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Jay PetersJul 31

Snapchat will no longer recommend ‘wholly AI-generated videos’ in its vertical video feed.

“As low-quality, repetitive, AI-generated content becomes increasingly common across the internet, we want Spotlight to remain a place where people can discover authentic creativity from real people,” Snap says.

Content that’s been “enhanced or edited using Snapchat’s AI creative tools” may still be recommended, and they include “transparency indicators.”

”Stop the Slop!” says CEO Evan Spiegel. “We’re keeping it real on Spotlight.”

Update: Added Spiegel’s post.

Rewarding Authentic Creativity on Spotlight

[Snap Inc.]

Charles Pulliam-MooreJul 31

The Daywalker is definitely dead.

The writing has been on the wall about Marvel’s Blade movie starring Mahershala Ali being dead in the water, but in a new interview with GQ, the actor explains why he’s done talking about the project falling apart:

Those questions are for them. They didn’t want to do it, so they should answer that question.

Mahershala Ali Makes His Own Hero Moment in ‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’

[GQ]

A quirky life sim for Switch that’s worth buying at $53

Brad BourqueJul 31

Here’s the problem with putting an AI image generator in Google Earth

Stevie BonifieldJul 31

The major labels propose rules to keep AI slop off the charts

Terrence O'BrienJul 31

Jay PetersJul 31

YouTube is banning some popular ASMR creators.

According to 404 Media, impacted creators have received a notice from YouTube saying that the platform found “severe or repeated violations of our sex and nudity policy.” 404 notes that “Erotic ASMR exists, but that’s not what these artists were doing on YouTube.”

“We terminated these channels for linking to content that violates our nudity and sexual content policy,” YouTube spokesperson Boot Bullwinkle tells The Verge. “Our external link policies apply equally to all creators across YouTube, and this action was taken in accordance with our long-standing policies, not as a change in policy or targeting of ASMR content.”

Update: Added YouTube statement.

[404 Media]

Emma RothJul 31

Who’s bankrolling Trump’s projects?

The Wall Street Journal gets into the “staggering” fundraising efforts launched by President Donald Trump and his team, including the tech giants making multimillion-dollar donations:

SoftBank donated $50 million toward Trump’s presidential library. Apple cut a check for around $25 million toward his White House ballroom project, while Microsoft gave around $10 million and Amazon chipped in around $5 million, according to people familiar with the contributions. Meta Platforms recently gave $10 million to a Trump-aligned political committee, people familiar said, on top of a multimillion donation to the ballroom and a prior $22 million payment to the planned presidential library.

‘The Boss Wants This Money’: Inside Trump’s Unprecedented Fundraising Operation

[The Wall Street Journal]

Jay PetersJul 31

Ubisoft is shutting down an NFT game.

The servers for Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles, which launched in 2024, will close down on October 30th, Kotaku reports. The shutdown follows an earlier announcement that the game would “progressively transition away from blockchain functionality.”

In A 'Who Could Have Possibly Seen This Coming' Event, Ubisoft Will Shut Down Its NFT Game

[Kotaku]

New York sues Kalshi for allegedly running an ‘illegal gambling operation’

Emma RothJul 31

It’s time to panic about AI safety

David PierceJul 31

Gym tasks vs. work tasks.

This not a brand-new way of thinking about what we should and shouldn’t offload to AI, but I hadn’t seen it before. From Bruce Schneier:

The writing assignments I give my students are gym tasks, not work tasks. I ask them to write policy memos not because the world needs more policy memos. I assign them because the very act of writing, which includes thinking and outlining and drafting and editing, making and criticizing and revising arguments, will help develop the critical thinking skills they will need in their future careers. And without this constant mental exercise, those skills will atrophy. Employers are already noticing.

Should You Use AI for a Task? Here’s a Simple Way to Decide - Schneier on Security

[Schneier on Security]

Terrence O'BrienJul 31

Suno lost a major copyright suit in Germany.

The German licensing organization GEMA filed suit in January of 2025. The court found that Suno didn’t have the rights to train its models on artists represented by GEMA, and now it has to disclose any “illicit revenue” and pay unspecified damages. The company can still appeal the ruling.

German court rules that AI music firm violated copyrights

[dw.com]

Anthropic says Claude accidentally hacked real companies too

Robert HartJul 31

Stevie BonifieldJul 31

Nothing’s rumored to shift its focus to AI accessories like a speaker and smartwatch.

Android Authority points to a report from Smartprix that says Nothing’s “repositioning itself as an AI-first company,” with a slate of upcoming devices that includes AI-enabled earbuds and a smart speaker from its CMF brand. Nothing’s also reportedly planning to launch a new smartwatch and second-generation Nothing headphones.

Exclusive: Nothing Is Betting Its Future on AI, Putting Smartphones on the Back Seat

[Smartprix]

Emma RothJul 31

A look into the rise of falling space junk.

This report from The New York Times details how debris from rockets, satellites, and other space hardware falls to Earth each week — sometimes unpredictably — as the global space race heats up:

If objects are in free fall, even the best rocket scientists cannot accurately predict where they will land or whether they will fully incinerate. A one-minute error in predicting re-entry changes the landing zone by nearly 300 miles, according to the Aerospace Corporation, a nonprofit research group.

A Ton of Space Junk Tumbles Unpredictably to Earth Every Week

[The New York Times]

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