The proposed class action alleges Meta illegally harvested people's Facebook and Instagram photos to train its AI image-generation models and to build its unreleased "NameTag" face recognition feature. A set of parents and their children in Illinois and California filed a lawsuit last week in federal court in Chicago alleging that Meta illegally used their Facebook and Instagram photos to build NameTag, an unreleased face-recognition system for its smart glasses, and to train generative AI models including Emu and Muse Image . The proposed class action alleges that Meta violated Illinois and California privacy laws by extracting biometric information from people's photos without notice or consent. WIRED reported in June that code for NameTag had been secretly embedded in the Meta glasses AI companion app, which had been downloaded more than 50 million times. While the feature had not been enabled for users of the app, the analysis found that the system was designed to turn faces captured by the glasses into biometric signatures and compare them with so-called faceprints stored in a database on the user's phone.

Muse, Meta's newly-released AI agent, is now using social media handles once controlled by Muse, the English rock band. The exact circumstances surrounding how the accounts changed hands are unclear, but it has once again raised questions about Meta and other large platforms' ability to commandeer usernames when it suits them. Muse, the band, which trademarked its name in 1999, according to its wiki, has used the @muse moniker on Instagram and on X for years. But earlier this summer fans noticed the band's Instagram username seemed to change to @museband. The change happened in July, according to The Independent, though Reddit users seem to have spotted a change in early June.

Designed to compete with OpenClaw and Instinct, the company says Muse can do everything from sell your car to book you a plane ticket. Meta announced Tuesday the release of Muse, a personal AI agent that people can message to automate digital tasks in a secure cloud environment, all while relying on security and privacy that the company says is "built into it" from the start. Meta says Muse is rolling out today for iOS and Android users in a dedicated Muse app, as well as the website Muse.ai. The company also says users can directly message Muse in WhatsApp to interact with the agent. Meta says users of its AI glasses will soon be able to interact with its Muse agent as well.

Meta has revealed its long-promised personal AI agent that requires "no technical experience" to set up. Called Muse, Meta says the agent is able to complete a wide range of actions on users' behalf, including online shopping, drafting and sending emails, planning trips and other productivity-focused tasks. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has previously said that he wants Meta to create agents that can work proactively to help people get things done, but in a more accessible format than other platforms like OpenClaw. Muse, which has its own dedicated apps and website, is more capable than the Meta AI assistant because it can handle complex tasks and work independently. "Once a person shares a goal with Muse, it helps them develop a personalized plan and coordinate their time and resources, then advances the work on its own," the company explains in a blog post.

Images of real children--including a member of a European royal family--were used to create some of the 350 ads containing child sexual abuse. Lawmakers say they plan to investigate. Early last month, Meta deleted around 50 ads posted on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads that directly included child sexual abuse material (CSAM), following reporting by WIRED. At the time, the company said that most of the abusive ads had been published prior to it rolling out new AI tools designed to "better detect and block" harmful ads being uploaded. That AI system, however, doesn't appear to have been entirely effective.

The company is reducing pressure on workers to use artificial intelligence tools while encouraging them to experiment with Hatch, its most advanced AI project yet. Meta is formally ending what amounted to a tokenmaxxing incentive program for employees. In an internal announcement this week, the social media giant told workers that their performance evaluations would no longer be dependent upon how much they used AI tools, three employees who received the message tell WIRED. But as Meta workers simultaneously begin testing a new agentic AI tool known as Hatch, they say their token consumption continues to surge. Almost a year ago, Meta had said workers would be graded on their AI-driven impact," which in practice meant evaluating the extent to which they used chatbots and agents to improve their day-to-day work, Business Insider reported at the time . Usage correlated with employees receiving labels such as "AI Native," "AI First," or "AI Enabled," according to a lawsuit filed in July by about two dozen employees arguing that Meta violated US antidiscrimination laws when laying them off in May. New guidance for performance reviews unveiled this week replaces references to evaluating employees based on criteria like "usage of AI" and their "AI Native" designation, with looser wording, which caveats that "these outcomes can be supported by AI or other means." It restores Meta's focus to grading employees on their impact, with less regard to how it is achieved. Some Meta employees tell WIRED the changes are subtle but welcome, freeing them from feeling pressured to use AI in situations in which it doesn't make sense. Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton tells WIRED that the updates this week aim to emphasize what has always been the case--Meta evaluates employees based on their contributions. He adds that labels such as "AI Native" were never used for performance evaluation. Engineers across the company were told this week that the company "will not use AI adoption dashboards or token counts to evaluate impact," The Information reported on Wednesday. "Are you a current or former Meta employee who wants to talk about what's happening?

Creator Playbook Trending Now Say More Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Switch Off Mashable Voices Mashable Selects Safety Net Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List In My Bag All Series Is Meta finally backing a federal kids safety bill, or is it all PR? Some say the company is sending mixed messages about kids' safety. Chase joined Mashable's Social Good team in 2020, covering online stories about digital activism, climate justice, accessibility, and media representation. A group of parents called out comments by a Meta official backing industry regulation. In the aftermath of Meta's recent $17 billion settlement, the culmination of a litigious debate over its alleged role in social media addiction and youth mental health, all attention was on the platform's promises.

Meta has introduced its first real-time audio model, Muse Voice Transcribe. The model can handle dictation and transcription for more than 20 speakers and can seamlessly handle multiple languages at once, Meta says. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who recently returned to X after three years of not posting on the platform, shared an example of the model's ability to handle multiple speakers and languages at once. In the video, the transcription is able to automatically distinguish between multiple speakers and switch between languages. It's even able to pick up on "code-switching" and transcribe sentences that use words from multiple languages.

Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. A boy looks at a phone screen in Sydney, Australia, which banned social media for kids in December 2025. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here . See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. The actual teen protections are more complicated. I'm not a parent, but I'm looking at the Meta settlement wondering if our kids are any safer. If you haven't heard already, Meta agreed last Wednesday to settle a lawsuit over Facebook and Instagram's affect on children. Brought by 47 states, Washington D.C., and several U.S. territories, the suit alleged that Meta purposely made its platforms addictive to kids, ultimately causing negative mental health outcomes like anxiety, depression, and even suicide.