Tech Roundup: Amazon Alexa+, Skype Shutdown & More

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

• Microsoft says it will shut down Skype on May 5, 2025, after acquiring the service for US$ 8.5 billion in 2011; directs users to migrate all their contacts and chat data to Teams. (The once-popular messaging platform had over 36 million daily active users in 2023.)
• Law enforcement agencies from 19 countries arrest 25 suspects linked to a criminal ring that was found distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) generated using artificial intelligence (AI).
• AI company Anthropic introduces Claude 3.7 Sonnet, which has been described as the first hybrid AI model that can produce either conventional output or a controllable amount of "reasoning" needed to solve more complex problems.
• Chegg files a lawsuit against Google, accusing the tech giant of using AI-generated overviews to undermine publishers by reducing site traffic and eroding financial incentives for original content; says the practice violates antitrust laws and threatens the integrity of the online information ecosystem.
• Microsoft quietly launches free, ad-supported desktop versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for Windows, with banner and video ads and limited functionality.
• AI search engine Perplexity teases a web browser "for agentic search" called Comet that is "coming soon."
• Meta rolls out Meta AI in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the U.A.E., and Yemen, and adds language support for Arabic.
• Salesforce signs a US$ 2.5 billion, seven-year deal with Google Cloud to let customers run its software, Agentforce AI assistants, and Data Cloud on Google Cloud.
• Apple announces plans to invest US$ 500 billion in the United States over the next four years, including a significant expansion of its domestic manufacturing and research capabilities.
• Google updates Drive with a new feature that makes videos searchable using transcripts, eliminating the need for a dedicated transcription service like Otter.
• Qualcomm partners with Google to enable device manufacturers to provide up to eight years of software and security updates.
• Meta-owned Instagram faces criticism from users for serving violent and explicit content in Reels, as the company looks to launch Reels as a separate app to take on TikTok; says it's "fixing an error that caused some users to see content in their Instagram Reels feed that should not have been recommended."
• Google plans to add a new AI-powered "Ask a follow-up" feature to Google Translate, allowing users to adjust tone, style, simplify text and tweak regional variants.
• Google Search debuts a new "Forums" filter in search results, allowing users to specifically search discussions from platforms like Reddit, Hacker News and Quora, among others; updates the iOS Gemini app, adding six new widgets for the lock screen and the Control Centre, including one for its conversational mode Gemini Live.
• Utah becomes the first state in the U.S. to pass legislation requiring app store operators to verify users' ages and require parental consent for minors to download apps; comes as Apple unveils new child safety features, including updated age ratings, simplified setup for Child Accounts, and an API to let developers confirm age range.

Turbologo

• Albania bans TikTok for 12 months after blaming the popular video-sharing platform for inciting violence and bullying, especially among children.
• Apple confirms that it is delaying the "more personalised Siri" Apple Intelligence feature and anticipates rolling it out "in the coming year."
• Google rolls out an experimental AI Mode in Google Search, designed to let users ask complex, multi-part questions, to Google One AI Premium subscribers; redesigns Results About You, its tool for requesting the removal of Search results with personal info, adding a new hub and the ability to update results.
• OpenAI expands Deep Research to ChatGPT Plus, Team, Edu and Enterprise users, with 10 queries per month; launches GPT-4.5, its "most knowledgeable model yet" in research preview, and brings Sora to ChatGPT Plus and Pro users in the E.U., the U.K., Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland.
• TikTok plans to shut down Creator Marketplace, which connects brands with creators, and replacing it with TikTok One, which includes AI tools, on April 1, 2025.
• Atlassian updates Trello with a new Inbox feature integrating tasks from email, Slack, Jira and Siri.
• Meta tests a feature that lets Threads users add their interests to their profile; the interests will direct users to active conversations about the topic.
• Password manager 1Password now lets users add specific physical locations to passwords and other items, which are designed to appear prominently in its mobile app when the user is near those locations.
• Google's YouTube debuts a US$ 8/month Premium Lite tier in the U.S., offering most videos ad-free and music with ads, with future plans to launch it in Thailand, Germany and Australia, as YouTube Music and YouTube Premium surpass have 125 million subscribers globally, after passing 100 million subscribers in February 2024; to tighten gambling content rules, including prohibiting creators from verbally referring to gambling services not approved by Google, from March 19, 2025.
• Google unveils AI-based Scam Detection in Google Messages for Android in English and adds the option for live location sharing in the Find My app.
• A Brazilian court gives Apple 90 days to allow sideloading on iOS in the country, saying the "limitations" imposed by Apple on developers could deter new competitors.
• Apple introduces AI-generated summaries of app reviews in the App Store, first available in the U.S. in English, with the latest iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 betas.
• Google updates Google Play on Android to highlight apps with widgets, adding a widget search filter, widget badges on app pages and a curated editorial page.
• China mandates regulatory approvals for autonomous driving-related over-the-air (OTA) software upgrades, aiming to prevent automakers from hiding defects or avoiding liability.
• Nothing unveils the US$ 379 Phone 3A and US$ 459 3A Pro, both with 6.77" displays, Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 and new AI tools to help organise files.
• Pinterest says it is building tools to label AI-generated or AI-altered content, amid an AI slop onslaught from SEO spammers that is making the site less useful.
• Meta-owned Instagram is reportedly planning to launch a standalone Reels app, improving recommendations and distributing more three-minute-long videos, to better compete with TikTok; experiments with a Discord-like community chat feature that allows groups of up to 250 people to join.
• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's World Network unveils World Chat, a "mini app" in the World App wallet for messaging and sending and receiving crypto, in beta on Android and iOS.
• Apple debuts new 11th generation iPad, M3 iPad Air, and a new MacBook Air with an M4 chip; updates the Mac Studio with an M4 Max and M3 Ultra chip configurations.
• Meta brings its anti-scam facial recognition test to the U.K. "after engaging with regulators", letting celebrities opt-in "to receive the celeb-bait protection."
• Amazon showcases an upgraded Alexa, Alexa+, powered by generative AI technologies for US$ 20/month (or free for Prime subscribers), offering users the ability to summarise information from documents, help consumers grocery shop from home using more natural conversations and requests, book concert tickets, make restaurant reservations, generate stories for kids based on a prompt, and even jump to a scene in movies on Prime Video; uses a "model-agnostic" system to pick the "best" model for a given task, harnessing Amazon Bedrock to access LLMs like Amazon Nova and Anthropic Claude.
• ByteDance-owned TikTok revamps its desktop website with a new modular layout, refreshed For You feed, a new Explore tab and a floating player, in a bid to take on YouTube.