All 23andMe board members but CEO resign over no adequate buyout offers

Seven of eight members of 23andMe’s board have resigned in yet another blow to the struggling genetics company. The CEO is now the only remaining member.The independent directors of the genetic testing firm said in a letter posted Tuesday that they were quitting the company’s board after not receiving a satisfactory buyout offer from the CEO, Anne Wojcicki.“After months of work, we have yet to receive from you a fully financed, fully diligenced, actionable proposal that is in the best interests of the non-affiliated shareholders,” said the seven directors, including the CEO of YouTube, in a letter to the company’s co-founder and CEO.In a memo to employees reported by the Wall Street Journal, Wojcicki responded: “I am surprised and disappointed by the decision of the directors to resign

Albanese government forging ahead with social media age restrictions despite Meta’s new Instagram teen accounts

The Albanese government is forging ahead with its plans for an age restriction on social media despite Meta announcing new restrictions for teens on Instagram, with the communications minister arguing children’s use of social media is unbalanced.On Wednesday Instagram announced changes to teen accounts, including giving parents the ability to set daily time limits for using the app, block teens from using Instagram at certain times and to see accounts their child is exchanging messages with and the content categories they are viewing.Teens under the age of 16 will need parental permission before any of the settings can be changed. Meta said the move had been planned for months, but the announcement came a week after the federal government announced plans to introduce legislation to parliament, by the end of the year, to raise the age children can access social media up to an as-yet-undefined age – likely between 14 and 16.The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, said the government welcomed the announcement, but “it does not negate the government’s intention to introduce legislation this year to mandate a minimum age for access to social media

Meta to put under-18 Instagram users into new ‘teen accounts’

Meta is putting Instagram users under the age of 18 into new “teen accounts” to allow parents greater control over their activities, including the ability to block children from viewing the app at night.The change will apply to new teen users but will also be extended to existing accounts held by teenagers over the next few months.Changes under the teen account setting include giving parents the ability to set daily time limits for using the app, block teens from using Instagram at certain times, see the accounts their child is exchanging messages with and being shown the content categories they are viewing.Teenagers signing up to Instagram are already placed by default into the strictest privacy settings, which include barring adults from messaging teens who don’t follow them and muting notifications at night.However, under the new “teen account” feature users under the age of 16 will need parental permission to change those settings, while 16- and 17-year-olds defaulted into the new features will be able to change them independently

Users of ‘throuples’ dating app Feeld may have had intimate photos accessed

Users of Feeld, a dating app aimed at alternative relationships, could have had sensitive data including messages, private photos and details of their sexuality accessed or even edited, it has emerged, after cybersecurity experts exposed a string of security “vulnerabilities”.Feeld, registered in the UK, reported soaring revenues and profits this month, thanks to millions of downloads from non-monogamous, queer and kinky users across the world.But while the app has gone from strength to strength financially – and attracted plaudits for its approach to sexuality – a British cybersecurity company claims to have uncovered serious failings in Feeld’s systems earlier this year.Feeld said it had dealt with the concerns “as a matter of urgency”, resolved them within two months and that it had not seen any evidence that user data had been breached.It did not know how long the vulnerabilities had existed before it was told about them in March by the London-based cybersecurity firm Fortbridge

OpenAI says the latest ChatGPT can ‘think’ – and I have thoughts

We are fast approaching two years of the generative AI revolution, sparked by the November 2022 release of ChatGPT by OpenAI. So far it’s been a mixed bag.OpenAI recently announced it had crossed 200 million weekly active users – nothing to be sniffed at, but it got its first 100 million within two months of release. A recent YouGov study found that the inclusion of AI in a product is as likely to turn off a potential purchaser as much as it is to get them to hand over their cash.Nevertheless, money keeps flowing into the sector, and advances keep coming

White House blasts Elon Musk for X post about Biden and Harris assassination

The White House has condemned Elon Musk for tweeting “no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala” in response to an X user asking “Why they want to kill Donald Trump?”The president’s office issued a statement Monday criticizing the “irresponsible” post, which was accompanied by an emoji face with a raised eyebrow. The White House said: “Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about. This rhetoric is irresponsible.” The statement added that there should be “no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country”.The Secret Service also said on Monday it was aware of a post by the billionaire on the X social network