Meta Loses Again in Court; SCOTUS Rules ISPs Aren’t Liable for Subscribers’ Copyright Infringement; Apple’s iOS 26.4 Adds Age Verification in the UK; OpenAI Shuttering Sora Video Generation; Ban on More AI Data Centers-Sanders & AOC

After losing in court yesterday in New Mexico over harm to children for using their platform…and being dinged for almost $400 million, a jury in Los Angeles has found that Meta and Google were negligent and failed to warn users bout the dangers associated with using their platforms. CNBC notes that this judgment was for a single person…a young girl at the time…who became addicted to apps like Instagram and YouTube as a child. The compensatory damages are $3 million, with Meta on the hook for 70% of the damages, and YouTube for 30%. While this seems like a small number, bear in mind there are numerous cases pending behind this one. Also, the punitive damages phase of the trial is yet to come…and that figure could be substantially more. The case will certainly be appealed, but this figure for just one plaintiff…multiplied by thousands of potential plaintiffs…well, you can see that it could amount to a staggering number owed by Meta and YouTube. Watch this space…social media platforms may finally be getting some serious guardrails just due to the specter of large money damages. 

The US Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that ISPs are not liable for music piracy by subscribers. Engadget.com reports that the case was between Sony Music Entertainment and other music labels and Cox Communications. The labels had gotten a billion dollar judgment at trial, but it was overturned on appeal. Writing for the court, Justice Clarence Thomas said a provider is not liable “for merely providing a service to the general public with knowledge that it will be used by some to infringe copyrights.” A provider is liable only if it intended or actively encouraged the infringement, Thomas wrote. The decision applies the same framework the court used in 2005 when it found file-sharing service Grokster liable for promoting piracy. Again, the decision was unanimous. 

Many people are leery of age verification, as it gives up pretty sensitive information to platforms that haven’t always been great at protecting that data. Well, governments are pushing it, and companies are starting to comply. According to theverge.com, Apple’s iOS 26.4 update has added age verification in the UK. Apple notes on a support page that  users must confirm that they’re over 18 to “use certain services or features, or take certain actions on their account.” UK users can confirm their age by scanning their ID or using a credit card. If a user already has an Apple account, the company may use a linked payment method to verify that they’re over 18. Otherwise, Apple will automatically enable child safety protections, including features that block adult content on the web and blur messages containing nudity. While most everyone thinks this protection of minors is a good thing, it’s the giving up of private info as an adult that still bothers people. Stay tuned as this expands. Reddit is wrangling with this issue right now. 

OpenAI is shuttering its AI driven video generation app Sora…suddenly and with no explanation, even to employees of the Sora project. 9to5google.com says that this just affects the Sora app, and that video generation may well be available elsewhere in OpenAI products. Sora was released in the 2nd half of 2024, but because widely available in November 2025 when the Android app came out. This deal also shuts down a deal between Disney and Open AI that allowed Sora to use Disney intellectual property in user-prompted videos. The deal would have also expanded to ChatGPT. Disney said in a statement that it would continue to look at new ways to engage with AI platforms. 

Bernie Sanders and AOC have introduced legislation to ban any new data centers for AI that would have peak power loads of 20 megawatts. Techcrunch.com reports that the legislation would halt such projects until Congress enacts comprehensive AI regulation. This really goes to all of AI and not just data centers. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez…and otters..want the US government to review and certify models ahead of their release, enact protections against AI-driven job displacement, limit the environmental impact of data infrastructure, and require union labor in its construction. They also seek to prohibit the export of advanced chips to countries without similar rules — which, at this point, is most of them.

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.