Tech Roundup: Amazon Bazaar, Google Gemini Integration & More

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

• Amazon launches Amazon Bazaar, a standalone, low-cost shopping app in 12+ markets across Asia, Africa and Latin America, with most products priced under US$ 10; shares significant overlap with Amazon Haul, which launched last November as a competitor to Shein and Temu.
• Google introduces Nested Learning, a new ML approach for continual learning that views models as nested optimisation problems to enhance long context processing; begins rolling out Gemini on Android Auto, replacing Google Assistant while keeping "Hey Google," and adding Gemini Live ("let's talk live"), message auto-translation. and new privacy toggles.
• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sues Roblox, saying it's a "breeding ground for predators" that is "flagrantly ignoring" safety laws and "deceiving parents."
• A new investigation from Sky News finds that X amplifies right-wing and extreme political content in the U.K.
• Google adds Gemini's Deep Search to Google Finance, which also gets prediction market data from Kalshi and Polymarket for future event analysis, in the U.S.; updates Deep Research to pull information from your Gmail, Docs, Drive and Chat.
• OpenAI releases a blueprint the company hopes lawmakers will use in crafting safety standards for teens using AI, along with five suggestions for AI companies for improved protections for teens, including identifying teens on the platform and treat them accordingly in age-appropriate manners, defaulting to an under-18 experience if "there is doubt" about a user's age, giving families parental controls over their kids' accounts, and embedding features informed by the latest research on teens and AI.
• Amazon tests an AI tool called Kindle Translate that automatically translates books into other languages, for authors that self-publish on the platform.
• Meta rolls out a new quick connect feature for its smart glasses that makes it possible to create a one-touch shortcut for "frequently used communication actions," like making a phone call or sending a text to a specific contact.
• Apple sends a letter to the European Commission (EC), criticising recent inquiries into whether the App Store complies with the Digital Services Act (DSA) and its policies to protect minors; says the Apple's ‌App Store‌ safeguards "defies all logic" and that "it does not make sense for the Commission to press Apple to protect users, including minors, from fraud within the App Store while at the same time requiring Apple to create functionalities like link-outs and web views that increase the risk of fraud without necessary safeguards."
• In recent weeks, Apple has also challenged the Digital Markets Act in the E.U.'s General Court, arguing it "imposes hugely onerous and intrusive burdens" at odds with Apple's rights in the E.U. marketplace. It has also demanded Brussels scrap the landmark Big Tech legislation, which entered into force in 2022.
• In June 2025, Apple also appealed the E.U.'s iOS interoperability order under the DMA, saying the requirements create "a process that is unreasonable, costly, and stifles innovation."
• Tinder rolls out a new optional AI feature that analyses users' camera roll to find better matches, as the platform's paid subscriber count dwindles.
• Google says Ironwood, its seventh-generation TPU, will launch in the coming weeks and is more than 4x faster than its predecessor.
• Meta's WhatsApp says users will be able to adopt a username soon; allows users to message people on eligible third-party messaging apps, such as BirdyChat, to comply with interoperability requirements as part of the E.U. Digital Markets Act (DMA). (Third-party developers must work on the interoperability process and submit a request to be included. In this case, only apps that meet WhatsApp's strict security and encryption requirements will be accepted to ensure that all conversations remain protected.)
• Apple says a newly proposed App Store Freedom Act in the U.S. undermines kids' online safety and stifles competition and erodes privacy and security protections for consumers; the newly introduced legislation "supports interoperability and consumer choice by requiring large app store operators (100M+ U.S. users) to allow users to set third-party apps or app stores as default; install apps or app stores outside of the dominant platform; and remove or hide pre-installed apps."
• Meta launches Vibes, its short-form video feed of AI-generated videos, in Europe through the Meta AI app, following its U.S. debut six weeks earlier; WhatsApp launches an Apple Watch app that lets users get call notifications, read full messages, and record and send voice messages.
• Discord expands its safety controls that grants parents and guardians increased visibility and control of their teens' activity, including sensitive content filtering and data privacy settings, as well as determine who can DM them.
• Google makes it easier to access AI Mode in Chrome on iOS and Android via a new dedicated shortcut button under the search bar when opening a "New Tab" page in the browser; brings Gemini's AI chatbot to Maps to support conversational route planning and and the use of landmarks and nearby business for navigation based on suggested recommendations (e.g., altering a route to include a recommended place).
• OpenAI says it now has over 1 million business customers globally; launches its Sora app on Android, including in the U.S., Canada and Japan, and starts selling extra credits for Sora, which currently has a limit of 30 free gens per day, by allowing users to generate 10 videos for US$ 4 through Apple's App Store.
• Snap reports 477 million daily active users in Q3 2025, as it announces a deal to distribute Perplexity's search engine to Snapchat users in exchange for a US$ 400 million payment from the AI startup through a combination of cash and equity.
• Stability AI comes out largely unscathed in its legal fight against Getty Images after a U.K. court says while Stability had infringed its trademark by creating images that feature its watermarks, Getty's claim of secondary copyright infringement does not hold water as "Stable Diffusion does not store or reproduce" any copyrighted works. (A similar lawsuit in ongoing in the U.S.)
• Apple releases an updated version of its Shazam app with the new Liquid Glass design; says Live Translation on AirPods will expand to the E.U. next month with the release of iOS 26.2.
• The U.S. Motion Picture Association, the trade group in charge of movie ratings, asks Meta to stop using its "PG-13" rating when referring to the type of content that teen accounts will see on Instagram, stating it's literally false and highly misleading; Meta claims its use of the PG-13 rating qualifies as fair use and that it has never stated its Teen Account offerings are officially PG-13 rated or certified by the MPA.
• Sony rolls out PlayStation Portal cloud streaming, letting PlayStation Premium Plus members stream select titles without a PS5 connection after testing the feature since 2024.
• Google removes 749 million URLs linked to Anna's Archive, a popular shadow library for pirated books, over copyright claims, representing about 5% of all takedown requests.
• Instacart launches an AI shopping assistant called Cart Assistant as part of its white-label e-commerce service to serve personalised meal planning, budgeting and product recommendations.
• Spotify says it now has nearly 500,000 video podcasts and more than 390 million users have now streamed a video podcast on its platform, up 54% YoY; comes as the music streamer reports 281 million paying subscribers and 713 million monthly active users in Q3 2025.
• Pinterest reports 600 million monthly active users on its platform in Q3 2025, as Reddit says it has 114 million daily active unique users.
• Google's AI Mode gets new agentic capabilities to help book event tickets and beauty appointments; brings new Chat integration to Meet, stating Meet's in-meeting chat messages will now be powered by Google Chat.
• Amazon rolls out Alexa+ to Amazon Music for iOS and Android, letting Alexa+ Early Access users request obscure information or complex music recommendations; updates Amazon Music to allow users in Canada to chat and stream music with each other as part of a new community feature called Fan Groups.
• Microsoft makes available its first in-house AI image generator, MAI-Image-1, in Bing Image Creator and Copilot Audio Expressions.
• Amazon announces Amazon Pharmacy kiosks to quickly dispense medications to patients after an appointment; initially rolling out in its One Medical offices in Loas Angeles; AWS says it is developing Fastnet, a subsea cable buried about 1.5m deep and with a capacity over 320Tbps, as a way to connect Maryland and Ireland sometime in 2028.
• Cornell University's academic paper repository arXiv says it will step up its moderation of computer science review papers not vetted by an academic journal or a conference following a surge in AI-generated papers.
• Canva launches a foundational design model that generates editable layered designs; expands Canva AI and makes Affinity free for all users.
• Coinbase agrees to acquire Echo, a blockchain platform to let crypto companies quickly raise capital, marking the company's eighth acquisition in 2025.
• China opens an investigation into Qualcomm's acquisition of Autotalks, a chipmaker specialising in vehicle communications, over potential antitrust violations.
• The U.K. CMA designates Google with "strategic market status" in search and ads, but excludes Gemini. (The new designation is not a finding of wrongdoing and does not trigger any immediate changes.)
• Microsoft delays last week's 50% price hike for existing Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers in Germany, Ireland, South Korea, Poland, India, and other markets following backlash.
• Alibaba says its mapping app Amap's destination ranking feature, called Amap Street Stars, has racked up hit 400 million users since its launch in September, as the mapping app hits a record 360 million daily active users in October 2025.
• Anthropic's new privacy terms go into effect starting October 8, 2025, requiring users to choose whether new chats and coding sessions can be used to train AI models.
• Salesforce launches enterprise vibe coding product, Agentforce Vibes, to help companies foray into AI-assisted programming with enterprise security.
• xAI sues OpenAI in California for allegedly stealing trade secrets by means of hiring away key employees.
• Amazon reaches a US$ 2.5 billion settlement with the FTC over deceptive Prime practices, with a US$ 1 billion civil penalty and US$ 1.5 billion in consumer redress.
• Xiaomi unveils 17, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max in China.
• The E.U. launches an antitrust probe into SAP over its ERP software maintenance and support services.
• Spotify updates its AI policy, including adopting the upcoming DDEX standard to label and identify AI music and rolling out a new music spam filter to flag more bad actors.
• Meta expands Facebook and Messenger teen accounts, which have extra safety controls, globally; Instagram now lets all U.S. schools report safety concerns; to discontinue Facebook's Like and Share buttons for external sites in February 2026 as their usage "naturally declined as the digital landscape evolved."
• Luma AI partners with Adobe to bring its generative video model Ray3 to Firefly's paid users; Ray3 creates highly realistic 10-second videos without dialogue.
• Atlassian acquires developer productivity insight platform DX; comes as the Browser Company's Dia app becomes available to anyone on Mac.
• Amazon debuts a chatbot-style assistant to help advertisers use AI to make ads, which can run across Amazon's ad inventory and platforms that have Amazon deals; launches AI agent to help sellers complete tasks and manage their businesses.
• Chinese e-commerce giant Shein launches Xcelerator, a service granting other fashion brands access to its fast-fashion manufacturing network in China, as it seeks new revenue streams.
• NVIDIA and Intel partner to develop multiple generations of x86 products.
• Apple expands its music transfer tool to almost all countries where Apple Music is supported after testing the SongShift-powered feature in Australia and New Zealand back in May 2025, simplifying the transition from services like Spotify to ‌Apple Music‌.
• Snap announces Snap OS 2.0 for its Spectacles glasses, updating first-party apps and adding new features like Travel Mode and support for WebXR.
• The London Stock Exchange debuts a blockchain-based platform, initially focused on private funds and increasing efficiency, marking its push into digital assets.
• Spotify adds a new feature globally that lets free users search for and play any song they want, including those who are on the ad-supported tier.
• Microsoft adds automatic AI model selection to Visual Studio Code, while primarily favouring Claude Sonnet 4 over GPT-5 or GPT-5 mini for paid GitHub Copilot users.
• PayPal launches PayPal Links, which lets users create personalised, one-time links to send money to or request payment from other PayPal users, including crypto.
• Google adopts risk-based Android security updates, prioritising fixing only high-risk vulnerabilities in monthly releases, and others in quarterly Android Security Bulletins.
• The E.U. ends an antitrust probe against Microsoft with no fine and accepts its concessions, including offering Office without Teams in Europe for seven years.
• Apple launches iPhone Air in China on October 17, 2025, after delaying preorders likely over eSIM regulatory issues.
• Amazon's Zoox launches its robotaxi service in Las Vegas, letting riders hail its toaster-shaped cars between specific destinations in the city's 4.2-mile Strip; Amazon and Netflix partner to let advertisers buy Netflix ad inventory via Amazon's demand-side platform, after Amazon signed a similar deal with Disney in June.
• Microsoft launches a free cybersecurity program for European governments, including to protect against AI-enhanced threats, amid growing state-sponsored attacks.
• Apple removes two of the most popular gay dating apps, Blued and Finka, from its App Store in China, citing orders from the country's Cyberspace Administration.
• Meta introduces Omnilingual Automatic Speech Recognition, a suite of AI models providing automatic speech recognition capabilities for more than 1,600 languages.
• Samsung's latest SmartThings update for iPhone adds support for Siri Shortcuts, allowing users to leverage Siri to run SmartThings routines and control their smart home devices.
• Google begins rolling out Gemini for TV to Google TV Streamer devices; comes as the company adds new AI features, including a builder agent and an MCP server to help developers and users create interactive projects using Maps data and code.
• PayPal-owned Venmo launches a cash back rewards program called Venmo Stash that offers more cash back to those who use more of the platform's suite of products.
• Patreon adds a discovery feed to help creators avoid social media platforms; also debuts a new post format, called Quips, that allows them to share non-paywalled updates that can include text, photos or video.
• Lovable, the Stockholm-based AI coding platform, says it's nearing 8 million users, up from 2.3 million active users in July 2025.