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    Meta pauses teen access to AI characters

    By SHOOTNo Comments126 Views
    Attendees visit the Meta booth at the Game Developers Conference 2023 in San Francisco on March 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
    MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) --

    Meta is halting teens’ access to artificial intelligence characters, at least temporarily, the company said in a blog post Friday.

    Meta Platforms Inc., which own Instagram and WhatsApp, said that starting in the “coming weeks,” teens will no longer be able to access AI characters “until the updated experience is ready”

    This applies to anyone who gave Meta a birthday that makes them a minor, as well as “people who claim to be adults but who we suspect are teens based on our age prediction technology.”

    The move comes the week before Meta — along with TikTok and Google’s YouTube — is scheduled to stand trial in Los Angeles over its apps’ harms to children.

    Teens will still be able to access Meta’s AI assistant, just not the characters.

    Other companies have also banned teens from AI chatbots amid growing concerns about the effects of artificial intelligence conversations on children. Character.AI announced its ban last fall. That company is facing several lawsuits over child safety, including by the mother of a teenager who says the company’s chatbots pushed her teenage son to kill himself.

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    News Categories:News Briefs
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    Tags:artificial intelligenceMeta



    Woman pleads not guilty to trying to murder Rihanna and to assaulting the singing superstar’s family

    Wednesday, March 25, 2026
    Rihanna arrives at the premiere of "Smurfs" on Sunday, July 13, 2025, at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

    A woman from Florida pleaded not guilty Wednesday to the attempted murder of Rihanna.

    Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, of Orlando, also pleaded not guilty through her attorney to more than a dozen other felony counts in Los Angeles Superior Court.

    Prosecutors allege the singing superstar, her hip-hop star partner A$AP Rocky and their three young children were among the people assaulted at their home in the Beverly Hills area on March 8 when Ortiz, 35, pulled up to the property and sprayed about 20 bullets from an AR-15 style rifle into the tall exterior wall.

    Ortiz is charged with 10 counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and three counts of shooting at an occupied vehicle or dwelling. She could get life in prison if convicted on all charges.

    Her lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Derek Ray Dillman, entered the plea on her behalf as Ortiz appeared behind glass in a custody area, wearing yellow jail clothes with her blond hair in braids. She spoke only to agree to waive her right to a speedy preliminary hearing, the next phase of the case where evidence is presented to determine whether a trial is warranted.

    Her lawyer asked that her bail be reduced from $1.9 million to $70,000 based on her ability to pay. Judge Theresa McGonigle declined the request and kept the bail the same.

    The prosecutor, arguing against the reduction, said she's a major risk to the community and would likely flee.

    "This case involves a dangerous, deliberate shooting into occupied homes," Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott said. "This is the kind of conduct that could easily have resulted in multiple homicides."

    When Ortiz was arrested hours after the shooting, she was alone in her car with the rifle, more rounds and a wig she intended to... Read More

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