Tech Roundup: E.U. Artificial Intelligence Act, Meta Voicebox & More

[A recurring feature on the latest in Science & Technology.]

• The E.U. officially approves the landmark Artificial Intelligence Act, requiring AI systems like OpenAI ChatGPT and Google Bard to disclose the data used to train their models and be reviewed for before commercial release with the goal of building safeguards on the development and use of these technologies; also seeks to ban real-time remote biometric identification systems in publicly accessible spaces and predictive policing systems. (The development comes as Google postponed the launch of Bard in the bloc following privacy concerns raised by data protection authorities.)
• Google faces mounting regulatory scrutiny of its ads business, as the European Commission says the company "may have abused its dominant position by favouring its own adtech services'; raises the possibility that the tech giant "might require Google to divest part of its services" such as DFP and AdX.
• Spotify faces a fine of around €5 million in Sweden years after it was accused of breaching E.U. GDPR rules by not providing full information about personal data it processes in response to individual requests; the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection (IMY) says the streamer "does not inform clearly enough about how this data is used by the company."
• Netflix subscriptions rise in the U.S. as password-sharing crackdown takes effect.
• macOS web browser SigmaOS integrates generative AI capabilities via its contextual AI assistant named Airis.
• Amazon tests generative AI for product review summaries, giving an overview of what customers liked and disliked about a product, along with a disclaimer.
• Microsoft faces new setback after a U.S. court issues a temporary restraining order following a complaint filed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) seeking a preliminary injunction to block its US$ 68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
• ByteDance-owned TikTok tests a visual search tool in its Shop tab that allows users to take a photo and search visual inventory based on the image.
• Google debuts new features for Pixel phones and watches, including expanded Assistant support; adds exclusive photo editing features to Google Photos on the web for Google One subscribers, launches a script editor for automation using Google Home and details new AI-powered features to Gmail.
• Google' YouTube lowers the requirements for creators to get access to monetisation tools under the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) to include users with 500 subscribers and either 3,000 watch hours in the past year or 3 million Shorts views in the last 90 days; sends a cease-and-desist letter to Invidious, an open-source "alternative front-end" for YouTube over API violations.
• Microsoft begins selling repair and replacement parts for out-of-warranty Surface devices, including battery, front camera kit, screen, speaker, and SSDs.
• Meta's WhatsApp pilots new features that lets users send 60-second video clips within chats as well as log into multiple accounts; begins rolling out Telegram-style broadcast channels more broadly on Instagram, days after debuting a similar feature on WhatsApp.
• Google debuts a slew of new features, allowing users to detect skin conditions using Lens, add links from search results directly to Sheets, virtually try on apparel across body types when shopping online, and explore more than 500 landmarks using Immersive View in Maps.
• Google adds support for Indonesian, Polish, Romanian, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese translated captions in Meet; tests a new "on-the-go" mode that automatically turns off camera and video when using the video chat app while walking in a bid to reduce distractions.
• Caller identity app Truecaller introduces call recording on both iOS and Android. (While the company has faced privacy concerns in the past owing to the fact that users upload their entire contact lists to Truecaller servers by signing up for the service, it has insisted that it "does not sell user data."
• Alphabet winds down Google Domains and sells its assets, including about 10 million domains, to Squarespace in a deal reportedly worth US$ 180 million. (The sale furthers Google's image as a company that easily gives up on projects that aren't core to its business, even those that have matured and would seem to encourage a lock-in with Google accounts.)
• Twitch launches a Partner Plus tier, offering a 70/30 revenue sharing split to creators who have more than 350 recurring paid subscriptions for three consecutive months.
• Intel changes its chip naming scheme: drops the "i" and opts for a more straightforward Core 3, 5, and 7 structure, and puts its premium chips under an Ultra brand.
• Uber plans to add video ads to its namesake app, Uber Eats, and alcohol app Drizly, starting in the U.S.
• Microsoft to remove Chat integration within Windows in favour of a standalone Teams app; comes months after Microsoft agreed to stop bundling Teams with Office to avoid antitrust scrutiny.
• Reddit says it was "never designed to support third-party apps" and that "they were profiting off of our API." (Reddit's objective appears to be to wind down third-party app development and push users to its own native app. It's also emblematic of a scenario where third-party apps not only don't carry ads that the native app does, but are also making money through subscriptions that don't go back to Reddit itself.)
• Match Group, the company behind Tinder and other dating apps, launches new live in-app feature for its Match.com dating app called 72 Hours that's designed to combat browsing burnout by letting users message their potential match between Friday and Sunday after which the chats would disappear.
• Meta plans to lower the minimum age for Quest headsets from 13 to 10, with under-13s' profiles and avatars set to private by default and subject to parental consent; unveils Voicebox, a generative text-to-speech model to "help with audio editing, sampling and styling," more than three months after it previewed MuAViC, an audio-video speech translation benchmark.