FTC targets AI ‘companion’ chatbots over safety fears | France pushes criminal probe into TikTok over kids’ safety | OpenAI and Microsoft reach tentative deal to revise partnership
Plus, YouTube debuts multi language audio after a two-year pilot
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The Federal Trade Commission has launched an inquiry into several social media and artificial intelligence companies about the potential harms to children and teenagers who use their AI chatbots as companions. Associated Press
A French lawmaker has asked the state prosecutor for a criminal investigation into whether TikTok was responsible for ‘endangering the lives’ of its young users. The Guardian
OpenAI and Microsoft said Thursday they have reached preliminary terms on a revised partnership and are "actively working to finalize" a definitive agreement. Axios
ASPI
How authoritarian propaganda presents Indonesian protests as foreign-instigated
ASPI
Fitriani and Radityo Dharmaputra
Russia and China often work from the same playbook. This is clear in their reactions to domestic protests in places of interest, including Indonesia. Since late August, Indonesians have been protesting against police violence and politicians’ perks. Moscow and Beijing have taken advantage of this chaos, claiming it is a direct result of the United States meddling in the domestic affairs of an Asian nation. The Indonesian government and its diplomatic partners, as well as the public, should be aware of these operations.
Australia
Scott Farquhar calls out copyright regulation as a threat to AI in Australia
The Australian
Perry Williams
Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar described the use of copyright and artificial intelligence as a “showstopper” in Australia amid a battle between big tech companies and the nation’s news and creative industries over access to protected content.
China
China's UBtech wins $35m order for industrial humanoid robots
Nikkei Asia
Kohei Fujimura
UBtech Robotics has won a contract worth 250 million yuan for industrial humanoid robots, which the Chinese company touted as the world's largest order for such machines. Delivery begins this year. The order is mostly for UBtech's newest humanoid robot, the Walker S2, which was unveiled in July. The dual-battery model can replace its own battery packs in its back, allowing the robot to operate without downtime.
USA
FTC launches inquiry into AI chatbots acting as companions and their effects on children
Associated Press
Barbara Ortutay
The Federal Trade Commission has launched an inquiry into several social media and artificial intelligence companies about the potential harms to children and teenagers who use their AI chatbots as companions. The FTC said Thursday it has sent letters to Google parent Alphabet, Facebook and Instagram parent Meta Platforms, Snap, Character Technologies, ChatGPT maker OpenAI and xAI.
Uber sued by Justice Department over disability discrimination
Bloomberg
Peter Blumberg
Uber Technologies Inc. was sued by the US Justice Department over claims that the ride-sharing giant discriminates against people with physical disabilities in violation of federal law. The department’s civil rights division alleged in a complaint filed Thursday in federal court in northern California that Uber drivers routinely refuse to accommodate passengers with disabilities, including people who travel with service animals or who use stowable wheelchairs.
US investment in spyware is skyrocketing
WIRED
Vas Panagiotopoulos
The United States has emerged as the largest investor in commercial spyware—a global industry that has enabled the covert surveillance of journalists, human rights defenders, politicians, diplomats, and others, posing grave threats to human rights and national security.
Videos of Charlie Kirk’s shooting spread rapidly on Social Media
The New York Times
Sheera Frenkel and Kate Conger
Within minutes of the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at a Utah rally, graphic videos of the attack spread across X, Instagram, YouTube, and Telegram, amassing millions of views. Despite long-standing policies against violent content, users easily evaded detection by altering footage. Experts warn the viral spread of such politically charged violence marks a dangerous moment for U.S. civic life and exposes weakened platform guardrails.
Southeast Asia
Panasonic earmarks $115m to produce AI server material in Thailand
Nikkei Asia
Marie Shimokawa
Panasonic Holdings will spend 17 billion yen in Thailand to manufacture material for artificial intelligence servers, Nikkei has learned. Panasonic Industry, a subsidiary, will build a facility at a production site in Ayutthaya province that will make copper material used in multilayer circuit boards.
North Asia
Japan logistics systems maker seeks bigger US market share
Nikkei Asia
Takuro Hosoda
Japanese material handling systems maker Daifuku is seeking to expand its U.S. market share by boosting production capacity and building resources to improve technology. The company's strategy, announced Wednesday, involves an 80% increase in production staff at its U.S. facilities and setting up research and development hubs in Japan to integrate artificial intelligence and other improvements.
Nippon Express to raise India revenue target 20% on chip boom
Nikkei Asia
Kotaro Abe
Japanese logistics group Nippon Express Holdings will boost its revenue target in India for the fiscal year ending December 2028 by 20% to 60 billion yen on the strong performance of its chip-related distribution business there, Nikkei has learned.
NZ & Pacific Islands
Europe
French lawmaker calls for criminal inquiry into TikTok’s effect on children
The Guardian
Angelique Chrisafis
A French lawmaker has asked the state prosecutor for a criminal investigation into whether TikTok was responsible for ‘endangering the lives’ of its young users. The move follows a six-month parliamentary inquiry which found that TikTok’s algorithms knowingly expose minors to harmful content, describing its impact as like ‘slow poison’.
Swiss government looks to undercut privacy tech, stoking fears of mass surveillance
The Record by Recorded Future
Suzanne Smalley
The Swiss government could soon require service providers with more than 5,000 users to collect government-issued identification, retain subscriber data for six months and, in many cases, disable encryption. The proposal, which is not subject to parliamentary approval, has alarmed privacy and digital-freedoms advocates worldwide because of how it will destroy anonymity online, including for people located outside of Switzerland.
Snapchat allows drug dealers to operate openly on platform, finds Danish study
The Guardian
Miranda Bryant
A Danish research organisation found evidence that Snapchat’s recommendation system pushed profiles of users openly selling drugs—including cocaine, opioids, and MDMA—to 13-year-old test accounts, some without any prior interaction with drug-related content. Of 40 profiles reported to Snapchat, only 10 were removed; the other 30 were rejected, researchers say.
AirPods live translation blocked for EU users with EU Apple accounts
MacRumors
Tim Hardwick
Apple says on its feature availability webpage that "Apple Intelligence: Live Translation with AirPods" won't be available if both the user is physically in the EU and their Apple Account region is in the EU. Apple doesn't give a reason for the restriction, but legal and regulatory pressures seem the most plausible culprits.
UK
Cyberattacks against schools driven by a rise in student hackers, ICO warns
The Record by Recorded Future
Alexander Martin
The U.K.’s Information Commissioner's Office warned on Thursday that student hackers motivated by dares are driving an increasing number of cyberattacks and data breaches affecting schools. It advised parents to “to have regular conversations with their children about what they get up to online” and warned that children hacking into their school’s computer systems may be setting themselves up for lives of cybercrime.
Big Tech
OpenAI and Microsoft reach tentative deal to revise partnership
Axios
Ina Fried
OpenAI and Microsoft said Thursday they have reached preliminary terms on a revised partnership and are "actively working to finalize" a definitive agreement. The deal with Microsoft resolves a major hurdle in OpenAI's planned corporate restructuring, but it still must be approved by regulators.
YouTube’s multi-language audio feature for dubbing videos rolls out to all creators
TechCrunch
Lauren Forristal
YouTube announced on Wednesday that its multi-language audio feature has officially launched after a two-year-long pilot. Now, millions of YouTubers can add dubbing to their videos in different languages, helping them reach a wider global audience. The rollout is expected to happen over the coming weeks.
Google is shutting down Tables, its Airtable rival
TechCrunch
Sarah Perez
Google Tables, a work-tracking tool and competitor to the popular spreadsheet-database hybrid Airtable, is shutting down. In an email sent to Tables users this week, Google said the app will not be supported after December 16, 2025, and advised that users export or migrate their data to either Google Sheets or AppSheet instead, depending on their needs.
Artificial Intelligence
Encyclopedia Britannica sues Perplexity over AI 'answer engine'
Reuters
Blake Brittain
Perplexity AI is the latest artificial intelligence company to be hit with a lawsuit by copyright holders alleging infringement after Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster accused it of misusing their content in its "answer engine" for internet searches. The reference companies alleged in New York federal court on Wednesday that Perplexity unlawfully copied their material and diminished their revenue by redirecting their web traffic to its AI-generated summaries.
How thousands of ‘overworked, underpaid’ humans train Google’s AI to seem smart
The Guardian
Varsha Bansal
Contracted AI raters describe grueling deadlines, poor pay and opacity around work to make chatbots intelligent… Thousands of humans rate, moderate, and correct Google’s Gemini outputs—yet many say the job is mentally taxing, under-resourced, and poorly explained
F5 paying $180M to acquire CalypsoAI to boost AI enterprise security offerings
Geek Wire
Taylor Soper
Seattle-based security and application delivery giant F5 will pay $180 million to acquire CalypsoAI, a startup founded in 2018 that helps companies secure their generative AI infrastructure. The deal is financed primarily with cash and is expected to close this month, F5 said in a news release.
Linktree CEO orders staff to use AI in quest for more 'time on craft'
Capital Brief
Daniel Van Boom
Alex Zaccaria called an all-hands meeting with Linktree's 200-plus employees to relay a simple message: You should all be using AI. Comparing artificial intelligence to the advent of electricity, Zaccaria said that companies like his need fundamentally revamp how they work in order to get the productivity boom he's convinced AI can ignite.
Events & Podcasts
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and her fight for Belarus’ freedom
ASPI
In this special episode of Stop the World, David Wroe speaks with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the Belarusian democracy advocate who leads a government-elect from exile. After dictator Alexander Lukashenka declared himself winner of the 2020 election despite sweeping evidence that the people had chosen Sviatlana, 1.5 million Belarusians took to the streets, sparking a brutal crackdown and Sviatlana’s deportation to neighbouring Lithuania. As the interview took place, news was breaking that Poland was forced to shoot down several Russian drones, at least some of which came from Belarus—a reminder of what’s at stake in both Belarus’ and Ukraine’s fights for freedom.
The Daily Cyber & Tech Digest is brought to you by the Cyber, Technology & Security Programs team at ASPI and supported by partners.
