Republicans Raise National Security Concerns Over Intel’s Testing of China-Linked Chipmaking Tools 
Australia’s Under-16 Social Media Ban Sparks Global Debate and Early Challenges 
SpaceX Insider Share Sale Values Company Near $800 Billion Amid IPO Speculation 
Evercore Reaffirms Alphabet’s Search Dominance as AI Competition Intensifies 
SpaceX Edges Toward Landmark IPO as Elon Musk Confirms Plans 
Biren Technology Targets Hong Kong IPO to Raise $300 Million Amid China’s AI Chip Push 
OpenAI Explores Massive Funding Round at $750 Billion Valuation 
Apple App Store Injunction Largely Upheld as Appeals Court Rules on Epic Games Case 
Trump Signs Executive Order to Establish National AI Regulation Standard 
Nvidia Develops New Location-Verification Technology for AI Chips 
China Adds Domestic AI Chips to Government Procurement List as U.S. Considers Easing Nvidia Export Curbs 
SoftBank Shares Slide as Oracle’s AI Spending Plans Fuel Market Jitters 
Intel’s Testing of China-Linked Chipmaking Tools Raises U.S. National Security Concerns 
noyb Files GDPR Complaints Against TikTok, Grindr, and AppsFlyer Over Alleged Illegal Data Tracking. 
Jared Isaacman Confirmed as NASA Administrator, Becomes 15th Leader of U.S. Space Agency 
The Messenger Kids messaging app aimed at children as young as six years old that Facebook is pushing for has been a controversial issue for some time now. Health experts have warned that it would be terrible for kids, but Facebook tried to downplay the issue by saying that it has been vetted by other experts.
One of the groups that Facebook has touted has vetted Messenger Kids is the National PTA, but it never mentioned it had financial ties to the group, WIRED reports. Apparently, the social network donated money to the body in 2017 and it did the same thing to the Family Online Safety Institute, and two members of its advisory board are actually members of that group.
Facebook has donated to many other groups that have since offered their support for the Messenger Kids app, as well. Of course, it would be unfair to say that all of these entities had nefarious reasons for supporting the service. However, the fact that Facebook didn’t mention its financial ties with these companies is what has skeptics up in arms.
The reasons for worrying about the impact of the app on children adds one more, with Messenger Kids now being available on Android devices. This is in stark contrast to what nonprofit organizations such as Common Sense Media and Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood have been pushing for since the app’s release.
The bodies have been asking Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to kill the app because they believe that it’s not safe for children. Unfortunately, it seems the social network believes it knows better.
As TechCrunch notes, Messenger Kids certainly provides parents with much more control over the conversations that their children will have with others on the web, but many argue that kids shouldn’t be on the web in that manner, to begin with. For now, the debate continues.
