Roblox reported that 45 of its daily active users had undergone age checks as of January 31, following the implementation of mandatory facial verification for access to chats on its platform. The move came in response to lawsuits filed by attorneys general in Texas, Kentucky, and Louisiana, who alleged that Roblox exposed young users to risks like grooming and explicit content, according to TechCrunch.
To complete the age-check process, users were required to open the Roblox app, grant camera access, and follow on-screen instructions for facial verification. Once processed by a third-party vendor, Persona, Roblox stated it deleted any images or videos of users.
In other tech news, the European Commission accused TikTok of designing its app to be addictive, citing features like infinite scroll, autoplay, and push notifications, as well as its recommendation engine. Preliminary findings from an investigation into TikTok's compliance with the European Union's Digital Services Act revealed that the platform did not adequately assess how its design decisions could harm users, particularly minors and vulnerable adults, according to TechCrunch. The Commission noted that TikTok disregarded indicators of compulsive use, such as the time users spend on the app at night and how often they open it.
Meanwhile, Analogue announced a new collection of limited-edition transparent colors for its modern remake of the Nintendo 64. The new colors were inspired by unreleased N64 prototypes, according to The Verge.
In the realm of autonomous vehicles, Waymo is using Google's Genie world-building AI model to generate simulated edge cases, such as a self-driving car encountering a tornado or an elephant. This initiative aims to prepare the vehicles for unexpected situations, according to The Verge.
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