Meta's Ad Sales Are Suffering Now That Europeans Can Pick Less Personalization An earnings briefing on Wednesday revealed ad revenue has slowed since the European Union introduced the Less Personalized Ads models at the beginning of this year. Meta's advertising growth in Europe is slowing now that residents have the option for less of their personal data to influence what advertisements they see. Advertising revenue in Europe continued to decelerate in the three months through September, the company said on Wednesday, underperforming its global figures. In the region, advertising revenue grew 18 percent year-on-year, slowing from the previous two quarters and lagging the 33 percent growth seen in the US and Canada. Though Meta did not explicitly blame the introduction of the Less Personalized Ads model on Wednesday, chief financial officer Susan Li had previously warned "we're seeing the impact of less personalized ads offering in Europe now that it's fully rolled out, and that may be an additional headwind," in July's second quarter results follow-up call.

The new open-source model speaks the language of DNA and can help researchers understand the effects of any changes on gene activity and health. The AI platform Hugging Face on Thursday released a new open-source model for understanding DNA that can run locally on a laptop. Developed in collaboration with researchers at Zhongguancun Academy in China and the University of Naples Federico II in Italy, the model is trained on genomic sequences and natural language so that people can ask questions about the effects of DNA changes on gene activity and health and get conversational answers in return. Lewis Tunstall, a senior research scientist at Hugging Face, says the tool is meant to help researchers design new drugs and genetic therapies, and it could potentially aid patients in interpreting their own genomes. "We've unlocked a new capability in language models, which is fundamentally about being able to chat with DNA," he says of the new model, dubbed Carbon-X .

Meta's board feared that its CEO's departure could disrupt the company's AI ambitions. A new stock agreement gives him financial incentives to stay put. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has agreed to keep living in Silicon Valley for eight years, potentially exposing himself to billions of dollars in one-time taxes if California voters approve a contentious ballot measure next month, according to a company regulatory filing released Wednesday. During a dinner with Meta board members on September 9, Zuckerberg informed them that he was considering leaving California because of the measure, known as Proposition 40, and that he planned to list his Palo Alto, California home for sale four days later, the 109-page filing stated. The ballot proposal, which could be subject to lawsuits even if voters approve it, calls for a one-time 5 percent tax on stock and other assets held by billionaires in the state as of January 2026.

This Startup Is All In on Recursive Self-Improvement. Recursive makes the case that the benefits of using AI to build AI outweigh the risks. For the past few days I've been testing an impressive open-weight AI coding model called Flint. It suggests that fully recursive self-improvement, or RSI--an exciting and controversial approach that uses AI to build AI--is getting closer. Flint is the first offering from Recursive, a company that aims to use RSI to advance both AI itself and other areas of science using AI .

A hacker collective pulled down a Flock camera and dumped its data. The files included thousands of videos and logs showing that the device captured 1.6 million images of 50,000 vehicles in 21 days. Hackers ripped down a Flock camera above a roadway, made a near-complete copy of the data stored inside it, and shared the files with 404 Media and WIRED, revealing in new detail how exactly Flock Safety's cameras track the movements of both vehicles and people . The hackers say they are also publishing details on how they managed to obtain the software, in the hopes that other people may copy them. The breach provides an unprecedented look inside a system that Flock has described as protected by on-device encryption .

The US and China agree that advanced AI poses serious risks. But Beijing is deeply skeptical of a deal that prioritizes keeping US companies ahead. For years, many of the most powerful people in Silicon Valley have argued that the US is locked in an AI arms race with China, and that the consequences of losing would be disastrous. But over the past week, those same executives have started emphasizing a different message. AI has the potential to become so dangerous, tech leaders say, that the two countries urgently need to work together to slow the race down.

The legal battle over whether prediction markets are a form of gambling has overshadowed something else entirely: They're already a new form of media. Every day, a newsletter from the prediction market Polymarket hits my inbox with a subject line that could easily come from any number of politics-focused newspapers or magazines. Recent entries include "Houthis Reveal New Precision Strike Capabilities," "BREAKING: Trump Unveils Green Energy Beam," and "World War I, 2.0?" These dispatches are roundups with breathless summaries of the day's top stories, linking out to corresponding Polymarket markets--yes, this thing will happen; no, it won't. As far as business news analysis goes, the newsletter is not exactly Bloomberg's, or even Emily Sundberg's --but it's recognizably a commercial editorial product, and one that plays an important role in the prediction market ecosystem.

'Smart' Nanoparticles Deliver mRNA Directly to Tumors in New Cancer Therapy The treatment can reprogram immune cells that have been corrupted by the cancer, strengthening the body's ability to attack. They are responsible for keeping our own tissues in check, taking out cancerous cells before they have a chance to grow. Once a tumor forms, however, it can create an environment that declaws cancer-fighting immune cells--in some cases even reprogramming them to suppress other parts of the immune system. Overcoming the oppressive tumor environment remains a barrier for even some of the most promising treatments. "One of the biggest challenges in cancer immunotherapy is that the immune system may be capable of attacking a tumor, but the tumor environment can stop those immune cells from doing their job," University of Adelaide professor Chunxia Zhao explained in a press release .

AI'Actor' Tilly Norwood Told Me That'All Lives Matter' The virtual character, which is promoting its upcoming movie, tries to evade politics by repetitively commenting on the clothes you're wearing. A generated image of AI actress, Tilly Norwood. For Hollywood stars, press junkets are an opportunity to promote new work while connecting with fans. They tell funny or embarrassing stories about one another, give us a glimpse into the film production process, and reveal mannerisms that make them more relatable. So why would anyone want to talk to Tilly Norwood, an interactive, British-accented digital character and "actor" developed with generative artificial intelligence by Xicoia, an AI division of a studio called Particle 6 Group?

Following mass layoffs in 2022 and 2023, many tech workers turned against their employers. When liberal politicians also rallied against Silicon Valley, their backers turned to Donald Trump. In the spring of 2020, as a new and highly contagious virus spread throughout the country, the US came to a standstill. The economy shut down, cities emptied, and white-collar workers were sent home en masse. Platforms like Zoom, Slack, and Microsoft Teams surged in usage as WFH became ubiquitous. From remote schooling and virtual weddings to app-based grocery delivery and livestreamed concerts, the pandemic accelerated and cemented society's increasing reliance on digital platforms. Already one of the most powerful forces in the American economy, the tech sector suddenly became the infrastructure underpinning every aspect of life.