26/03/2026

BIZ & FINANCE THURSDAY | MAR 26, 2026

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US jury finds Meta liable for endangering children

OpenAI kills Sora video app in pivot towards business tools SAN FRANCISCO: OpenAI said on Tuesday that it would shut down its artificial intelligence video generation app Sora barely six months after its launch, as the company shifts towards business tools ahead of a potential stock market debut. “We’re saying goodbye to Sora,“ the company posted on X. The shutdown marks the end of one of the most high-profile consumer AI product launches of the past year. OpenAI said it would later provide timelines for winding down the standalone app, as well as details on how people can preserve their work. The closing comes at a sensitive time for OpenAI, which faces increasing questions about the sustainability of its business model, with costs skyrocketing far faster than revenue despite having about one billion daily users worldwide. According to The Wall Street Journal , OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman announced the changes to staff on Tuesday. It also follows reports that OpenAI’s applications chief, Fidji Simo, told staff this month that they could not be distracted by “side quests,“ outlining a push toward agentic AI capabilities. These are AI systems that can work autonomously on computers to write software, analyse data and carry out other tasks. The Hollywood Reporter, meanwhile, said the end of Sora would mean the end of a megadeal signed in December with Disney, which was to invest US$1 billion in OpenAi and allow the licensing of its popular characters for making videos. Citing a source close to the matter, the report said the ultimate goal had been access to Sora for the Disney+ streaming service. “We respect OpenAI’s decision to exit the video generation business and to shift its priorities elsewhere,“ a Disney spokesman told The Reporter . “We will continue to engage with AI platforms to find new ways to meet fans where they are while responsibly embracing new technologies that respect IP and the rights of creators.” – AFP course would be a violation of the First Amendment.” She also questioned a claim by a US government lawyer during the hearing that Anthropic’s ethical fears raised the risk that the company could intervene in military operations. “I’m just wondering why it is that someone questioning the way things work leads to suspicion that they might build a back door,“ Lin said. – AFP

WASHINGTON: A New Mexico jury on Tuesday found social media giant Meta liable for endangering children by making them vulnerable to predators on its platforms and other dangers. The verdict came after roughly a day of deliberations following a six-week trial in which the state accused Facebook and Instagram’s parent company of failing to protect minors from sexual abuse, online solicitation and human trafficking. The state had sought the maximum US$2.2 billion in damages, but the jury awarded a lesser amount of US$375 million. The case, tried in a Santa Fe court, is among the first involving social media platforms and child safety to produce a jury verdict. “The jury’s verdict is a historic victory for every child and family who has paid the price for Meta’s choice to put profits over kids’ safety,” said New Mexico attorney-general Raul Torrez, who brought the case. “Meta executives knew their products harmed children, disregarded warnings from their own employees, and lied to the public about what they knew.” Meta said it would challenge the decision. “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and will appeal,” a company spokesperson said. “We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and are clear about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors or harmful content.” The jury reached its verdict following a trial that heard testimony from 40 witnesses, including employees-turned-whistle-blowers, and reviewed hundreds of documents, reports and emails. Torrez filed suit in 2023 against Meta – parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, alleging the company failed to protect children from online dangers. o Case is among the first involving social media platforms and child safety to produce verdict

The Meta logo marks the entrance of the Facebook corporate headquarters in Menlo Park, California. – AFPPIC

state’s claim that Meta should be ordered to pay additional penalties and make specific changes to its platforms and company operations. A separate jury in California is weighing whether Meta and YouTube should be held liable for harms caused to children on their platforms, including by making them addictive. That case is considered a bellwether that could influence the outcome of thousands of similar lawsuits against social media companies across the United States. – AFP

During closing arguments, prosecution attorney Linda Singer told jurors that Meta’s algorithms had directed adults toward content posted by teenage users while the company concealed internal findings about the risks to young people. The jury found Meta violated the state’s Unfair Practices Act by misleading consumers about the safety of its products for children. A second phase of proceedings is scheduled to begin on May 4, when a judge will hear the

American judge sees ‘troubling’ government reaction in Anthropic AI case SAN FRANCISCO: A federal judge on Tuesday expressed scepticism over the government’s retaliation against AI powerhouse Anthropic, which has sued over its designation as a national security risk because of a dispute over military applications. It had refused to let the Pentagon use Claude for pursuing autonomous lethal warfare and mass surveillance of Americans, but the government rejected Anthropic’s proposed safeguards. But she noted that “what is troubling to me about these reactions” by the government “is that they don’t really seem to be tailored to the stated national security concern”. If the military was not happy with the Anthropic contract, the government “could just stop using Claude“, she said.

Claude is the Pentagon’s most widely deployed frontier AI model and the only such model currently operating on its classified systems. After a short hearing, Judge Rita Lin said she would issue her ruling “in a few days”.

Anthropic filed a lawsuit this month in San Francisco seeking to overturn the designation, which is typically reserved for organisations from unfriendly foreign countries and could seriously handicap its popular AI model Claude.

“It looks like defendants went further than that because they were trying to punish Anthropic ... for criticising the government’s contracting position in the press which of

SpaceX looking to raise US$75 billion in June IPO: Report NEW YORK: SpaceX, the company founded by tech billionaire Elon Musk, will soon file for an initial public share offering in June that could raise a whopping US$75 billion (RM297 billion) for his extraterrestrial ambitions, a report said on Tuesday. prospectus would be filed with security regulators this week or next for the long-expected operation. SpaceX, which is also developing a spacecraft for reaching Mars, was valued at US$1.25 trillion in early February, when it merged with Musk’s artificial intelligence unit xAI. In recent months, analysts had expected Citing a person with knowledge of the plan, tech news site The Information said the IPO

SpaceX, which dominates the space launch market with its reusable rockets, is owned by Musk alongside several investment funds and tech firms including Google’s parent Alphabet. Analysts have said that taking SpaceX public will require it and Musk to maintain greater transparency, particularly about its revenues, and could increase pressure to deliver profits. – AFP

Musk would seek to raise US$30 billion to US$50 billion given the red-hot investor demand for technology firms. The IPO looks set to blow past the biggest public offering on record from 2019, with the oil group Saudi Aramco raised US$25.6 billion. The company did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.