👸 Disney sent Google a cease-and-desist letter

Advertise | Sign Up | Upgrade

Greetings! Your latest quick tech update is here:

☀️ On this day: On December 13, 1991, the first website in the United States went live at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). This marked the first time the World Wide Web expanded beyond Europe, where it was invented at CERN. The SLAC site mirrored CERN’s efforts and played a key role in spreading web technology across U.S. research institutions, helping to kick-start the web's global growth.

What’s happening:

• 🧠 Study finds AI struggles to separate facts from beliefs

• 🎬 Disney accuses Google of “massive” AI copyright infringement

• 🔞 ChatGPT’s “adult mode” is coming but it’s not just about explicit content

• 🎧 Google Translate adds real-time headphone translations

• 🏭 Humanoid push: 1X to deploy 10,000 factory robots by 2030

• + 📊 Daily poll and results

• + 📈 Trending tools and resources

Free AI Guide

Want to get the most out of ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is a superpower if you know how to use it correctly.

Discover how HubSpot's guide to AI can elevate both your productivity and creativity to get more things done.

Learn to automate tasks, enhance decision-making, and foster innovation with the power of AI.

Download the free guide

Hand-picked news:

🧠 Study finds AI struggles to separate facts from beliefs ↗️LINK

• Researchers found that even advanced language models often fail to distinguish between objective facts and subjective beliefs, frequently correcting false beliefs instead of simply acknowledging that a person holds them—a flaw that could be risky in healthcare, law, and mental health settings.

• Using a new benchmark called KaBLE, which tested 24 AI models on 13,000 questions, the study showed sharp accuracy drops when models handled first-person false beliefs (e.g., “I believe X”) and revealed sensitivity to minor wording changes like adding “really.”

• The findings suggest modern AI has a strong “corrective bias” driven by training that prioritizes factual accuracy, highlighting the need for future models to better disentangle truth from belief before being deployed in high-stakes, human-centered domains.

🎬 Disney accuses Google of AI copyright infringement ↗️LINK

• Disney sent Google a cease-and-desist letter accusing its Gemini, Veo, Imagen, and Nano Banana AI models of generating content that resembles copyrighted characters from Frozen, Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, and more.

• The letter was sent just one day before Disney announced a billion-dollar deal with OpenAI that allows Sora users to create videos using over 200 Disney-owned characters, with some AI-generated content planned for Disney Plus.

• Google denies the allegations, saying it uses public web data, offers copyright controls, and maintains a longstanding relationship with Disney, while Disney continues legal pressure across the AI industry, including actions against Character AI and Midjourney.

🔞 ChatGPT’s “adult mode” is coming ↗️LINK

• OpenAI plans to introduce an adult mode for ChatGPT in early 2026, but only after its new AI-based age prediction system can reliably infer whether a user is over 18 without relying on simple age-confirmation pop-ups.

• Rather than focusing solely on nudity or explicit material, adult mode is expected to relax restrictions around mature discussions — such as sexuality, relationships, and mental health — that are currently blocked by family-friendly filters.

• The feature reflects OpenAI’s push to balance safety, regulation, and user control, though age inference based on behavior carries risks, making the rollout cautious and closely tied to legal and compliance concerns.

🎧 Google Translate adds real-time headphone translations ↗️LINK

• Google is rolling out a beta feature that lets users hear real-time translations through any headphones, preserving speakers’ tone and cadence, effectively turning headphones into a one-way live translation device.

• The beta is available now on Android in the U.S., Mexico, and India, supports over 70 languages, and will expand to iOS and more countries in 2026.

• Google is also adding Gemini-powered translations for more natural handling of slang and idioms, plus expanded language-learning tools with progress tracking and improved feedback, pushing Translate closer to a Duolingo-like experience.

🏭 1X to deploy 10,000 factory robots by 2030 ↗️LINK

• European robotics firm 1X has partnered with Swedish investment giant EQT to deploy up to 10,000 Neo humanoid robots across more than 300 portfolio companies between 2026 and 2030, targeting manufacturing, logistics, warehousing, and healthcare.

• Neo was originally marketed as a $20,000 consumer-ready household robot, but the partnership shifts its focus to industrial use, where humanoids offer faster returns by addressing labor shortages, safety risks, and productivity challenges.

• Pilot deployments will begin in the U.S. in 2026, followed by expansion into Europe and Asia, as 1X leverages EQT’s scale and operational reach to push humanoid robots from experimental tech into real-world, commercial environments.

🧠 Keep your mind sharp with these newsletters!

Want to stay on top of the latest trends and discover new resources? Here are a few of my favorite newsletters that I think you'll find valuable.

• The AI Pulse - AI solutions you can use to work smarter and achieve results. Join & get 200+ AI-powered tools!

• Creator Spotlight - Your guide to growing and monetizing creator businesses. Join & learn how to earn!

• MGMT Playbook – Practical management insights delivered to your inbox every Wednesday, authored by Dave Kline.

• Dumbify – Your weekly guide to unconventional thinking, unique insights, and ridiculous ideas that show how 'dumb' thinking can lead to better solutions.

• Identity Jedi Newsletter - This is your space for actionable insights, bold ideas, and a little snark to keep things interesting.

Today’s Poll:

Vote and find out about the result tomorrow.

Yesterday’s Poll Result:

Do you think Google gained an unfair advantage by using publisher content for AI?

• A. Yes, it clearly did - 65% 🏆

• B. No, this is part of normal tech development - 35%

From our partner:

The Future of Shopping? AI + Actual Humans.

AI has changed how consumers shop, but people still drive decisions. Levanta’s research shows affiliate and creator content continues to influence conversions, plus it now shapes the product recommendations AI delivers. Affiliate marketing isn’t being replaced by AI, it’s being amplified.

Download the full report

AI for Managers by Microsoft (free course): In this learning path, managers at all levels of the organization will learn practical ways to enhance their effectiveness with generative AI.

Meco: Meco is a distraction-free space for reading and discovering newsletters, separate from the inbox. Add your newsletters in seconds and liberate your inbox today!

Gamma: Create unlimited presentations, websites, and more—in seconds. Everything you need to quickly create and refine content with advanced AI.

Numerous AI: Numerous provides the simplest, most powerful and cost-effective solution for using ChatGPT inside Google Sheets and Excel.

Typefully: Best social media tool for creators & businesses. Create, schedule, and publish social media posts on X (Twitter), LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, and more.