- Short-form video, now popular on all social media platforms, is serving us a diet of violence, prejudice, damage and social unrest.
- California lawmakers passed a landmark AI safety bill during the early hours of Saturday morning, sending the measure to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) for signature. The package, set to go into effect Oct. 12 pending Newsom’s approval, is a pared-back version of a similar proposal he vetoed last year. Home to more than 30 of the world’s top 50 AI firms (see list), regulations in the state often have nationwide reach. The bill’s central feature requires companies with cutting-edge models with billions or trillions of parameters (known as “frontier” models) to develop and publish safety frameworks. Organizations—including Meta, OpenAI, Alphabet, Anthropic, and others—would be required to demonstrate compliance with those plans, and the legislation also creates whistleblower protections.
- Google Gemini is the top free iPhone app: Gemini for iPhone is the top free app in the US App Store. ChatGPT is in second position, and Threads is third. The Gemini app ranks second in Canada and the UK. It has seen more than 23 million new users since its launch. Google’s new image editing model has been a viral hit due to how it maintains character likeness and consistency.
- Elon Musk’s Boring Company Completes Vegas Loop Tunnel to Airport: The Boring Company has successfully completed a 2.26-mile tunnel for the Vegas Loop system in Las Vegas. The tunnel, aimed at alleviating surface congestion in one of America’s busiest tourist destinations, stretches from a site near Harry Reid International Airport in the south to the Westgate Resort in the north. There will be eight stations along the route, including key stops at Virgin hotels and the Hughes Center. The tunnel is part of a broader plan to create a 68-mile network with over 100 stations to connect major landmarks.
- Promising new epilepsy drug delivers 80% reduction in seizures: Rapport Therapeutics’ experimental compound, RAP-219, reduced seizures by an average of 77.8% in a Phase 2a study. Almost a quarter of participants remained seizure-free over the two-month treatment period. The study raises hopes for patients who suffer from seizures despite being on multiple medications. Rapport plans to meet with the US Food and Drug Administration and then launch two Phase 3 trials next year. It is also developing a long-acting injectable version to address medication adherence, a frequent challenge in epilepsy.
- NASA announces discovery of life on Mars with high degree of confidence: An analysis of the Martian Sapphire Canyon mudstone core found minerals and textures that are often linked to microbial activity. While nonbiological chemistry could also explain the signals, the finding is the closest scientists have ever come to discovering life on Mars. More data is needed to rule out nonbiological sources.
- Get Excited About Postgres 18: Postgres18 adds asynchronous I/O, which means faster reads for many use cases. This is a part of a bigger series of performance improvements planned. Asynchronous I/O allows workers to optimize idle time and improve system throughput by batching reads. It provides a more predictable and better-performing method for batching operations at the database level. Writes will continue to be synchronous as this is needed for ACID compliance.
- UTF-8 is a Brilliant Design: UTF-8 was designed to represent millions of characters from different languages and scripts and still be backward compatible with ASCII. Every ASCII-encoded file is a valid UTF-8 file, and every UTF-8 encoded file that only has ASCII characters is a valid ASCII file. This post gets into how UTF-8 works. A link to a playground for visualizing and playing around with UTF-8 encoding is available in the post.
- A.I.’s Prophet of Doom Wants to Shut It All Down: Eliezer Yudkowsky, the founder of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI), a Berkeley-based nonprofit that studies risks from advanced artificial intelligence, believes that building powerful AI systems is a terrible idea that will end in disaster. He recently released a book co-written with MIRI’s president aimed at stopping the development of AI. The book claims that everyone on Earth will die if any company or group anywhere on the planet builds an artificial superintelligence using anything remotely like current techniques. While some may see Yudkowsky as an extremist or a crank, he is a central figure in modern AI history, and his influence on the industry is undeniable.
- ‘More egalitarian’: How Nepal’s Gen Z used gaming app Discord to pick PM: 14 governments representing three parties have taken turns at governing Nepal since 2008, when the country adopted a new constitution after abolishing its monarchy. After recent protests, the country’s citizens used a virtual poll on Discord to elect its new leader. A Gen Z group called Hami Nepal ran a channel where a debate on the country’s future was livestreamed. After hours of debate, participants selected former Supreme Court Chief Justice Sushila Karki to lead Nepal.
- The City Leading China’s Charge to Pull Ahead in AI: Hangzhou, China, has become an AI hub at the center of China’s global tech ambitions.
- Our robots are now folding laundry for Tumble Laundry customers in San Francisco.
- Why you’d issue a branded stablecoin like McDonaldsCoin: Branded stablecoins entitle platforms to more of the issuer rewards for customer deposits, which consequently lets them pay more rewards to customers who choose to store money with them.
- The US will go ahead with a ban on TikTok if China won’t drop demands for reducing tariffs and technological restrictions as part of a divestiture deal, a senior US official with knowledge of negotiations in Spain said. Meanwhile, US Democrats have asked the Trump administration to press China to curb “structural overproduction”, essentially overhauling Beijing’s economic model. David Lawder joins today’s Reuters World News podcast with the latest.
- Meta is opening up Reels trending ads to more advertisers and agencies.
- CapCut adds LinkedIn integration.
- Why client anthropologists will lead agency strategy in 2030.
- Pinterest launches Shopping Links to deliver retailer data to brands.
- Data: Holiday shoppers are already expecting fewer discounts this season.
- YouTube’s AI slop problem might be too big to stop.
- Still spending, still nervous: the paradox of Q4 advertising.
- On campuses, GenAI companies brand themselves as academic friends, not foes.
- A bipartisan bill wants to keep call centers in the US: The legislation’s future is unclear, but experts say contact centers should plan ahead and reduce call volumes, improve service and examine costs.
- Gartner predicts Fortune 500 companies won’t eliminate human agents anytime soon: “At the end of the day do we think there will be fewer agents? Yes. But a fully agentless future is not going to happen,” Gartner’s Kathy Ross said.
- Marriott checks out AI agents amid technology transformation: Automating high-cost processes and improving experiences are two key priorities. The goal is to move associates away from manual, repetitive tasks to focus on better serving guests.
- Money Monday: TikTok and Instagram are booming with the latest budgeting trend – cash stuffing: Using envelopes of cash to divide spending, lots of people are finding the hands-on method helps them stick to limits on groceries, bills and leisure. It may feel old-fashioned, but advocates say physically seeing money leave your wallet is a simple way to curb impulse spending and build better habits.
- Video-First Creators Targeted by Canon’s EOS C50: The C50 sports a new 7K full-frame CMOS sensor, 7K60P of internal RAW recording and 32 megapixel still photo capture. Weighing approx. one and a half pounds (680 g), the C50 targets handheld and vérité shooting. Importantly, it’s the first camera in the Cinema EOS line to feature the full frame 3:2 open gate recording.
- Claude Adds Memory and Incognito Mode for Teams: Claude has launched memory features for Team and Enterprise users, enabling the app to retain context such as project details, client needs, and team workflows without requiring repeated explanations. Each project has its own dedicated memory to maintain boundaries between concurrent initiatives, and users can view and edit summaries at any time. Memory is optional and can be disabled by individuals or organization admins. Alongside this update, Claude is introducing Incognito chat, which gives users a clean slate for sensitive or temporary discussions that won’t appear in history or memory. The rollout begins today with a phased approach to ensure responsible deployment.
- Meta Expands Brand Tools Across Reels, Threads, and Ads Manager: At its Brand Building Summit, Meta unveiled new tools designed to help advertisers connect with culture and drive results across its platforms. Reels Trending Ads are now open to more advertisers, delivering strong lifts in awareness and engagement by pairing brands with top short-form content. Threads ads gain new formats and easier setup, supporting deeper brand conversations on the growing platform. Meta also expanded value rules to brand objectives and introduced landing page view optimization for campaigns without pixel access, improving traffic quality.
- Journeys remixes ‘90s hit for debut of ‘Life on Loud’ brand platform: A reimagining of New Radicals’ “You Get What You Give” includes a music video nodding to renewed interest in mall culture among Gen Z.
- Why marketers still struggle to capitalize on in-store retail media: Ad spending on in-store retail media is forecast to top $1 billion by 2029, but experts on an IAB panel cited several lingering barriers to growth.
- Ralph Lauren debuts Ask Ralph AI shopping assistant on mobile app: Powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI, Ask Ralph provides style inspiration by serving consumers shoppable versions of complete outfits.
TLDR: Social Media Headlines – 15 September 2025
If you feel strongly about this article then feel free to send MyZA a ‘Letter to the Editor’ using the submission form below:
Letter to the Editor
3 Latest Letters to the Editor:
-
Fun South African fact
Dear Editor Fun South African fact: towns like Franschhoek and Stellenbosch are home to world-class wine farms set in stunning, scenic surroundings. Regards Aressa Smith In Response to/From: Luxury Properties Seized in New Lottery Crackdown
-
Condolences on the Passing of Lusanda Dumke
Statement by Leander Kruger MPL – DA Buffalo City Constituency Leader: The Democratic Alliance in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality mourns the passing of Springbok Women’s rugby player and Mdantsane trailblazer, Lusanda Dumke, who lost her battle with cancer at the age of 28. South Africa has lost an exceptional athlete, a leader, and a source…
-
Rape Kits Delivered, But…
Statement by Nicholas Gotsell MP – DA NCOP Member on Security & Justice: The DA can confirm that 2 840 rape kits arrived in Cape Town on Monday, following sustained DA oversight and pressure after multiple police stations across the Western Cape were found to be without this critical forensic evidence tool. While this delivery…
AlertXis
Brazil: You have two cows. But not for long, because one shoots the other dead.
New York Mood
Fun South African Fact: In the Cape Wineland region, you’ll discover the stunning towns of Franschhoek, Stellenbosch and Paarl. This region is home to many award-winning wine estates that produce unbelievable varieties and vintages year in and year out. South Africa’s wine country is home to more than 500 registered wineries. While exploring these vineyards and estates, be sure to sample some Pinotage, South Africa’s signature variety!