Technology

Attorney Paul W. Schmidt, representing Meta, right, arrives at a Federal Courthouse Wednesday, Aug....

States take Meta to trial in California in the biggest fight yet over social media harms to children

Of the thousands of lawsuits Meta faces over child safety on its platforms, none may be more consequential than one going to trial this week in California. States are seeking extensive financial damages that could, in theory, total as much as $1.4 trillion, plus changes to how the company operates Facebook and Instagram. The lawsuit […]
11 hours ago

Berkshire Hathaway boosted stake in Alphabet, homebuilders in the second quarter

Berkshire Hathaway is increasing the size of its stake in Google’s parent company and beefing up its holdings in homebuilders, according to the conglomerate’s latest snapshot of its investment portfolio. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company also continued to pare its stake in financial companies and a number of other stocks in the April-June quarter, according to […]
2 days ago
FILE - People talk near a Meta sign outside of the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., Ma...

Maryland tax court voids digital ad tax, orders refunds to Apple, Google and Peacock TV

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A Maryland state tax court has struck down the state’s first-in-the-nation tax on digital advertising and ordered state officials to repay the tax money already collected from big tech firms. The Maryland Tax Court said the tax violates the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act as well as the First Amendment and […]
3 days ago
FILE - Reddit Inc. logos are displayed on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor, prior to the c...

Online forum Reddit will join the influential and closely tracked S&P 500 index

NEW YORK (AP) — Reddit will join the S&P 500 next week, giving the wide-ranging online forum a boost in prestige and investments. Joining the S&P 500 is considered an achievement for a company because the index is a widely followed measure of the broader U.S. stock market’s health. A company is selected for the […]
3 days ago

An ‘influencer’ degree? Colleges bet on content creator major as critics question its value

Ask a teen what they want to be when they grow up, and there’s a fair chance being an influencer is on their list. Digital media and the people who star in it have been cultural mainstays for teens’ entire lives, so creating social media, video or podcast content seems a natural, albeit nontraditional, career […]
3 days ago
FILE - A Flock Safety license plate reader is seen along a public road, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, in...

Amid public backlash, surveillance tech company Flock announces platform changes

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Flock Safety, the surveillance technology company increasingly under scrutiny from lawmakers, civil liberties advocates and citizens across the U.S., announced Thursday it is making changes to its platform intended to quell privacy concerns and address documented abuses of its system by some members of law enforcement. The company is one of […]
4 days ago

Asian shares mostly rise after AI leads rally on Wall Street

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly rose in early Thursday trading, as global market optimism continued on prospects for AI stocks and the semiconductor sector. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 1.6% in early trading to 68,609.92. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.6% to 9,155.80. South Korea’s Kospi surged 3.9% to 6,835.55. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged […]
4 days ago

Appointment of Muslim judge in tiny Mississippi town brings social media attacks

A municipal judge’s appointment in a small Mississippi Delta town has drawn social media backlash, from internet trolls and a few Mississippi politicians, because she is Muslim. But those who know Assma Ali, including a law professor, say the U.S. native is qualified and an upstanding member of Mississippi’s legal community. “We have people from […]
5 days ago
People walk outside of a Federal Courthouse Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/...

Jury selection begins in Meta youth harms trial in California federal court

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Jury selection began Wednesday in Meta’s federal trial over claims its platforms have harmed youth mental health and track children in violation of federal law. The trial is scheduled to begin next week and is expected to last six to eight weeks. Meta faces 29 states in the federal multidistrict lawsuit […]
5 days ago
This image provided by Google in August 2026 shows its lineup of Pixel 11 phones, the Pixel Watch 5...

Google unveils latest Pixel phones with slimmer cameras and more AI features

Google on Wednesday unveiled its latest lineup of Pixel phones, with slimmer cameras that include more a powerful zoom and artificial intelligence features designed to help users accomplish things with fewer taps and swipes. With the improvements, the search giant hopes to give users a reason to buy new models and expand the number of […]
5 days ago
Wesley Mast, owner and president of Coppes Napanee, walks past a giant replica of a Hoosier cabinet...

A 3-story Hoosier cabinet in Indiana celebrates an American kitchen icon

NAPPANEE, Ind. (AP) — Hoosier cabinets — the original all-in-one kitchen — were once a mainstay in early 20th-century American homes. Though they have long since fallen out of fashion, a giant, climbable replica has been unveiled outdoors in a northern Indiana town to celebrate the cabinet’s place in kitchen history. The 30-foot (9-meter) model […]
5 days ago

Britain’s Andy Green sets another speed record, this time for fastest run in a hydrogen-powered car

WENDOVER, Utah (AP) — The only person to break the sound barrier in a car earned another world record Tuesday in a show of force for hydrogen power. British driver Andy Green reached 406.320 mph (653.908 kph) in a car powered by two hydrogen internal combustion engines with a combined 1,600 horsepower, setting the record […]
6 days ago
FILE - The download screen for the Truth Social app is displayed on a laptop computer, March 20, 20...

Trump media company announces a massive loss and new turnaround effort

NEW YORK (AP) — The president’s media company posted a massive loss in the second quarter and announced plans to ditch new business lines and refocus as a forum for users to post their views. Trump Media & Technology, the company behind the Truth Social platform, said Monday that it lost $238 million in the […]
7 days ago

Driver who broke the sound barrier attempts another land speed record in Utah

WENDOVER, Utah (AP) — The first — and only — person to break the sound barrier in a car hits the track in Utah this week with new wheels and his eye on another record. Twenty years ago, British driver Andy Green set the land speed record for a diesel-powered car, reaching 350.092 mph (563.4 […]
7 days ago
A 1981 Commodore SP9000 “Super PET” computer and floppy disk drives are displayed at the Vintag...

As AI grips world, the thrill of collecting vintage computers is growing

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — Software engineer Josh Dersch loves old computers. He spends countless hours tinkering in his garage, trying to coax decades-old machines back to life. He estimates he owns more than 200 vintage computers and devices in his Seattle home. “It’s always been fascinating to me to see the origins of things,” […]
7 days ago
FILE - New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez speaks during a rally to protect kids online on Cap...

New Mexico attorney general hopes Meta ruling leads to Big Tech review. Here’s what to know

New Mexico’s attorney general hopes a state court ruling ordering Facebook parent company Meta to pay $567 million and take steps to protect people under 18 is the impetus for addressing how Big Tech can harm children. Thursday’s decision ended the second phase of a landmark trial. Jurors earlier this year determined Meta knowingly harmed […]
10 days ago
FILE - The Chat GPT app icon is seen on a smartphone screen, Aug. 4, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Ki...

Some US adults are using AI for financial guidance but few trust it, Gallup poll finds

NEW YORK (AP) — Some U.S. adults are using artificial intelligence for financial guidance, but it’s far from the most trusted source of advice, according to a new Gallup survey conducted in partnership with Edward Jones, a financial services firm. About 1 in 5 Americans who have sought financial advice in the past year turned […]
10 days ago

Sydney Towle, content creator who documented life with cancer, dies at 26

Sydney Towle, a social media content creator who projected enduring optimism as she chronicled her life with a rare form of cancer, has died, according to her family. She was 26. Towle was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, an aggressive form of cancer in the bile ducts, in August 2023. Her mother, Elizabeth Morrow, and brother, Austin […]
11 days ago

Court orders Meta to pay $567 million to address kids’ mental health and safety on its platforms

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico court on Thursday ordered Meta to pay $567 million for mental health harm to kids from its platforms. The Associated Press has reached out to New Mexico’s Department of Justice and Meta for comment on the decision.
11 days ago
FILE - An ad for the prediction market app Kalshi is displayed on a mobile phone Thursday, April 16...

Federal judge lets Utah enforce its anti-gambling laws on the prediction market Kalshi

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah can enforce its strict anti-gambling laws on prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket, a federal judge ruled in a win for states seeking to rein in the popular betting platforms. Utah has been on the front lines of a battle between states and the federal government over who […]
11 days ago
FILE - A worker reacts near a line of humanoid robots displayed at the World AI Conference in Shang...

China announces countermeasures against Washington, including controls on drones exports to the US

BANGKOK (AP) — China announced a series of economic measures Wednesday against the United States, including controls on exports of drones to the U.S. and a ban on dealings with six American entities, in response to recent restrictions imposed by Washington. Tensions are simmering between the world’s two biggest economies ahead of an expected visit […]
12 days ago
Karen Mikesell, owner of the home that Neil Armstrong once lived in, poses for a photo in the forme...

Home where astronaut Neil Armstrong’s boyhood dreams of flying took off is for sale

WAPAKONETA, Ohio (AP) — Inside Neil Armstrong’s boyhood home, at the top of a creaky stairway, sits his bedroom where he launched model airplanes out of the rear window to measure how far they’d fly. Hanging in the room now are autographed photos of astronauts who’ve visited the privately kept house to see where Armstrong’s […]
12 days ago
A worker drives a forklift at the Phoenix Tailings refinery Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in Exeter, N....

US faces new pressure to build weapons without China’s rare earth magnets

EXETER, N.H. (AP) — A giant American flag hanging on the wall of a warehouse in New Hampshire hints at the national importance of the elements bound inside the mining waste stored in 1-ton bags. The company uses electrolysis to separate the key critical elements President Donald Trump’s administration desperately wants to produce domestically from […]
14 days ago
Faith Maeba, a student at Virginia Commonwealth University, poses for a portrait with her tablet at...

At colleges, the AI boom means everyone wants to dabble in computer science

With no background in coding, Faith Maeba, a psychology major, was reluctant when her mother first suggested she enroll in classes on artificial intelligence. But the senior at Virginia Commonwealth University began to see it differently as she looked into graduate psychology programs that explore human behavior in the workplace, which is quickly being upended […]
14 days ago