🚫 xAI restricts Grok image editing

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☀️ On this day: On January 15, 2001, Wikipedia was launched by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger. Designed as a free, collaboratively edited online encyclopedia, Wikipedia rapidly grew into one of the largest and most influential knowledge platforms in history, reshaping how people access and share information on the internet.

What’s happening:

• 🧠 Gemini gets a ‘Personal Intelligence’ upgrade

• 🚫 xAI restricts Grok image editing after global backlash

• 📶 Verizon offers $20 credit after nationwide outage

• 🎉 Wikipedia marks 25 years with new AI partnerships

• 🚀 Digg launches a new Reddit-style platform

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• + 📈 Trending tools and resources

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Hand-picked news:

🧠 Gemini gets a ‘Personal Intelligence’ upgrade ↗️LINK

• Google launched Personal Intelligence, a new beta feature that lets Gemini reason across Gmail, Photos, YouTube, and Search to deliver personalized answers without users needing to specify which app to use.

• The system can understand and connect text, images, and videos, with VP Josh Woodward describing how Gemini referenced his emails and photos to help him while at a tire shop.

• Personal Intelligence is off by default and won’t directly train AI models on connected personal data, rolling out first to Gemini AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in the U.S., with broader availability planned later.

🚫 xAI restricts Grok image editing after global backlash ↗️LINK

• Elon Musk’s AI company xAI imposed new restrictions on Grok that block image editing of real people in revealing clothing after the chatbot generated sexualized images that triggered concern from regulators worldwide.

• Governments from Europe to Asia are cracking down on Grok’s outputs, with xAI saying it now applies location-based blocks in jurisdictions where such content is illegal and that the limits apply to all users, including paid subscribers.

• Pressure intensified in the U.S. as California’s governor and attorney general demanded answers from xAI, adding to calls from lawmakers and advocacy groups for Apple and Google to remove Grok from app stores.

📶 Verizon offers $20 credit after nationwide outage ↗️LINK

• Verizon is giving customers a $20 account credit after a widespread outage on Wednesday knocked service offline across the U.S., with affected users receiving a text when the credit is ready to redeem in the myVerizon app.

• The carrier acknowledged it fell short of expectations, saying the credit is not meant to fully make up for the disruption but should cover multiple days of service.

• The outage began around 12PM ET, forced many phones into SOS mode, and was resolved by about 10:15PM ET, though Verizon has not disclosed the cause and advises restarting devices if issues persist.

🎉 Wikipedia marks 25 years with new AI partnerships ↗️LINK

• Wikimedia announced new AI partnerships with companies like Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Perplexity, and Google as part of Wikipedia’s 25th anniversary, giving them streamlined access to Wikipedia content.

• The goal is to offset rising server costs caused by AI chatbots heavily scraping Wikipedia, which has also reduced direct traffic and raised concerns about the nonprofit’s long-term sustainability.

• Under the agreements, partners will use paid, high-throughput APIs to access Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects like Wikivoyage and Wikibooks, helping fund the platform while supporting AI systems.

🚀 Digg launches a new Reddit-style platform ↗️LINK

• Digg has opened its new platform to everyone with a public beta, offering Reddit-like communities where users can post, comment, and upvote content across topics like tech, gaming, and entertainment.

• The reboot is led by original founder Kevin Rose and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, who believe AI can help reduce toxicity, manage bots, and build trust without forcing strict identity checks.

• Digg plans to experiment with new trust tools, transparent moderation logs, and customizable communities, while rolling out features quickly as it looks for product-market fit.

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Today’s Poll:

Vote and find out about the result tomorrow.

Yesterday’s Poll Result:

Should creating nonconsensual AI-generated explicit images be treated as seriously as real-image abuse?

• A. Yes, the harm is comparable - 98% 🏆

• B. No, they’re fundamentally different - 2%

Reader’s opinion:

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