Mashable Selects Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Creator Playbook Look Up Back to School Say More Trending Now Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age Switch Off Mashable Voices Safety Net Versus All Series Did California just ban social media for teens? The nation's most populous state passed Adam's Law to regulate chatbot harm. Chase joined Mashable's Social Good team in 2020, covering online stories about digital activism, climate justice, accessibility, and media representation. California's new child safety laws are official, mandating tech companies build for teens. California governor Gavin Newsom's signature is now on a slew of new tech laws, including a dozen new state bills that target social media and AI giants.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed multiple measures aimed at protecting the state's youth. These new laws include restrictions for potentially addictive social media features and limitations on how young users can interact with AI chatbots. The state is enacting restrictions on how teens can interact with chatbots from AI companies, including time limits. Chatbot makers will be required to implement mental health resources, safety protocols in case a minor discusses self harm and notifications for parents if a child turns off safety settings. California will now require "independent child safety audits and annual risk assessments" by AI companies.

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China slams US claims of'industrial-scale' AI theft Share China slams US claims of'industrial-scale' AI theft on social media China has issued a forceful reply against claims by the United States that top Chinese artificial intelligence companies have engaged in "industrial scale" theft of their US counterparts' AI models. The response on Wednesday comes after three US federal agencies - the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), National Security Agency (NSA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) - accused Chinese AI companies of exploiting American AI models to benefit their own systems. Tokens are the smallest units of text that AI models read, or generate. On Wednesday, China's Commerce Ministry dismissed the allegations and accused the US of seeking a "monopoly of the AI industry". "If the U.S. suppresses Chinese AI companies under the pretext of targeting distillation, China will take resolute countermeasures," the ministry said in a statement to the Associated Press.

OpenAI's latest mathematical milestone has quickly become mired in controversy. Today, the company announced that its agents have solved one of the Millennium Prize Problems, some of the most important open problems in mathematics. Under normal circumstances, that solution would be a huge feather in OpenAI's cap. But the announcement has been overshadowed by accusations that OpenAI used NYU mathematician Tristan Buckmaster's and Anthropic employee Levent Alpöge's AI-assisted work on the problem as a jumping-off point and failed to credit them. OpenAI has denied the accusations. It remains uncertain if OpenAI's models made use of the work completed by Buckmaster and Alpöge, though Sébastien Bubeck, a member of the technical staff at OpenAI, said in a press briefing that the team was inspired to pursue the problem after hearing a rumor about Buckmaster and Alpöge's efforts.

The term lends an air of scientific rigor to what are really billion-dollar corporations. When did AI companies become AI labs? That term, and the image of studious, exacting white-coated scientists that it conjures, has become curiously entrenched as a descriptor for the businesses swiftly escorting the world into an existentially unsettling future. AI companies themselves have embraced the label: When Chris Olah, a co-founder of Anthropic, addressed the pope earlier this year, he repeatedly referred to his company, one of the most powerful AI enterprises in the world, as a lab. Industry press releases, technology commentators, and news publications have all picked up the word too.

We're Suing ChatGPT--And Trump Just Got Involved. Get your news from a source that's not owned and controlled by oligarchs. The other day I asked ChatGPT about a political moment I'll never forget: "What was the 47 percent story about?" That's accurate as far as it goes. But there's one glaring omission: any reference to, which uncovered the story that reshaped that election cycle. The summary contained no links or citations to our reporting.

Emil Michael during a Senate armed services committee confirmation hearing in Washington DC on 27 March 2025. Emil Michael during a Senate armed services committee confirmation hearing in Washington DC on 27 March 2025. The top Pentagon official overseeing military artificial intelligence policy, who reaped profits earlier this year of up to $24m selling his private investment in Elon Musk's AI company, has now sold his holdings in another AI company for between $5m and $25m, according to records seen by the Guardian. Earlier this year, the Guardian disclosed that the official, Emil Michael, had profited handsomely from his investment in Musk's xAI in January, with a gain of between 400% and 4,800% . Michael's latest financial disclosures show that in June, he sold off his shares in Perplexity, an AI-powered search engine.

Trending Now Say More Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Switch Off Creator Playbook Mashable Voices Mashable Selects Safety Net Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List In My Bag All Series FTC and 22 states sue Amazon for allegedly inflating ad prices for 1.2 million advertisers Amazon denies misleading advertisers and says its system helped businesses save billions of dollars. Olivia Tauber is the deputy editor of digital culture, covering creators, media, movies, beauty, and more. Based in New York, her work has appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Cut, Teen Vogue, Complex, and Interview Magazine. She holds a Master's degree in Journalism from NYU and a Bachelor's from the University of Michigan. She also runs Fan Mail, a weekly pop-culture newsletter.

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