Every time users see an uncannily-timed ad, they worry their phone is listening to them. Yet three marketing companies have just had to settle a suit for falsely marketing that exact concept to ad buyers.

The Federal Trade Commission announced on May 21 that Cox Media Group, MindSift, and 1010 Digital Works had agreed to pay $930,000 to settle deceptive advertising allegations.

The FTC said the three companies had falsely marketed an AI-powered “Active Listening” ad service as a tool businesses could use to target customers based on private conversations picked up by their smart devices. Continue reading “Ad Agencies Forced to Settle Suit Because Your Phone *Isn’t* Actually Listening to You” →

The TAKE IT DOWN Act has now come into effect, imposing a requirement on online platforms to remove nonconsensual intimate imagery, including AI-generated deepfakes, within 48 hours of receiving a valid report.

This new deadline turns what has become one of the most pervasive forms of online abuse into a test of website operators’ compliance response times.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) began enforcing the law’s notice-and-removal requirement on May 19, 2026. Covered platforms are responsible for providing users with a process to request that intimate photos or videos shared without their consent be taken down. Continue reading “The TAKE IT DOWN Act Gives Platforms 48 Hours to Remove Deepfakes” →

Google used its I/O 2026 developer conference to put AI front and center, announcing what it called the biggest upgrade to its Search box in more than 25 years.

The company’s reimagined Search experience adds AI agents, AI Mode updates, a smarter Search box, and more generative results that can answer questions, build interfaces, and help users complete tasks from inside Google.

From the AI-powered Search box, users will be able to search across text, images, files, videos, and Chrome tabs, which will allow Search to connect those inputs in a single query. Continue reading “Google Overhauls Search Experience With AI Agents” →

Apple and Google are working to integrate age verification into their mobile devices, while state lawmakers push to make such checks mandatory. Right now, age checks for various services are handled in a piecemeal fashion by individual websites and apps.

Under the new system, the digital hardware itself will become a virtual gatekeeper, determining which apps its owner can access and how much personal data it will disclose.

These changes are already underway, with Apple and Google having built tools that alert apps to the user’s age range through their respective app stores.

Louisiana is now positioned to become the first state where that new model will go into effect, starting July 1, 2026. Continue reading “Age Verification Is Coming to Your Phone, Turning Devices Into Gatekeepers” →