EU Designates ChatGPT as Very Large Online Platform as Texas Freezes $30M Flock AI Surveillance Spending
The EU has designated ChatGPT, Reddit, and Roblox as very large online platforms after each hit 45 million monthly users in the bloc, opening them up to stricter scrutiny under the Digital Services Act, according to Bloomberg. The designation means the platforms will face enhanced transparency requirements and risk assessment obligations, with OpenAI's ChatGPT becoming one of the first AI chatbot services to fall under the EU's most stringent regulatory tier.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has blocked state funding for additional Flock Safety AI surveillance cameras amid growing backlash, just ahead of a Texas Tribune investigation revealing the state spent over $30 million on the cameras. That money was primarily raised by tacking a $1 fee onto insurance policies, raising questions about how AI-powered license plate reading systems are funded and deployed across state agencies.
The U.S. is building barriers around foreign-made drones and robots, but China's manufacturing scale means global competition may simply shift elsewhere, according to reports. The tightening restrictions target hundreds of millions of dollars in Chinese drone imports, though analysts note that China's domestic market and production capacity could allow manufacturers to route products through third countries.
Elon Musk says a secretive new SpaceX foundry will let him cast his own turbine blades and get gas power online 18 months faster than conventional timelines, per reports. The bet on gas turbines comes as Musk's companies face mounting power demands for AI infrastructure, though the fuel source has already triggered lawsuits and health studies in communities where turbines have been deployed.
Meta is testing robots on tasks that can be performed by technicians inside its data centers, as the company pushes to automate physical operations, according to reports. The initiative signals Meta's expansion beyond software into robotics, with the company evaluating how machines can reduce labor costs across its massive global infrastructure footprint.
A Pocket AI tool has enabled users to turn game ideas into interactive mobile gizmos, but Meta now controls the results, making them difficult to share outside the company's platform, per reports. The dynamic highlights how AI-powered creation tools can lock users into ecosystem silos, with Meta leveraging the ease of generation to deepen platform dependency among its 3 billion users.
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