After Meta was fined in the EU over its handling of user data in January, Norway plans to ban the company from showing users in the country personalized ads based on their online activity, Politico reports.
The ban will run for three months from August 4th, and Meta faces a fine of up to 1 million Norwegian Krone (around $99,680) for each day it doesn’t comply.
Stephen Totilo from Axios has spotted an interesting aside in Xbox CFO Tim Stuart’s testimony. Apparently Microsoft had expected to sell 10 million units of both Starfield and Indiana Jones on PlayStation, but that if it took them exclusive “it could offset losses incurred” through increased Game Pass subscriptions and console sales.
After overcoming one legal challenge, the UK’s Covid inquiry has reportedly hit another roadblock as it attempts to acquire the old WhatsApp messages of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson — a forgotten passcode. The Times of London is reporting that Johnson can’t recall the old phone’s PIN, which he stopped using in May 2021. At least he didn’t drop it into the ocean.
Following a vote in the European Parliament in June, the Council of the EU officially adopted a new regulation this week requiring manufacturers to build their devices with “removable and replaceable” batteries by 2027.
*But what exactly does “removable and replaceable” mean? It’s complicated. Check out my explainer for more details.
[European Council]
Merchants in the UK will be able to accept mobile payments directly on an iPhone with the release of Apple’s Tap to Pay feature. It’s been available in the US since last year, and in the UK will initially work with the Revolut and Tyl by Natwest payment platforms. Apple is rolling out support in its own stores “in the coming weeks.”
[Apple Newsroom (United Kingdom)]
After making its LLaMA AI model available to researchers and academics earlier this year, only to see it leak online, Meta is reportedly planning an imminent commercial release. The Financial Times is reporting that the software will be customizable by companies, allowing organizations to build software on top of it. Meta has said it wants to take an open approach to AI development.
[FinancialTimes]
I suppose it was inevitable, really. After high-profile examples of AI-generated images winning photography competitions, a real photograph has been rejected from a competition over suspicions it was AI-generated.
“We can’t know for sure it is or isn’t, but on the basis we’re suspicious we can’t allow it in,” the owner of Charing Cross Photo, who runs the competition, told The Guardian.
