Meta will pay at least $12.1 billion—and potentially as much as $17.1 billion over ten years—to settle claims that Facebook and Instagram harmed young users.
Jim Love examines why the record settlement may still be a smart move for Meta. The company admits no wrongdoing, limits its legal exposure and avoids a verdict that thousands of other plaintiffs might have used in their own lawsuits.
TIME also reports that Sam Altman expects OpenAI to have an internal system he would call artificial general intelligence by the end of 2026. What would qualify as AGI, and why would it matter more than passing the Turing Test? We separate confirmed reporting about OpenAI's delayed Astra models and cybersecurity concerns from unconfirmed rumours involving persistent memory and continual learning.
Also in this episode:
The Justice Department and FBI disable QScan and QTRouter, two hacking platforms allegedly used by Chinese state-sponsored attackers against NASA, the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Senate and hundreds of other organizations.
The Environmental Protection Agency proposes removing federal minimum public-participation requirements for minor-source air permits, potentially allowing some data centre generator permits to be approved without public notice or comment.
00:00 Today's tech headlines 01:22 Meta's record teen-safety settlement 04:22 Altman says AGI could arrive this year 08:06 FBI disrupts China-linked hacking platforms 10:44 EPA proposes permit-notice changes 14:11 Wrap-up and where to listen
Hashtag Trending for Thursday, August 27, 2026, hosted by Jim Love.
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