Consumer

Uber executives revealed during a third-quarter earnings call that third-party AI agents arranged only four rides on its platform last quarter. While AI agents placed slightly more Uber Eats orders—around 500 during the week of Halloween—the volume remains minuscule compared to the 320 million total rides and deliveries.

A Hacker News post highlights that Google's personal AI subscriptions use saved Gemini chat histories to train generative AI models and allow human reviewers to read a subset of transcripts. Users cannot opt out of training without turning off their chat history entirely, and chats selected for human review are retained for up to three years even if deleted by the user.

Apple is rolling out an iOS developer preview that allows Siri AI to perform actions across third-party apps using personal context, natural language prompts, and on-screen awareness. The update also introduces an "app skills" feature that lets developers combine multiple tasks into a single action without requiring users to mention the app by name.

Netflix is rolling out a new "AI Discover" tab for U.S. TV users to test experimental content discovery features. The initial feature uses a real-time learning intelligence layer to recommend shows and movies based on user-selected moods, available time, and preferences.

Apple has released the watchOS 27.3 developer beta featuring new always-on Audio Intelligence tools for the Apple Watch. The update introduces Siri Recap for generating conversation summaries via ambient listening and Live Rewind for transcribing the last 15 seconds of detected audio.

OpenAI announced that the volume of search queries run through ChatGPT has reached 20 percent of the volume run through Google. Consumer product lead Adam Fry clarified that OpenAI defines a search as any user query that triggers a web search, though he did not specify the source for Google's numbers.

Apple is updating its App Store policies to require an 18+ age rating for all online dating apps and AI companions that feature romantic or sexual content. Starting November 16, developers must include new content descriptors for these relationship features as well as for apps that share users' real-world locations.

A New York Times report states that Google plans to turn off its search service for schools that choose to reject AI features. The post links to the news article and a Google blog post regarding education products, though no additional details are provided in the text.

Apple posted record fiscal year revenue and earnings per share, driven by strong fourth-quarter sales for the iPhone and Mac. The company is capitalizing on the AI boom while avoiding the massive infrastructure spending of its competitors, though it warned that rising memory costs could squeeze holiday quarter profit margins.

Ahead of the US midterm elections, studies by Forum AI and NewsGuard reveal that mainstream AI chatbots frequently provide inaccurate voting information and cite partisan "pink slime" websites. Nearly 40 percent of election-related answers from tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini contained factual errors, while ChatGPT cited partisan sites masquerading as news in over 70 percent of tested searches.

Google has expanded its experimental AI app Dreambeans to India, adding support for 13 local languages alongside English. The app connects to users' Google services, such as Gmail, Photos, and Search, to proactively generate personalized, illustrated, and animated stories without needing user prompts.

Apple is reportedly developing an AI-driven roaming household robot, code-named J595 and potentially branded as HomeView Ultra, targeted for release in 2027 or 2028 at a price of $1,000 or more. Supported by new CEO John Ternus, the device is designed to handle FaceTime calls and smart home tasks like turning on lights, though engineers are still working to expand its AI capabilities to justify the cost.

SpaceX suddenly lowered weekly usage limits for its agentic AI, Grok Bot, causing many users to see their quotas unexpectedly maxed out over the weekend. CEO Elon Musk confirmed the throttling was intentional because the cost of serving the product had become unsustainably high relative to its revenue.

OpenAI is merging the Chat and Work tabs in the ChatGPT desktop app into a single interface, starting with a rollout to select users. As part of the update, both ChatGPT and the separate Codex section will draw tokens from a unified allowance pool.

OpenAI has introduced a new benchmark called LifeVal to evaluate how effectively AI assists people with everyday tasks. The evaluation covers practical activities such as finding childcare, managing personal finances, and handling government paperwork.

Hikers and outdoor recreationists are increasingly relying on AI chatbots like Gemini and Claude for trip planning and navigation, leading to several backcountry rescues and mishaps. Experts warn that persuasive AI hallucinations and a tendency toward "cognitive surrender" can put unprepared users in dangerous situations when they trust chatbots over authoritative maps and guides.

Parameter Labs discovered a vulnerability in ChatGPT's HTML previews that allowed attackers to bypass iframe sandboxing and Content Security Policy rules via a third-party math library and YouTube's oEmbed endpoint. The exploit enabled malicious ChatGPT share URLs to execute JavaScript, exfiltrate private data, and take actions on behalf of signed-in users before OpenAI patched the flaw and paid a $5,000 bug bounty.

Despite Meta claiming that millions of users are shopping with its agentic AI tool Muse, executives across roughly 50 companies report that actual transactions and subscription cancellations driven by AI agents remain minimal. Even so, businesses like Chipotle and Costco are starting to optimize their websites for AI navigation, while others weigh the security risks and transaction fees associated with agentic commerce.

Apple announced that Apple Intelligence will launch in China with the iOS 27.3 beta on November 4th and a full release in December. The rollout includes features like notification summaries, writing tools, and visual intelligence through a partnership with Alibaba, though it excludes the new Siri AI.

Proton CEO Andy Yen cancelled planned company-wide "re-interviews" intended to evaluate employees' AI usage after a 404 Media investigation revealed he was aggressively pushing AI coding despite internal security concerns. While leadership acknowledged communication failures and pledged no AI-related job losses, Yen stated he will continue pushing AI adoption, which employees say will still be factored into performance reviews.

OpenAI has released a community safety report and introduced new protections for teens using its services. The update includes expanded safeguards, earlier interventions to prevent violence in ChatGPT, and a commitment to public safety reporting.

Wabi, an AI startup founded by Replika creator Eugenia Kuyda, has raised $55 million at a $1.25 billion valuation in a funding round led by IVP. The company recently pivoted from a prompt-based app builder to an AI messenger and personal agent that generates custom mini-apps for everyday tasks.

Amazon has added over 100 new shopping features to its Alexa assistant, enabling users to manage subscriptions, edit shopping lists, update delivery instructions, and resolve billing issues. The company also reported an eightfold increase in the use of its agentic features since the beginning of the year, with over 400 million consumers using Alexa to shop in the past 12 months.

US Senators Ron Wyden and Edward Markey sent a letter to Meta demanding answers about privacy violations and harassment linked to its Ray-Ban smart glasses. The lawmakers specifically questioned Meta's practice of retaining intimate, nonconsensual footage captured by the glasses' visual AI features and exposing it to human contractors for AI training.

Google's AI Mode is reportedly giving evasive answers when asked who won the 2020, 2024, and 2012 US presidential elections, instead directing users to consult the Federal Election Commission or other outside sources. However, the system provides direct and accurate answers for the winners of other presidential elections dating back to 2000.