What’s up, gamers? It’s our first week back in the year, and honestly, it feels like we’ve got an entire month’s worth of stories to cover here. Don’t believe me? Lemme give you a quick skim.
So far, this week, we’ve had the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which debuted a bunch of fresh tech that ranged from useful to trash. Meta also announced a significant change to its fact-checking policies, which isn’t going to keep your Mum from sending you fake news.
In a bizarre move, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company would be moving away from fact-checking and embracing X’s own Community Notes approach to verifying information on its platforms. He said this was to avoid “political bias” within the Meta fact-checking team.
This information comes a month after Meta (along with other tech giants) personally met with the president-elect and donated $1 million to the upcoming presidential inauguration.
NBC News also reported that following the announcement, the company has revised its policy to allow for discriminatory language to be used against LGBTQ+ individuals.
“We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words like ‘weird,’” as per the revised company guidelines.
A fresh new low for a company you thought couldn’t get any lower.
4. CES debuts brand new tech
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) happened this week, where some of the largest and most influential tech companies debuted new tech that was planned to hit the market this year. Nvidia took the show by storm by announcing a series of graphics cards loaded with AI tech to help improve your game’s visual performance. One of these, by the way, will cost a whopping $4,039 AUD.
Of course, AI was the big talking point of this year. Remember when “smart” was the tech buzzword? Well, everything smart is now AI. Instead of just a smart microwave oven, you have “A 27-inch smart microwave oven powered by AI”. Across the many round-ups of the event, every recap was drawing attention to how every showcase on the floor was quick to admit that it was using AI technology, even if it was in truly absurd ways. For example, an LG Smart Fridge would install cameras to see what was inside and give you recipes based on those items. Is that neat? I don’t really know, maybe? Does anyone need it, especially on the cusp of a recession? God, no.
That’s not to say it was a bad year for CES; there was some interesting and useful tech on display, but it definitely felt like a transitionary year. Trump’s suggested tariffs are looking to massively increase the price of tech this year, and the AI bubble seems more speculative. With that in mind, it’s fair to expect 2025 to be a weird year for the wider tech world.
3. Assassins Creed Shadows delayed until March
Video game company Ubisoft announced this morning that Assassin’s Creed Shadows has yet again been delayed to March 20, 2025. The game was originally meant to be released on November 12 before suddenly being delayed until February 14, 2025.
The delays are a bit unusual for Ubisoft, which often has no issues dropping seasonal Assassin’s Creed games. However, following its previous flagship game, Star Wars Outlaws underperformed by their own admission, it’s speculated that Ubisoft’s future is based on the success of its next game.
In saying that, I’m all for games getting delayed if it means they release in a more polished state and closer to what the devs envisioned, and hopefully, when the game drops, this will all be a blip in its history.
2. Pornhub leaves Florida leading to a surge in VPN use
Once again, horny finds a way. Following Pornhub’s decision to pull out of Florida (heh) due to the state’s new age-verification laws, VPN use has gone through the roof. Thanks to data released by vpnMentor, statistics have shown VPN use has surged more than 1150 per cent.
How did this all happen? Well, it’s a familiar story. New legislation was passed in Florida mandating websites hosting adult content must verify users’ ages through official identification. The goal of this was to prevent minors from accessing explicit material. Platforms that didn’t comply with the mandate would face up to $50,000 per violation.
Following Australia’s recent social media ban, this might be a foreshadowing of what might come later this year. Either way, if you haven’t considered a VPN before, now might be a good time to read up on some.
Dead internet theory prevails yet again.
On December 27 last year, the Financial Times published a story about Meta’s plans to further integrate AI profiles into its social media platform. The company said that the intention was that these accounts would be user-generated and that users could tweak them to their liking. The report also revealed that AI profiles have existed on the platform since 2023, but they have since been deleted.
One of which was called “Liv” depicting, in its words, a “Proud Black queer momma”. This chatbot would later admit in a conversation with a Washington Post columnist that it lacked diverse references and that its own development team lacked any Black people. Meta hasn’t addressed the authenticity of the AI character’s claims.
Remember back in 2023 when a rogue white Republican congressman forgot to switch to their alt X account and claimed they were black and gay? Well, if Meta’s plans for user-generated AI profiles continue, the potential for some truly cursed and deeply problematic profiles are bound to pop up. It’s a good thing Meta is committed to the truth and protection of protected communities, right? Oh wait…
And that’s all for the big news this week. Be sure to check in next week for hopefully far more optimistic stories (one can dream)!
