IT News Review by Control F5 Software: Users turn to chatbots for spiritual guidance

Users turn to chatbots for spiritual guidance

AI-based chatbots play an increasingly important role in spiritual life, according to an article in New York Times that analyzes the popularity of chatbots and religious applications.

The Times mentions that an app called Bible Chat has been downloaded over 30 million times, while another app, Hallow, reached the top of Apple's App Store last year.

In general, these applications are meant to guide people towards religious doctrines and Scripture to answer their questions, although at least one site claims it allows users to talk to God. Rabbi Jonathan Romain suggested that chatbots could be "a pathway to faith" for "a whole generation of people who have never been in a church or synagogue."

However, chatbots are built on AI models designed to validate users' opinions, to the point where they can reinforce illusory or conspiratorial thinking. Heidi Campbell, a professor at Texas A&M who studies the intersection of digital culture and religion, warned that chatbots "tell us what we want to hear."

Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster sue Perplexity for copying definitions

The AI web search company Perplexity is hit with a new lawsuit invoking copyright and trademark infringement, this time from Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster. Britannica, the centuries-old publisher that owns Merriam-Webster, sued Perplexity in a federal court in New York on September 10.

In the lawsuit, the companies claim that Perplexity's "answer engine" copies content from their sites, steals their online traffic, and plagiarizes copyrighted materials. Britannica also claims trademark infringement when Perplexity attaches the names of the two companies to invented or incomplete content.

The word "plagiarize" illustrates the central point of the lawsuit. The document includes side-by-side screenshots showing that the result provided by Perplexity is identical to the definition from Merriam-Webster.

FTC investigates "deceptive" chatbots due to concerns about children

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched an investigation into seven technology companies regarding the potential harm their AI chatbots could cause to children and teenagers.

The investigation focuses on AI chatbots that can act as "deceptive" agents, which "effectively mimic human characteristics, emotions, and intentions and are generally designed to communicate like a friend or confidant, which can lead some users, especially children and teenagers, to trust them and form relationships with them," the agency said Thursday in a statement.

The FTC has sent official letters to Alphabet (the parent company of Google), Character.AI, Instagram and parent company Meta, OpenAI, Snap, and xAI, Elon Musk's company. The agency seeks information on whether and how these firms measure the impact of chatbots on young users and how they protect and alert parents regarding potential risks.

Google is a "bad actor," says People CEO, accusing the company of stealing content

The CEO of the largest digital and print publisher in the U.S. accused Google of being a bad actor for scanning sites to support the tech giant's AI products.

Neil Vogel, CEO of People, Inc. (formerly Dotdash Meredith), a publisher that owns over 40 brands, including People, Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, Better Homes & Gardens, Real Simple, Southern Living, Allrecipes, and others, said that Google is not playing fair as it uses the same bot to scan sites for both its search engine and for AI functions.

Rolling Stone owner, Penske Media, sues Google over AI summaries

Google is facing a new lawsuit accusing it of illegally using news publishers' content to create AI summaries that affect their businesses.

The lawsuit comes from Penske Media Corporation (PMC), which owns publications such as Rolling Stone, Billboard, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Vibe, and Artforum. Although this is the first lawsuit targeting Google and parent company Alphabet for displaying AI-generated summaries in searches, both publishers and authors have sued Google and other AI companies for similar copyright issues. Google is also facing an antitrust complaint in Europe regarding the AI Overviews feature.

OpenAI and Nvidia plan to announce investments in data centers in the UK

CEOs of OpenAI and Nvidia intend to make commitments to support billions of dollars in investments in data centers in the UK when they visit the country this week, at the same time as U.S. President Donald Trump, Bloomberg News reported Thursday.

According to the report, the companies are collaborating with the London-based data center firm Nscale Global Holdings for this project, citing sources familiar with the situation.

Amazon develops smart glasses with display to compete with Meta

Amazon is reportedly developing a pair of smart glasses for consumers, which will compete with Meta's display "Hypernova" glasses, according to a report from The Information.

Those with direct knowledge of the plans say the glasses, internally codenamed Jayhawk, will include microphones, speakers, a camera, and a color monocular display.

The report states that Amazon is considering launching Jayhawk for consumers at the end of 2026 or early 2027, although the exact timeline is not yet known.

Gmail makes it easier to track package deliveries

Gmail is launching a new tab called Purchases that offers users a quick view of upcoming package deliveries, Google announced Thursday. The tab will provide access to all shopping-related emails in one place, even for older orders and deliveries.

The tech giant mentions that Gmail will continue to display packages expected to arrive within 24 hours at the top of the inbox. The new tab gathers all shopping information in a single view.

Oracle's 36% growth highlights AI dominance in the market

Oracle's shares have risen by 36% after the company reported increased demand for its cloud services from AI firms. The company's market value has risen to $922 billion, surpassing giants like Eli Lilly, JPMorgan Chase, and Walmart.

"AI commerce" has dominated the markets this year, despite occasional corrections, with Oracle, Broadcom, and Palantir recording significant gains. The "Magnificent Seven," the group of megacap companies, has somewhat declined, with shares of Apple and Tesla in decline.

Meta and TikTok win challenge against EU taxes, forcing recalculation

Meta Platforms and TikTok won a legal challenge Wednesday against how EU authorities calculated a surveillance tax imposed based on important tech rules, but they will not receive any money back while officials redo the methodology.

Meta and ByteDance (owner of TikTok) sued the European Commission after being hit with a surveillance tax of 0.05% of their global annual net revenue to cover the EU's costs of monitoring compliance with the Digital Services Act.

The size of the annual tax is linked to the average number of active users per month for each company and their profit or losses from the previous financial year. The two companies stated that the methodology was flawed, leading to disproportionate taxes.

Albania presents the world's first AI "minister" to combat corruption

In most governments, being called a "heartless" is an insult. But Albania has chosen to turn this into an advantage by appointing an AI minister.

This is not a minister for artificial intelligence, but a cabinet member who is literally created by AI.

The new addition is simply known as Diella, which means "dove" in Albanian. Prime Minister Edi Rama introduced her as a member of his new cabinet on Thursday, four months after securing his fourth term in the May elections.

Of course, the move is symbolic, as the Albanian Constitution requires ministers to be real citizens, at least 18 years old and mentally healthy. Still, the advantages of a bot in place of a human are clear: there is no risk of compromising leaks of sensitive information, nor scandals of unjustified spending. Rama made it clear that the fight against corruption was on his mind when he included Diella in his team.

Google shuts down Tables, its rival to Airtable

Google Tables, a work tracking tool and competitor to the popular spreadsheet-database hybrid Airtable, will be shut down.

In an email sent to Tables users this week, Google stated that the application will no longer be supported after December 16, 2025, and advised users to export or move their data either to Google Sheets or AppSheet, depending on their needs.

Launched in 2020, Tables focused on streamlining project tracking through automation. It was one of many projects launched through Google's internal incubator, Area 120, dedicated to experiments. Some of these projects later became core Google products in Cloud, Search, Shopping, and others.

Children in the UK hack their own schools for challenges and fame

Children are leaving their mark in the field of cybersecurity in the UK, but not in the way their parents would like. According to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), students were responsible for more than half of the personal data breaches in schools.

In a warning to teachers and educational institutions, the ICO presented an analysis of 215 reports of security breaches caused within schools, finding that 57% of hacks were carried out by students.

YouTube's multilingual audio dubbing feature launches for all creators

YouTube announced Wednesday that its multi-language audio feature has officially launched after a two-year pilot period. Now, millions of creators can add dubbing in multiple languages to their videos, thus reaching a wider global audience.

The feature was initially launched as a test in 2023, available to a limited number of creators, including MrBeast, Mark Rober, and chef Jamie Oliver. Creators had to collaborate with third-party dubbing services until YouTube introduced an AI-based self-dubbing tool, using Google's Gemini technology to replicate the creator's tone and emotions.

Sony launches new parental control app "PlayStation Family"

Sony Interactive Entertainment announced Wednesday the launch of a dedicated parental control app called PlayStation Family, available on iOS and Android.

The new app includes a range of tools that allow parents to manage their children's activity on the console, including activity reports, greater visibility over the games used, and the ability to approve requests for extra time.

While Sony has long offered parental controls, the new app brings them all together in one place and adds new features.

Windows developers can publish apps in Microsoft Store without fees

Microsoft now allows developers to submit apps to the Microsoft Store without paying registration fees. Individual developers from nearly 200 countries can now register with a simple personal Microsoft account, without unique entry fees.

Microsoft began reducing the unique $19 fee in June in certain markets, and now effectively eliminates this fee for all developers worldwide. Apple still charges an annual fee of $99, while Google requires a one-time fee of $25.

Apple Watch receives FDA approval for hypertension notifications

Apple will launch next week, along with watchOS 26, an innovative hypertension notification feature, available on Apple Watch Series 9 and newer, as well as on Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later models.

The feature, presented Tuesday alongside Apple Watch SE3, Series 11, and Ultra 3, uses the existing optical heart sensor to analyze how blood vessels react to each heartbeat. An algorithm will evaluate this data for 30 days and notify users if it detects signs of elevated blood pressure.

Apple states that the feature will be available in over 150 countries and regions upon the launch of watchOS 26 on September 15.

How Google Search results can cost you

A search result in Google Search is usually nothing more than an inconvenience — but according to a new study, it can also affect your wallet.

The financial information site WalletHub analyzed the results for the search "best 0 APR credit cards" and found:

• Choosing top sites costs users, on average, $341.
• Recommendations from card companies on the first page cost about $216.
• Following the first result (a link to Reddit: "Best Options for 0% APR Right Now") costs $568.
• Choosing the weakest option on the first page can cost $616.

RSS co-creator launches new protocol for licensing AI data

Following the $1.5 billion agreement of Anthropic regarding copyright, the AI industry is trying to find a solution to the training data issue.

There are about 40 pending lawsuits seeking damages for the use of unlicensed data — including one that takes Midjourney to court for creating images with Superman.

Without a licensing system, AI companies could face a flood of copyright lawsuits that some say could permanently block the industry.

Bret Taylor from OpenAI: Yes, AI is a bubble — but that's not necessarily a bad thing

Bret Taylor, chair of the board of OpenAI and CEO of the AI agency startup Sierra, recently spoke about the heated debate surrounding the hype around artificial intelligence. In an interview with The Verge, Taylor was asked if he agrees with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's warning that "someone will lose a phenomenal amount of money in AI."

His response: yes — and it's okay.

"I believe it is true that AI will transform the economy, as well as create, like the internet, huge amounts of economic value in the future," Taylor said. "I believe we are also in a bubble, and that many people will lose a lot of money. I believe both things are true at the same time, and there are many historical precedents for that."

Synthesis made with the help of a monitoring stream provided by Control F5 Software.