Psst.org

A.I. employees made cute ads feel less cute In the week after the Super Bowl, frontier AI company employees provided a look behind the curtain

🏈 AI firms spent huge sums on Super Bowl ads, each vying to brand themselves as the “good guy” — but just days later, several senior employees at top labs publicly resigned.
Read our latest Substack on what these inside voices are telling us on the outside.

Meta patents AI that lets dead people post from the great beyond Meta’s latest patent outlines AI that could mimic dead users’ activity across Facebook and Instagram, but the company says there are no plans to use the technology.

Does Meta want to post for you—post‑mortem?

Meta was granted a patent in December for a system that uses AI to simulate a deceased user’s activity across its platforms—Facebook, Instagram, and Threads—making posts, leaving comments, and interacting with others.
#AI #Meta #AIethics

Anthropic AI Safety Researcher Quits—And Warns Of World ‘In Peril’ Mrinank Sharma, who led the safeguards research team at Anthropic, shared his resignation letter on X, which quickly garnered nearly 1 million views.

An Anthropic safety researcher resigned Monday, warning of value gaps inside AI labs. Mrinank Sharma’s claims are alarming, but they leave a key question: what pressures push employees to set aside their principles?

We need more insiders and greater transparency from AI companies. #AI #AISafety

Pinterest sacks two engineers for creating software to identify fired workers Digital pinboard business cutting 15% of workforce as it invests heavily in AI

📱Pinterest fired two engineers who created a software tool to identify which workers had lost their jobs in a recent round of cuts.

New lawsuit against xAI claims the company "...has harmed thousands of women who were digitally stripped and forced into sexual situations that they never consented to and who now face the very real risk that those public images will surface in their lives..."

Dario Amodei — The Adolescence of Technology Confronting and Overcoming the Risks of Powerful AI

📑 Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei recently published “The Adolescence of Technology,” a new essay that lays out what he sees as the biggest dangers of powerful AI, from bioterrorism and autonomous weapons to mass job loss and AI-powered dictatorships.
#AI #Anthropic

Pinterest layoffs today: 15% of jobs cut as social media giant is latest to cite shift to AI The platform's stock price (PINS) plummeted by more than 8% after news of the reduction in workforce.

💼 Pinterest is the latest tech company to shift focus to AI.

What does that mean for tech workers? Pinterest is eliminating 15% of roles and citing AI as the reason.

#AI #Layoffs

Social Media Giants Face Landmark Legal Tests on Child Safety

📱Social Media Giants Meta, TikTok, Snap, and Youtube face a series of landmark trials this year accusing their products of being addictive.

Teenagers, school districts and states have filed thousands of lawsuits accusing them of encouraging excessive use by millions of young Americans.

States move to curb AI-driven ‘surveillance pricing’ | Arizona Capitol Times State policymakers are introducing bills to ban retailers from using AI-powered personalized pricing, citing concerns over unfair targeting and exploitation.

❗Consumer dystopia: Lawmakers race to stop AI-driven "surveillance pricing" that charges consumers personalized prices.

Across more than a dozen states, policymakers are scrambling to enact protections as retailers deploy AI-powered systems that tailor prices to individual shoppers.

Meta Seeks to Bar Mentions of Mental Health—and Zuckerberg’s Harvard Past—From Child Safety Trial The trial starts soon in New Mexico’s case against Meta—and the company is pulling out all the stops to protect its reputation.

New Mexico's suit against Meta over alleged failures to protect children begins soon — and Meta is seeking to block evidence on youth mental health and Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard past.
#Meta

OpenAI says it'll use an age-prediction model that combines behavioral and account-level signals, including how long an account has existed, typical times of day when someone is active, usage patterns over time, and a user’s stated age.

OpenAI rolls out age prediction on ChatGPT OpenAI on Tuesday said it is rolling out age prediction on ChatGPT globally, to determine whether an account is likely owned by a minor, as the artificial intelligence startup prepares to allow adult ...

OpenAI is now rolling out age prediction in ChatGPT to determine whether an account is owned by a minor as the company prepares to release its new “adult mode” soon.
#AI #ChatGPT

California investigates Elon Musk’s AI company after ‘avalanche’ of complaints about sexual content Attorney General Rob Bonta will investigate into whether deepfakes from Elon Musk's new AI tool Grok violate California law.

@calmatters.org reporter @khari.bsky.social details California AG Rob Bonta’s inquiry into Elon Musk’s Grok over alleged AI-generated non-consensual explicit imagery and spoke with Psst.org about why laws should add whistleblower protections for employees who work on these systems.

California's Attorney General is investigating Grok's sexualized deepfakes California Attorney General Rob Bonta's investigation comes amid a growing backlash to xAI and its Grok chatbot.

🚨 TODAY: California Attorney General Rob Bonta says his office is investigating Grok for generating nonconsensual sexualized images of real people.

"I urge xAI to take immediate action to ensure this goes no further," he said. xAI now faces regulatory pressure from U.S. officials.

#AI #Grok

Meta Plans to Cut Around 10% of Employees in Reality Labs Business

🗣️Tech Worker Announcement: Meta plans to lay off 10% of staff in its Reality Labs division.

As Meta shifts its focus from its Metaverse to building next-generation artificial intelligence, their newly announced cuts could affect more than 10% of the metaverse unit.

#Meta #AI

Google’s Gemini AI will use what it knows about you from Gmail, Search, and YouTube Google wants Gemini to give you more personalized responses.

💡 To offer a more personalized AI experience, Google's introducing "Personal Intelligence" to its Gemini chatbot.

Google's Gemini will now use what it knows about you from Gmail, Search,Youtube and the rest of your Google apps to answer your questions, so long as you opt-in.

Musk’s AI tool Grok will be integrated into Pentagon networks, Hegseth says Defense secretary says AI tool will join military systems later this month as it comes under fire for sexual imagery

BREAKING❗: Elon Musk's Grok AI chatbot will be integrated into Pentagon networks.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says Musk's AI tool will join military systems later this month despite mounting scrutiny over Grok's generation of sexually inappropriate and violent imagery.

#AI #Grok

OpenAI and Common Sense Media Partner on New Kids AI Safety Ballot Measure | KQED Common Sense Media and OpenAI announced a California initiative they say would, if voters approve, establish the strongest youth AI safety protections in the nation, in the absence of federal mandates...

OpenAI and Common Sense Media join forces 🤝

The unexpected alliance is developing the Parents and Kids Safe AI Act to establish guardrails protecting children from AI chatbot risks. This comes amid ongoing lawsuits against OpenAI, alleging chatbot interactions contributed to suicide.
#AIsafety #AI

California lawmaker proposes a four-year ban on AI chatbots in kids' toys | TechCrunch “Our children cannot be used as lab rats for Big Tech to experiment on,” Senator Steve Padilla said. He just introduced a bill to ban AI chatbots in toys until safety regulations are developed.

California Senator Steve Padilla wants a 4-year ban on AI chatbots in kids' toys. 🧸

The proposal aims to protect children amid growing concerns about inappropriate child-AI toy interactions. "Our children cannot be used as lab rats for Big Tech's experiments," Padilla warns.

#AI #AISafety

Ofcom investigates Elon Musk's X over Grok AI sexual deepfakes The watchdog said it had received reports of the platform's Grok AI chatbot creating undressed images of people.

🚨 BREAKING: The UK watchdog Ofcom launches an investigation into X over concerns of Grok being used to generate sexually explicit images.

"If found to have broken the law, Ofcom can potentially issue X with a fine of up to 10% of its worldwide revenue or £18 million, whichever is greater."

How whistleblowers could have helped us avoid the Great Grok Undressing Spree New year, new AI hopes/horrors.

Having to see Elon Musk in a women's bikini this New Year was not inevitable, nor was it unpreventable for Grok to undress images of unconsenting women and children.

Check out our latest Substack on how whistleblowers could have helped us avoid the great Grok undressing spree.

Read now!

Prioritizing profit over safety is bad for business and for the world.

We need transparency and accountability embedded into every stage of innovation so concerns are raised early—before children are harmed.

#AI #AIsettlement #AIharms #Psst

Google and chatbot start-up Character move to settle teen suicide lawsuits The companies said in court filings that they aim to settle five lawsuits from families alleging that Character.AI chatbots harmed minors and caused two suicides.

🚨 The first major settlement involving an AI chatbot-related teen death has been announced.

Google and Character.AI are settling a lawsuit filed by the parents of a teenager who alleges the companies provided harmful chatbot companions that led their child to take their own life.

AI Needs Whistleblowers to Expose Problems as Technology Grows Opinion: Artificial intelligence is in need of protected whistleblowers as the technology proliferates to expose serious concerns about safety, privacy, ethics, or legal risks.

GREAT analysis from two whistleblower attorneys on the current landscape of state & federal protections for AI whistleblowers.

Their conclusion: we are not doing enough to protect some of the only people who provide a check on tech that many of us use daily. 👇
news.bloomberglaw.com/legal-exchan...

This is egregious.

Grok has made nonconsensual sexualization of women and girls practically on‑demand.

That’s why insider knowledge in the age of AI matters now more than ever: employees must be able to flag harms safely before they spill into the public. #Grok #AI #Psst

Grok “stated that it would not be producing any more of these images of me, & what ensued was countless more images produced by Grok at user requests that were much more explicit, & eventually, some of those were underage,” St. Clair said. “Photos of me of 14 years old, undressed & put in a bikini.”

The mother of one of Elon Musk's children says his AI bot won't stop creating sexualized images of her Ashley St. Clair, known for her fiery commentary online, says X has been slow to respond to the issue. The chatbot has recently been scrutinized for creating sexualized images of minors.

X has still neglected to take action on the nonconsensual sexual images of women and children generated by Grok. Brave testimony from one of Elon’s former romantic partners shows no one is exempt from the risk. 👇
www.nbcnews.com/tech/elon-mu...

AI is being used right now to destabilize perceptions of reality during sensitive political events.

X users asked Grok to create explicit images of undressed women and sexualized deepfakes of children, while X ignores repeated warnings from civil society and child advocacy groups about nonconsensual deepfakes.

Chatbot builders should be held accountable as AI-generated harms proliferate.

#AI

Protecting NYC tax dollars using whistleblowers For the incoming Mamdani administration to boost its affordability agenda, it must renew enforcement efforts to expose frauds against the city and recover millions of stolen taxpayer dollars. One k…

Zohran Mamdani is bringing tons of fresh ideas for how to make NYC more affordable, but there's one age-old tactic for protecting tax dollars that might be currently overlooked: protecting whistleblowers.

Great piece in @nydailynews.com
www.nydailynews.com/2026/01/01/p...