Google is removing more unwanted advertisements—over 8 billion last year—by focusing on stopping individual bad ads rather than waiting to shut down entire advertiser accounts. For you, this means fewer scams and misleading health claims cluttering your search results and Gmail, making it safer to browse online without accidentally clicking on something harmful. Worth knowing: if you spot an ad that looks suspicious (especially ones promising miracle cures or investment returns), you can report it directly to Google rather than assuming nothing will be done about it.
A group called Cypurr Collective is hosting fun social events at bars and venues where people can learn practical ways to protect their privacy from big tech companies like Google, all while enjoying music and drinks with friends. For many of us who worry about how much personal information these companies collect, these relaxed gatherings make it easier to understand your options without feeling lectured or overwhelmed by technical jargon. You can search online for "Cypurr Collective" or similar privacy meetup groups in your area to find out when the next Break Up With Google event happens near you.
Canva's AI assistant has just gotten smarter—you can now describe what you want (like "a birthday card with balloons and gold text"), and the AI builds it for you automatically. This means you can create professional-looking designs without needing to learn Canva's tools, which is great if you want to make cards, posters, or social media posts quickly. Worth knowing: the designs it creates are fully editable, so you can still adjust colors, fonts, and text afterward if something doesn't quite match what you had in mind.
Express accidentally left thousands of customers' personal information—including names, addresses, and order details—visible on the internet where anyone could find it, though the company has now fixed the problem. You can…contact Express directly to ask if your data was exposed and whether they plan to send you a notification, since the company hasn't committed to alerting customers yet.
YouTube has just made it possible to completely hide its short videos (called Shorts) from your feed if you find yourself spending too much time watching them—you can now set a limit of zero minutes instead of the previous minimum of 15 minutes. This matters because many people over 50 find these quick, addictive videos eat up their time without realizing it, so having the option to remove them entirely gives you better control over your phone habits. Worth knowing: open the YouTube app on your phone, go to Settings, find "Time management," then "Daily limits," and look for "Shorts feed limit" where you can select zero minutes to turn them off completely.
DeepL, a company famous for translating written text between languages, is now working on technology to translate spoken words in real time during video calls on platforms like Zoom and Teams. For someone who travels, does business internationally, or simply wants to chat with friends and family abroad, this could mean understanding conversations in other languages without needing a human interpreter or struggling through a foreign language.
Opera, a web browser, now lets you add either ChatGPT or Claude as a helpful assistant that reads the webpage you're looking at and answers questions based on what's actually on your screen. This means you can get personalized help while browsing without being locked into one company's AI tool—you can switch between different chatbots whenever you like. You can enable this free feature by going to Settings and looking for the AI Services section in Opera One or Opera GX.
Apple and Google's app stores are currently offering and even promoting apps that use artificial intelligence to create fake nude images of real people—sometimes labeling them as safe for children to download. These apps have been downloaded nearly half a billion times and generated over $100 million in revenue, even though both companies have clear rules against this kind of sexual content. Worth knowing: if you share photos online or your family members do, be cautious about what personal images you post publicly, as they could potentially be misused by these tools.
Microsoft created a feature called Recall that takes constant screenshots of everything you do on your PC to help you remember your activities, but it originally stored all those pictures and data without any protection—like leaving your diary wide open on a park bench. A security researcher has now found a new way to bypass Microsoft's improved protections, which means the company may need to strengthen its safeguards even further to keep your private information truly private. Worth knowing: if you have a newer Windows 11 PC with Recall, check that it's turned off in your settings unless you actively want to use it, and always make sure your computer is password-protected with Windows Hello.
Google has created a new app for Mac computers that lets you ask their AI assistant Gemini questions about anything on your screen—photos, documents, or files—right then and there without copying and pasting. This means you can get quick help understanding or working with what you're actually looking at, whether that's editing a photo, understanding a confusing email, or figuring out a document. Worth knowing: the app works with files already on your computer, so you don't have to upload everything to the internet first, which keeps your personal information more private.
Google has created a new app for Mac computers that lets you chat with their AI assistant Gemini without having to open a separate window—you just press Option + Space to bring up a quick chat box right on your screen. It's handy because Gemini can see what you're working on and use that information to answer your questions more helpfully, though you'll need to give it permission first. You can try it out by downloading the Gemini app from Google if you use a Mac, and it works similarly to Apple's Spotlight search feature you may already know.
A UK company called Narwhal Labs created an advertisement for their artificial intelligence software that makes a joke about a woman worker never asking for a raise, which has upset many people who see it as disrespectful and sexist. The Advertising Standards Authority, which oversees ads in Britain, has received multiple complaints about the campaign and will investigate whether it breaks advertising rules.
Worth knowing: Even as artificial intelligence becomes more common in workplaces, how companies choose to market these tools matters—and public pushback, like these complaints, can influence whether ads stay online or get pulled down.
