Summary

  • Chinese manufacturers are using TikTok to target US consumers, with sales agents breaking down the prices of luxury goods on the app.
  • Marc Andreessen’s Chatham House group unites figures across Silicon Valley, politics and journalism, including staff from News Corp, Google, Amazon and Twitter, as well as the FBI and the CIA; RFK Jr’s autism study has scientists worried that it will give credence to unproven theories; Chrome’s general manager has told the judge presiding over its antitrust trial that only Google can run the browser properly; and Meta’s chatbots will hold explicit conversations with minors.
  • AI is interacting more with our creative processes, but there are questions about the role of machines in our work and art, and how we make sense of them, as well as concerns around authorship and ethics.
  • A study suggests that rats could help scientists to understand how the brain regulates appetite.
  • A female magician has been readmitted to the Magic Circle after being kicked out for disclosing a trick 30 years ago.

By Rhiannon Williams

Original Article