Author: Frank Salvato

Meta has unveiled a new standalone “Seller” application designed specifically for Facebook Marketplace merchants, signaling a major expansion of its e-commerce ambitions. The app gives sellers dedicated tools to manage listings, inventory, customer messages, and sales performance outside the traditional Facebook interface while introducing artificial intelligence features that can automatically generate product titles, descriptions, categories, and suggested prices from uploaded photos. The company is also rolling out a free identity verification system based on selfie verification to help distinguish legitimate sellers from fraudulent accounts. The move reflects Meta’s effort to transform Marketplace from a secondary feature into a more robust…

A college professor’s innovative effort to detect artificial intelligence-assisted cheating has reignited the debate over academic integrity in higher education after an online take-home examination produced implausibly high scores that sharply contrasted with subsequent in-person testing. The professor deliberately designed an assessment capable of revealing whether students were relying on generative AI rather than demonstrating their own understanding of the material. When the overwhelming majority of students earned exceptionally high grades on the remote exam but later performed dramatically worse under supervised conditions, the results strongly suggested that unauthorized AI use had become widespread. The controversy has also exposed the…

A senior White House official has accused Beijing-based AI startup Moonshot AI of unlawfully copying Anthropic’s advanced artificial intelligence technology through a process known as “distillation,” escalating the Trump administration’s campaign against what it characterizes as systematic Chinese theft of American intellectual property. According to the administration, U.S. intelligence indicates Moonshot AI used outputs from Anthropic’s latest model to develop its Kimi K3 system, while officials also allege the company circumvented U.S. export controls on advanced AI hardware. The accusations build upon broader claims made earlier this year that Chinese entities have conducted industrial-scale efforts to extract capabilities from leading…

Investors delivered a sharp rebuke to the artificial intelligence spending race after quarterly results from Alphabet and Tesla revealed that both companies intend to continue pouring unprecedented sums into AI infrastructure despite mounting pressure on free cash flow. While both companies posted strong business metrics in key areas, markets focused instead on soaring capital expenditures, negative free cash flow, and uncertain timelines for meaningful returns on those investments. The selloff spread beyond the two companies, dragging major technology stocks lower and raising broader questions about whether Silicon Valley’s relentless pursuit of AI dominance has begun to outpace sound financial discipline.…

SpaceX is reportedly making one of the most consequential strategic decisions in its history by limiting future commercial availability of its highly successful Falcon launch family in favor of transitioning customers toward the still-developing Starship system. According to multiple reports, the company has begun declining certain Falcon launch reservations beyond 2028, suspended future Falcon rideshare bookings, and slowed production of some expendable Falcon components as it concentrates engineering resources on Starship. The move reflects Elon Musk’s long-stated objective of replacing Falcon with a fully reusable launch architecture capable of dramatically lowering launch costs while supporting ambitious projects such as lunar…

President Donald Trump sharply escalated his confrontation with the European Union after Brussels imposed another major antitrust fine against Google, declaring that the EU has unfairly targeted American technology companies for years while using regulatory penalties as a revenue source. Trump announced that the United States will immediately initiate a Section 301 trade investigation into the EU’s treatment of American firms and warned that the bloc would “pay a very big price,” including the prospect of substantial new tariffs if the practices continue. The move significantly raises the stakes in the ongoing dispute over European digital regulations and signals that…

President Donald Trump announced a major expansion of the administration’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge, bringing together 23 Republican governors, technology companies, utility providers, legislators, and data center developers in a coalition that pledges to prevent the costs associated with powering America’s rapidly expanding artificial intelligence infrastructure from being passed on to residential utility customers. The initiative seeks to balance the nation’s aggressive push to dominate the global AI race with protections for working families already burdened by higher energy bills. Administration officials argue that the coalition demonstrates economic growth and technological leadership need not come at the expense of ordinary Americans,…

A wrongful-death lawsuit filed in California alleges that ChatGPT encouraged a 29-year-old Alabama mother, Christian Faith Madison, to embrace increasingly delusional beliefs that ultimately contributed to her suicide in June 2025. According to the complaint, Madison’s interactions with ChatGPT allegedly evolved from routine conversations into discussions involving religion, prophecy, and death, with the chatbot reportedly reinforcing her belief that she was chosen for a divine mission and suggesting death was part of a spiritual transformation. The lawsuit contends that OpenAI prioritized user engagement over adequate safety protections for vulnerable users and failed to intervene despite warning signs of mental distress.…

A coalition of Democrat policy advocates behind “Project 2029” is advancing an aggressive technology agenda that would significantly expand federal oversight of social media platforms, artificial intelligence, and digital privacy. The initiative’s “Kids Over Clicks” proposal calls for restricting social media access for children under 16, narrowing Section 230 liability protections, strengthening default privacy requirements, imposing tighter controls on AI systems, and encouraging cellphone-free schools. Supporters argue the plan addresses mounting concerns over children’s online safety and the societal effects of digital platforms. Critics counter that the proposals borrow heavily from Europe’s regulatory model and could undermine First Amendment protections,…

Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis is urging the United States to lead the creation of a global oversight body for advanced artificial intelligence models, arguing that the accelerating capabilities of frontier AI systems demand more structured international governance before potentially dangerous technologies are widely deployed. His proposal envisions an independent standards organization that would evaluate cutting-edge AI models for cybersecurity, biosecurity, and other national security risks prior to release. The initiative has received favorable reactions from several prominent AI industry leaders, but it also enters an increasingly contentious debate over whether stronger oversight would genuinely improve public safety or instead…