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Meta’s U.S. legal troubles

Facebook and Instagram-parent Meta will not be able to throw out the claims of U.S. states alleging that the social media giant’s apps hurt teenagers’ mental health, and it will have to face the lawsuit brought by multiple U.S. states against it. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers did limit some of the states’ claims, in Meta’s favour, but would not toss out the states’ claims entirely as Meta had wanted. A major point of contention is how Meta allegedly designed its social media platform algorithms in such a way that younger users found it addictive.

However, Meta denied these allegations and stressed that it had rolled out features to promote the well-being of its teenaged users and protect their safety, such as with the Teen Account feature on Instagram. ByteDance’s TikTok, Google parent Alphabet’s YouTube, and Snap’s SnapChat have also been accused of harming younger users through their business practices. Google strongly refuted these claims.

Intel and AMD team up

Intel and AMD are forming an advisory group aimed at making sure their software products function seamlessly across each other’s offerings, as the two companies see their market share being claimed by Arm Holdings. While Intel invented the x86 computing architecture, which AMD licenses and uses to make chips, Arm has moved ahead through deals with Apple, Qualcomm, and other powerful Big Tech players. Arm also mandates that all its chips should be able to run its software.

The founding members of the Intel and AMD group will include Broadcom, Dell Technologies, Lenovo Group, and Oracle, among others. Though there are fears that Intel has fallen behind in innovation when it comes to powering AI PCs and laptops, Intel Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger said the x86 technology could be adapted for these use cases.

Apple’s new iPad mini

Apple has launched a new iPad mini that comes with generative AI features so that users can access new writing tools as well as an enhanced Siri. Apple also brought its package of Gen AI capabilities - called Apple Intelligence - to its iPhone 16 line-up and is still in the process of rolling out many of these features. Apple is also in a partnership with OpenAI in order to bring ChatGPT integration to Apple devices.

The iPad mini runs on the A17 Pro chip that is also found in the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. The new chip is meant to boost CPU performance in order to support a multitude of Gen AI features without leading to overheating or battery drain. Apple’s new iPad mini starts at $499 and is open for pre-orders, set to get shipped to Apple stores and customers next week.