Bytes: Week in Review — Kids’ online safety legislation, Meta’s AI and EV regrets

Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta is expanding AI offerings across its products, even as the company gets rid of AI features that haven’t quite landed with consumers. The bottom line? CEO Mark Zuckerberg says “Meta AI is on track to be the most used AI assistant in the world by the end of the year.”

Then, the Wall Street Journal’s senior personal tech columnist Joanna Stern shares surprises and regrets on her journey as an electric vehicle owner. But first, this week in Congress, the Senate passed the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act, also known as COPPA 2.0, and the Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA, in a rare bipartisan vote — 91 senators voted in favor, with just three opposing these measures, which aim to reduce harm to kids on the internet.

Marketplace’s Lily Jamali spoke with Stern about all this.

Everything we talked about

“Targeting kids generates billions in ad revenue for social media” from The Harvard Gazette

“Senate passes landmark bills to protect kids online, raising pressure on House” from the Washington Post

“The KOSA Internet Censorship Bill Just Passed The Senate—It’s Our Last Chance To Stop It” from the Electronic Frontier Foundation

“Instagram starts letting people create AI versions of themselves” from The Verge

“Meta Scraps Celebrity AI Chatbots That Fell Flat With Users” from The Information

“Instagram now lets you create an AI version of yourself” from Mashable

“I’ve Been Driving an EV for a Year. I Have Only One Regret.” from the Wall Street Journal