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Meta under fire over AI deepfake celebrity chatbots

Meta faces scrutiny after a Reuters investigation found its AI tools created deepfake chatbots and images of celebrities without consent. Some bots made flirtatious advances, encouraged meet-ups, and generated photorealistic sexualised images.

The affected celebrities include Taylor Swift, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway, and Selena Gomez.

The probe also uncovered a chatbot of 16-year-old actor Walker Scobell producing inappropriate images, raising serious child safety concerns. Meta admitted policy enforcement failures and deleted around a dozen bots shortly before publishing the report.

A spokesperson acknowledged that intimate depictions of adult celebrities and any sexualised content involving minors should not have been generated.

Following the revelations, Meta announced new safeguards to protect teenagers, including restricting access to certain AI characters and retraining models to reduce inappropriate content.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta called exposing children to sexualised content ‘indefensible,’ and experts warned Meta could face legal challenges over intellectual property and publicity laws.

The case highlights broader concerns about AI safety and ethical boundaries. It also raises questions about regulatory oversight as social media platforms deploy tools that can create realistic deepfake content without proper guardrails.

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Meta faces turmoil as AI hiring spree backfires

Mark Zuckerberg’s ambitious plan to assemble a dream team of AI researchers at Meta has instead created internal instability.

High-profile recruits poached from rival firms have begun leaving within weeks of joining, citing cultural clashes and frustration with the company’s working style. Their departures have disrupted projects and unsettled long-time executives.

Meta had hoped its aggressive hiring spree would help the company rival OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic in developing advanced AI systems.

Instead of strengthening the company’s position, the strategy has led to delays in projects and uncertainty about whether Meta can deliver on its promises of achieving superintelligence.

The new arrivals were given extensive autonomy, fuelling tensions with existing teams and creating leadership friction. Some staff viewed the hires as destabilising, while others expressed concern about the direction of the AI division.

The resulting turnover has left Meta struggling to maintain momentum in its most critical area of research.

As Meta faces mounting pressure to demonstrate progress in AI, the setbacks highlight the difficulty of retaining elite talent in a fiercely competitive field.

Zuckerberg’s recruitment drive, rather than propelling Meta ahead, risks slowing down the company’s ability to compete at the highest level of AI development.

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WhatsApp launches AI assistant for editing messages

Meta’s WhatsApp has introduced a new AI feature called Writing Help, designed to assist users in editing, rewriting, and refining the tone of their messages. The tool can adjust grammar, improve phrasing, or reframe a message in a more professional, humorous, or encouraging style before it is sent.

The feature operates through Meta’s Private Processing technology, which ensures that messages remain encrypted and private instead of being visible to WhatsApp or Meta.

According to the company, Writing Help processes requests anonymously and cannot trace them back to the user. The function is optional, disabled by default, and only applies to the chosen message.

To activate the feature, users can tap a small pencil icon that appears while composing a message.

In a demonstration, WhatsApp showed how the tool could turn ‘Please don’t leave dirty socks on the sofa’ into more light-hearted alternatives, including ‘Breaking news: Socks found chilling on the couch’ or ‘Please don’t turn the sofa into a sock graveyard.’

By introducing Writing Help, WhatsApp aims to make communication more flexible and engaging while keeping user privacy intact. The company emphasises that no information is stored, and AI-generated suggestions only appear if users decide to enable the option.

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AI firms under scrutiny for exposing children to harmful content

The National Association of Attorneys General has called on 13 AI firms, including OpenAI and Meta, to strengthen child protection measures. Authorities warned that AI chatbots have been exposing minors to sexually suggestive material, raising urgent safety concerns.

Growing use of AI tools among children has amplified worries. In the US, surveys show that over three-quarters of teenagers regularly interact with AI companions. The UK data indicates that half of online 8-15-year-olds have used generative AI in the past year.

Parents, schools, and children’s rights organisations are increasingly alarmed by potential risks such as grooming, bullying, and privacy breaches.

Meta faced scrutiny after leaked documents revealed its AI Assistants engaged in ‘flirty’ interactions with children, some as young as eight. The NAAG described the revelations as shocking and warned that other AI firms could pose similar threats.

Lawsuits against Google and Character.ai underscore the potential real-world consequences of sexualised AI interactions.

Officials insist that companies cannot justify policies that normalise sexualised behaviour with minors. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti warned that such practices are a ‘plague’ and urged innovation to avoid harming children.

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Meta teams up with Midjourney for AI video and image tools

Meta has confirmed a new partnership with Midjourney to license its AI image and video generation technology. The collaboration, announced by Meta Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang, will see Meta integrate Midjourney’s tools into upcoming models and products.

Midjourney will remain independent following the deal. CEO David Holz said the startup, which has never taken external investment, will continue operating on its own. The company launched its first video model earlier this year and has grown rapidly, reportedly reaching $200 million in revenue by 2023.

Midjourney is currently being sued by Disney and Universal for alleged copyright infringement in AI training data. Meta faces similar challenges, although courts have often sided with tech firms in recent decisions.

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Senior OpenAI executive Julia Villagra departs amid talent war

OpenAI’s chief people officer, Julia Villagra, has left the company, marking the latest leadership change at the AI pioneer. Villagra, who joined the San Francisco firm in early 2024 and was promoted in March, previously led its human resources operations.

Her responsibilities will temporarily be overseen by chief strategy officer Jason Kwon, while chief applications officer Fidji Simo will lead the search for her successor.

Open AI said Villagra is stepping away to pursue her personal interest in art, music and storytelling as tools to help people understand the shift towards artificial general intelligence, a stage when machines surpass human performance in most forms of work.

The departure comes as OpenAI navigates a period of intense competition for AI expertise. Microsoft-backed OpenAI is valued at about $300 billion, with a potential share sale set to raise that figure to $500 billion.

The company faces growing rivalry from Meta, where Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly offered $100 million signing bonuses to attract OpenAI talent.

While OpenAI expands, public concerns over the impact of AI on employment continue. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found 71% of Americans fear AI could permanently displace too many workers, despite the unemployment rate standing at 4.2% in July.

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Court filing details Musk’s outreach to Zuckerberg over OpenAI bid

Elon Musk attempted to bring Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg into his consortium’s $97.4 billion bid for OpenAI earlier this year, the company disclosed in a court filing.

According to sworn interrogations, OpenAI said Musk had discussed possible financing arrangements with Zuckerberg as part of the bid. Musk’s AI startup xAI, a competitor to OpenAI, did not respond to requests for comment.

In the filing, OpenAI asked a federal judge to order Meta to provide documents related to any bid for OpenAI, including internal communications about restructuring or recapitalisation. The firm argued these records could clarify motivations behind the bid.

Meta countered that such documents were irrelevant and suggested OpenAI seek them directly from Musk or xAI. A US judge ruled that Musk must face OpenAI’s claims of attempting to harm the company through public remarks and what it described as a sham takeover attempt.

The legal dispute follows Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman over its for-profit transition, with OpenAI filing a countersuit in April. A jury trial is scheduled for spring 2026.

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Meta strikes $10 billion cloud deal with Google

Meta has signed a cloud computing deal with Google worth more than $10 billion, marking one of the most significant agreements in the industry.

The six-year partnership will see Meta use Google Cloud’s servers, storage, networking and other services to power its massive AI projects.

The deal comes as Meta accelerates its AI infrastructure spending, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg pledging hundreds of billions of dollars for new data centres.

Last month, Meta raised its capital expenditure forecast to $72 billion and disclosed plans to offload $2 billion in data centre assets to outside partners.

The partnership highlights a growing trend of rival technology giants collaborating on AI infrastructure. Just weeks earlier, OpenAI struck a similar deal to use Google Cloud services despite being a competitor in the AI field.

These agreements have boosted Google Cloud’s performance, which saw a 32% jump in second-quarter revenue in July, surpassing market expectations.

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Weekly #226 – Google fined $35M in Australia, EU–US seal $750B trade deal, Nvidia’s new China AI chip

15 – 22 August 2025

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Last week, on Monday, Google agreed to pay a A$55 million (US$35.8 million) fine in Australia after regulators found it restricted competition by striking revenue-sharing deals with Telstra and Optus to pre-install its search app on Android phones, sidelining rival platforms. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said the arrangements, which were in place from 2019 to 2021, limited consumer choice and blocked competitors’ visibility. Google admitted that the deals harmed competition and pledged to drop similar practices, while Telstra and Optus confirmed that they no longer pursue such agreements. The settlement, which still requires court approval, comes amid wider legal and regulatory challenges for Google in Australia, including a recent loss in a case brought by Epic Games and growing scrutiny over its role in app distribution and social media access.

The United States and the European Union have agreed on a new Framework Agreement on Reciprocal, Fair, and Balanced Trade, aiming to reset one of the world’s largest trade relationships. The deal includes EU commitments to eliminate tariffs on US industrial goods, expand access for American agricultural and seafood products, and procure $750 billion in US energy exports and $40 billion in AI chips by 2028. In return, the US will cap tariffs on key EU goods, ease automobile tariffs, and pursue cooperation on steel, aluminium, and supply chain security. Both sides pledged deeper collaboration on defence procurement, digital trade, cybersecurity, sustainability rules, and standards harmonisation, while also working to resolve disputes over deforestation, carbon border taxes, and non-tariff barriers.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned that the US risks underestimating China’s rapid AI progress, arguing that export controls on advanced semiconductors are an unreliable long-term solution. Speaking in San Francisco, he said chip restrictions and policy-driven approaches often fail due to workarounds, while China is quickly expanding its AI capacity and accelerating domestic alternatives through firms like Huawei.

On the same front, Nvidia is quietly developing a new AI chip for China, the B30A, based on its advanced Blackwell architecture, just as Washington debates how much US technology Beijing should be allowed to access. Positioned between the weaker H20 and the flagship B300, the B30A retains key features like high-bandwidth memory and NVLink, making it more powerful than China’s current scaled-down H20 approved model while staying within export limits. The move follows President Trump’s recent openness to allowing scaled-down chip sales to China, though bipartisan lawmakers remain wary of boosting Beijing’s AI capabilities. Nvidia, which relies on China for 13% of its revenue, also plans to release the lower-end RTX6000D for AI inference in September, reflecting efforts to comply with US-China export policy while fending off rising domestic rivals like Huawei, whose chips are improving but still lag in software and memory. Meanwhile, Chinese regulators have warned firms about potential security risks in Nvidia’s products, underscoring the political tensions shaping the company’s commercial strategy.

Private conversations with xAI’s chatbot Grok were unintentionally exposed online after its ‘share’ button generated public URLs that became indexed by Google and other search engines, raising serious concerns about user privacy and AI safety. The leaked chats included sensitive and dangerous content, from hacking crypto wallets to drug-making instructions, despite xAI’s ban on harmful use. The flaw, reminiscent of earlier issues with other AI platforms like ChatGPT, has damaged trust in xAI and highlighted the urgent need for stronger privacy safeguards, such as blocking the indexing of shared content and adopting privacy-by-design measures, as users may otherwise hesitate to engage with chatbots.

Meta is launching a new research lab dedicated to superintelligence, led by Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang, as part of its push to regain momentum in the global AI race after mixed results with its Llama models and ongoing talent losses. Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly considering a multibillion-dollar investment in Scale, signalling strong confidence in Wang’s approach, while the lab’s creation, separate from Meta’s FAIR division, underscores Meta’s shift toward partnerships with top AI players, mirroring strategies used by Microsoft, Amazon, and Google.

Japanese technology giant SoftBank has announced plans to buy a $2 billion stake in Intel, signalling a stronger push into the American semiconductor industry. The investment comes as Washington debates greater government involvement in the sector, with reports suggesting President Donald Trump is weighing a US government stake in the chipmaker. SoftBank will purchase Intel’s common stock at $23 per share. Its chairman, Masayoshi Son, said semiconductors remain the backbone of every industry and expressed confidence that advanced chip manufacturing will expand in the US, with Intel playing a central role.

For the main updates, reflections and events, consult the RADAR, the READING CORNER and the UPCOMING EVENTS section below.

Join us as we connect the dots, from daily updates to main weekly developments, to bring you a clear, engaging monthly snapshot of worldwide digital trends.

DW Team

RADAR

Highlights from the week of 15 – 22 August 2025

closeup shot pile cryptocurrency cash golden coins

The first state to issue a government-backed stablecoin

The Frontier Stable Token marks the first government-backed stablecoin in the US, with Wyoming positioning itself as a leader in digital finance innovation.

DeepSeek launches upgraded AI system with stronger agent capability

With the V3.1 upgrade now live and the R1 label missing, observers are debating whether DeepSeek has postponed or abandoned its R2 reasoning model entirely.

collaborating with ai agents improves productivity

AI agents tipped to outnumber humans online

The former Twitter chief executive argues that AI agents will soon dominate the internet instead of humans, with individuals likely to deploy dozens to manage daily online activity.

Quantum computing firm strengthens European presence

Strangeworks acquires German firm Quantagonia to expand European operations and bring AI-powered, quantum-ready planning technology to more organisations.

UK aims for £1 trillion tech sector with AI and quantum growth

Government plan tackles talent shortages and chip supply disruption.

people wearing futuristic high tech virtual reality glasses

AI agents are transforming game development

Nearly nine in ten developers are using AI agents to speed up coding, testing, and localisation, while also adapting games to players in real time.

AI toys change the way children learn and play

Regulators urge safeguards for AI toys as children gain interactive companions that teach and engage instead of relying solely on human interaction or screens.

Fake Telegram Premium site spreads dangerous malware

Malware steals passwords, crypto data and system info without clicks.

Alibaba unveils AI agent to transform global trade for SMEs

The platform allows users to conduct market research, plan products, design prototypes, check regulations, and find distributors in minutes rather than weeks.

representation user experience interface design 3

ChatGPT dominates mobile AI market

Competitors Grok, Claude, and Copilot trail far behind as ChatGPT leads in downloads and consumer spending per user.

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HTC enters the AI smart glasses race with Vive Eagle

HTC’s entry into this market is significant as it competes with established players like Meta, Google, and Samsung, each developing or already offering advanced smart glasses technology.

desktop photo laptop with ai hologram interface chat concept ai artificial intelligence

The dark side of AI: Seven fears that won’t go away

Key concerns include the potential for widespread job displacement as AI systems replace human workers, significant environmental harm due to the substantial energy usage of AI models, and privacy erosion…

Bitcoin case deepens in Czech politics with arrest

A $45 million Bitcoin donation accepted without checks has turned into a major Czech political scandal, now focused on money laundering and drug trafficking.

US may take stake in Intel to boost chip production

Trump criticises Intel leadership, urging board action.

View all updates

READING CORNER

Alaska’s tech history: The failed cables that could have rewired the world

As the Trump-Putin summit brought Alaska into focus, its overlooked telegraph cables reveal a fascinating history: in the late 19th century, Alaska was on the brink of becoming a telecommunication hub connecting the US to Europe via Siberia.

Can AI replace the transmission of wisdom?

Can AI replace the transmission of wisdom? The world of education is changing radically and rapidly. Generative AI tools are now capable of writing essays, solving math problems, summarising textbooks, and even personalising learning experiences at scale.

Survive the AI jargon tsunami: Find shelter in your mother tongue

English dominates the AI landscape, but this hegemony can hinder our understanding of AI’s deeper, non-technical aspects. The recent explosion of AI jargon often obscures meaning and can lead to cognitive confusion. Embracing our native languages allows us to deflate this jargon, fostering clearer, common-sense comprehension of AI concepts.

AI in justice: Bridging the global access gap or deepening inequalities

AI offers tools to expand access to justice globally, but without transparency, oversight, and human-rights safeguards, it risks deepening bias, exclusion, and eroding public trust.

Investment diplomacy in action with Gulf sovereign wealth funds

How is money shaping foreign policy? Learn how countries use sovereign wealth funds and strategic investments as powerful tools for foreign policy and soft power.

Meta freezes hiring as AI costs spark investor concern

Meta has frozen hiring in its AI division, halting a spree that had drawn top researchers with lucrative offers. The company described the pause as basic organisational planning, aimed at building a more stable structure for its superintelligence ambitions.

The freeze, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, began last week and prevents employees in the unit from transferring to other teams. Its duration has not been communicated, and Meta declined to comment on the number of hires already made.

The decision follows growing tensions inside the newly created Superintelligence Labs, where long-serving researchers have voiced concerns over disparities in pay and recognition compared with recruits.

Alexandr Wang, who leads the division, recently told staff that superintelligence is approaching and that significant changes are necessary to prepare. His email outlined Meta’s most significant reorganisation of its AI efforts.

The pause also comes amid investor scrutiny, as analysts warn that heavy reliance on stock-based compensation to attract talent could fuel innovation or dilute shareholder value without precise results.

Despite these concerns, Meta’s stock has risen by about 28% since the start of the year, reflecting continued investor confidence in the company’s long-term prospects.

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