it’
When Arash Ghaemi was growing up, his mother was almost too good a mother, he said, describing her as “almost overbearing” in taking care of him and his older sister.
But when Arash was 17, his parents divorced, and everything changed.
Shaida Ghaemi became distant from her children. She left home a lot.
“It was weird,” he said. “She went from always needing to be in contact with me and my sister to she could take it or leave it.”
Shaida Ghaemi did not have a permanent home and did not have a job, her son, now 40, said. She traveled between Colorado and Maryland, where her parents lived.
In 2007 — five years after the divorce — she moved into the American Motel in Wheat Ridge with her boyfriend, Jude Peters.
“I am still trying to make sense of it,” he said of the changes in his mother’s behavior.
Arash Ghaemi was a 22-year-old server at a Red Robin restaurant in Highlands Ranch when his grandfather called from Maryland on a September night and told him they were unable to reach his mother. He asked his grandson to call the police.
Shaida Ghaemi, then 44, was last seen on Sept. 9, 2007, by Peters. Drops of her blood were found in their motel room. At the time, Peters told 9News it was menstrual blood and that Ghaemi often left for months at a time.
Wheat Ridge police still consider her disappearance a missing-person case, and there is no “clear indication of foul play,” Rose said. “Jude is not considered a person of interest in this investigation at this time,” Rose said of Peters.
“They still don’t know where she’s at and they don’t have any trace of her,” Ghaemi said.
‘True value’ of AI
Artificial intelligence is gaining ground as a law enforcement tool. Multiple police departments across Colorado are using the technology, most commonly for converting body-worn camera footage into written crime reports. It’s also being used to track license plates and to scan people’s faces.
The Wheat Ridge Police Department uses Axon’s Draft One to help write police reports, based on their body-worn camera footage.
“Our officers know they’re accountable for every single word,” Rose said. “It gives them a who, what, when and where and can save them time, but it’s not a substitution for good police work.”
Ghaemi launched CrimeOwl about six months ago. He is also developing AI programs for the dental industry and a new sports statistics program that could eventually be used by the NBA.
He programmed CrimeOwl to sort through all of the documents in a case file and build a map of the people connected to the missing person, such as partners, family, close friends and neighbors. The AI also creates a timeline of events leading to the disappearance or death and then maps all of the geographic locations connected to the crime, he said.
The platform has a chat function so investigators can ask the AI to sift through files to find answers to their questions.
While CrimeOwl was designed to help with missing-persons cases, Ghaemi said he hopes it can be used to solve other crimes.
No police departments have bought the product so far.
Ghaemi, who lives in Miami, said he tested CrimeOwl on a solved cold case in Florida and, after uploading the police case file into his program, the AI created a list of credible suspects within 30 minutes, he said. Police confirmed it had identified the actual perpetrator, he said.
“It took me 30 minutes to do what it could have taken them weeks or months to do,” Ghaemi said. “That’s the true value here.”
Not ready for police use
CrimeOwl, however, is not ready for active law enforcement investigations, Rose said.
The CrimeOwl platform would need to be secure so no one could tamper with the evidence once it is uploaded, Rose said. It would need to receive various certifications before any law enforcement agency used it, he said.
It would also need to be vetted by lawyers so any leads it generated would hold up at trial, he said.
“There are a lot of details and a lot of hypotheticals that would need to be heavily vetted for AI technology in a real-world police setting,” Rose said.
Still, Wheat Ridge police are intrigued by Ghaemi’s AI tool and were more than willing to offer advice and expertise, he said.
“We’re always going to applaud somebody who is trying to use technology to find ways to help,” Rose said.
Ghaemi said the Wheat Ridge investigators declined to hand over his mother’s case file because of the security concerns. He had wanted to upload those documents into CrimeOwl to see if it could generate new leads.
Police officials also told him that if they used CrimeOwl to identify a suspect, that person’s defense attorney would likely argue bias since the AI platform was built by the missing woman’s son, Ghaemi said.
“My stance is it has been 18 years. You guys have passed it on to other investigators. It’s not solving the case,” he said. “I’m willing to take that risk.”
Ghaemi hopes to overcome the legal barriers and law enforcement skepticism before his new company folds under financial pressure. He said CrimeOwl has a revenue stream, but it loses money every month.
“I built this thing with a mission in mind at first,” he said. “I didn’t really know how it would work or if it would work or if I would go broke. Even if it’s not me and CrimeOwl went broke tomorrow and we had to shutter the doors, I just want investigators to use AI to solve these cold cases.”
