Building autonomous AI agents that mutate production state requires moving beyond soft system prompts to a robust zero-trust architecture. To secure Google Agent Development Kit (ADK) workflows against prompt injections and malicious execution, developers must implement hardware-backed cryptographic signatures for database writes, kernel-level sandboxing with gVisor for dynamic code, and deterministic semantic gateways for I/O validation. By enforcing these hard security boundaries at the infrastructure level, you can safely deploy multi-tool AI agents without risking unauthorized data manipulation or server compromise.

Credentio is a newly released, open-source C++ library from Google that allows developers to integrate high-performance, local-first validation of C2PA Content Credentials into their client and server applications. By processing assets entirely locally with a highly optimized memory footprint, the library delivers instant validation verdicts for multi-gigabyte media files without incurring cloud latency, bandwidth costs, or data privacy risks. The library currently features deep manifest parsing alongside configurable trust list integration, and is available now on Google Source with future plans to support full credential generation and embedding.

HeyGen ported their 18B+ parameter Avatar IV video generation model to Google Cloud's Trillium (v6e) TPUs via torchax and XLA, utilizing FSDP and Ulysses sequence parallelism across an eight-chip mesh. To achieve a 1.86x speedup for real-time streaming, the engineering team pipelined exposed all-to-all collectives, aligned sparse attention block sizes to eliminate mask padding, and bypassed softmax serial dependencies using a precomputed Cauchy-Schwarz upper bound. These custom Pallas kernel and compiler optimizations were deployed only after passing rigorous two-tier quality gates to guarantee byte-identical or mathematically equivalent pixel outputs.

As AI coding assistants shift the developer's primary role from writing boilerplate to reviewing and maintaining systems, language choice becomes critical for long-term architectural integrity. Go directly addresses this new paradigm by utilizing its strict compiler, integrated toolchain, and uncompromising readability to provide deterministic guardrails that help AI models self-correct and generate highly standardized code. By enforcing ecosystem-wide consistency and strict backward compatibility, the Go platform empowers engineering teams to efficiently verify, optimize, and maintain high-velocity, AI-generated output in production environments.

Deploying secure, real-time Edge AI on Raspberry Pi is now simplified using LiteRT and lightweight Gemma open models. LiteRT optimizes CPU and GPU performance, delivering fast token speeds for models like Gemma4, enabling real-time local reasoning for robotics. Developers can quickly convert, quantize, and run these models using the lightweight LiteRT CLI tool. Support for Hailo AI accelerators is also coming very soon.

Tunix is Google’s new JAX-native post-training library designed to eliminate TPU idling bottlenecks when training multi-turn, tool-using LLM reasoning agents. It maximizes hardware throughput by combining highly concurrent, asynchronous rollouts with a decoupled producer-consumer pipeline, ensuring the trainer is constantly fed even while agents wait on network I/O or environment steps. Additionally, Tunix provides plug-and-play abstractions and continuous macro-level profiling, allowing developers to easily integrate custom open-source environments and optimize complex distributed workflows without massive code rewrites.

The Free Software Foundation (FSF), a Massachusetts 501(c)(3) charity with a worldwide mission to promote computer user freedom, seeks a motivated and talented individual to be our new Systems Integration Administrator. This position is ideally full-time and US-based, but exceptions can be made for a qualified candidate.

Google Cloud has natively integrated TPU support into the vLLM serving engine, allowing developers to elastically scale high-demand embedding pipelines using Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE). To handle massive 15K+ token contexts for models like Qwen3-Embedding-8B, the engineering team implemented TPU-specific optimizations such as hardware-safe tensor alignment, JAX/XLA compilation pre-warming, and a hybrid StepPool architecture for chunked prefill management. These enhancements achieve near-perfect numerical parity with reference GPU baselines, and developers can immediately leverage the open-sourced setup recipes on the AI-Hypercomputer GitHub to build their own high-throughput semantic retrieval applications.

Robby Stein, Google's Vice President of Product at Google Search, asked on X, "If you could get one feature shipped right now in AI Mode, what would it be?" So now is your chance to reply on X with what you want.

Life360's new QR pet tag costs $7.99 once, while Pet GPS adds live tracking and escape alerts with a paid membership. Here's where each fits.

The post Life360’s $8 Pet Tag vs Pet GPS: What Each One Does appeared first on TechRepublic.

Motion Assist is appearing on select Pixel phones with Android 17. Learn how its moving screen cues work, where to find it, and why access varies.

The post Pixel Phones Get Motion Assist: What Android 17 Users Should Know appeared first on TechRepublic.

Apple’s new Mac Studio pairs M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips with up to 512GB of unified memory, targeting demanding local AI and creative workloads.

The post Mac Studio 2026: Apple Goes All In on Local AI With M5 Ultra appeared first on TechRepublic.

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today...

Fitbit’s founders have launched Luffu Link, a $300 wearable that uses health sensors, LTE and AI to help families monitor health and safety.

The post Fitbit’s Founders Have a New Wearable, But It’s Not Really for Fitness appeared first on TechRepublic.

WhatsApp is adding stronger two-step verification, multiple passkeys and more context for unknown callers as it expands protections against scams.

The post WhatsApp Just Added 3 New Ways to Protect Your Account appeared first on TechRepublic.

We are announcing an agreement we have reached with a bipartisan group of 52 attorneys general across US states, territories, and the District of Columbia, building on our longstanding efforts to empower parents and support teens.

Through this agreement, we have set out a path toward industry-wide commitments to further empower parents by introducing:

• A two-hour daily time limit
• Turning off access to our apps at night as a default
• No notifications during school hours
• Clear prompts and notifications to teens every 15 minutes of continuous screen time
• New parental supervision controls, so parents can decide how their teens use our apps

We want to ensure teens benefit from this new industry standard, but we cannot do it alone. These protections will only be truly effective if we work with our peers — TikTok and YouTube — to put the same measures in place. 

All platforms should empower parents and support teens in these ways because we know that when teens are restricted on one app, they simply move to another. For meaningful progress to happen, we urge our peers to join us.

The post An Open Letter to TikTok and YouTube to Join Us in Supporting Teens appeared first on Meta Newsroom.

Our Agreement With US State Attorneys General

Today, we are announcing an agreement with a bipartisan group of 52 attorneys general across US states, territories, and the District of Columbia, building on our longstanding efforts to empower parents and support teens.

Over the years, we have consistently partnered with parents and experts — listening, learning, and building. That’s why we launched Teen Accounts in 2024, to bring automatic protections to teens, and more control for parents. 

Ensuring teens have a safe and productive experience on our platforms is an absolute imperative for Meta. We want to get this right for parents and teens, and that’s why we partnered with state attorneys general to set a new industry standard.

Calling on TikTok and YouTube to Join Us

While this is an important step, the fact is that teens move fluidly between dozens of apps a day. All platforms should empower parents and support teens by putting the same measures in place, because we know that when teens are restricted on one app, they simply move to another. 

For meaningful progress to happen, we urge TikTok and YouTube to join us and state attorneys general in adopting this new standard, to ensure teens use social media in a healthy and responsible way.

New Protections for Teens and Stronger Controls for Parents

Pending judicial approval, in participating US states and territories, these protections and controls will automatically apply to under-18s on Instagram and Facebook. The majority of the terms are required to remain in place for 10 years.

• Time Limit: A default two-hour daily time limit that teens can only turn off with a parent’s permission. This limit is cumulative across Facebook and Instagram, and time spent scrolling on both apps counts toward the total, including if we detect that someone has multiple accounts. 
• Night Mode: A default block from our apps between midnight and 6am. This means teens will not be able to post or view their Feed, Stories, Explore, or Reels, for example. 

• School Mode: Notifications will be muted by default between 8 AM and 3 PM. During those hours, teens will no longer receive push notifications, except for direct messages and alerts about their account security or safety.

• Regular Prompts: Teens will receive prompts after every 15 minutes of continuous screen time on Facebook or Instagram. They’ll also receive prompts when their total daily usage hits 60 minutes and 90 minutes. These prompts are designed to encourage intentional use. 

• Algorithmic Feed Control: Teens will be able to choose a non-algorithmic feed — one that isn’t personalized by our recommendation systems — as their default. We will periodically remind them of this option, and parents can choose to adjust their teen’s default experience to require this setting.
• Autoplay Control: Teens will be able to turn off autoplay, so that content no longer automatically plays. Instead, they’ll need to take a deliberate action, like a tap or swipe, to see more. Parents can choose to adjust their teen’s default experience to require this setting.
• Hidden Likes: Teens won’t see the number of likes and reactions on posts — both their own and those from others — by default.
• Disabling cosmetic surgery and extreme makeup filters: In addition to our existing policy to block teens from using cosmetic surgery filters, we’ll now block teens from using extreme makeup filters.
• Age Assurance: We work hard to find and remove underage accounts from our apps and, as part of our agreement, we’re investing in even stronger technology to proactively catch accounts that may belong to under-13s. We’re also strengthening the technology we use to identify accounts that may be between the ages of 13 and 17, so we can ensure those accounts are placed in experiences designed for teens, even if they give us an adult birthday. However, to ensure teens are consistently protected across the many apps they use, app stores must provide developers with verified age information. This will allow platforms to put age-appropriate protections in place for as many teens as possible. That’s why we’ll continue to advocate for legislation that empowers parents by requiring app stores to verify age and obtain parental approval before a teen downloads an app.
• Age-appropriate content restrictions: We will maintain our current content standards so that, by default, teens are placed into 13+ content settings, inspired by movie ratings criteria and parent feedback. We will also continue to prevent teens from following or interacting with accounts we consider age-inappropriate. We will work to continually improve these systems to ensure age-appropriate content experiences for teens.
• Unwanted contact from strangers: We will maintain our current practices of defaulting teens into private accounts on Instagram and private default settings on Facebook, and we’ll continue to restrict potentially suspicious adults from contacting them. We will also strengthen our efforts to make it harder for those adults to find, follow, or interact with teens.
• Reporting and ongoing protection from harmful content: We will continue to give teens easy ways to report content that concerns them, and we’ll work to improve our response times. We will also continue our work to protect teens from potentially harmful experiences by regularly evaluating how often teens are exposed to them. We’ll draw on research and expert input to improve our work.
• Strengthening our parental controls: We will encourage parents to set up our supervision tools and give them new controls and insights. This includes notifying parents when a teen links a secondary account, alerting them to interactions with potentially suspicious accounts, and providing periodic updates on their teen’s usage and any changes their teen attempts to make to their protective settings.
• Our direct messaging features are excluded from Night Mode, Time Limit, and School Mode restrictions, to allow teens to stay connected with friends and family.

Financial Details

The agreement includes a payment of approximately $18 billion, which can be used to fund youth online safety initiatives, among other state priorities. The payment will be distributed in annual installments over a 10-year period. Participating states will receive approximately 70% (approximately $12.7 billion) of the allocated payment over the decade. The remaining 30% (approximately $5.3 billion) will be released only after two specific conditions are met. 

1. YouTube and TikTok implement a one-hour Daily Limit, Night Mode, and age assurance measures. 
2. YouTube and TikTok each pay an amount matching the 30% figure, with half of the remaining funds tied to YouTube’s payment and half tied to TikTok’s.  

We expect to accrue a legal expense of approximately $10 billion in Q3’26 related to the agreement. This charge was not contemplated in the expense range that was provided in the Q2 earnings call. Otherwise, the guidance ranges provided in our July earnings release remain unchanged.

Encouraging Industry-Wide Adoption

The agreement is designed to drive industry-wide adoption, ensuring teens receive consistent protections across the apps they use most, like YouTube and TikTok. If industry peers adopt this new standard, certain provisions will be strengthened. 

The majority of the terms are required to remain in place for 10 years, but our Time Limit and Night Mode features will start with a five-year commitment. However, if industry peers sign on to the agreement, it will both extend this commitment to 10 years and prompt stronger default limits — reducing the Daily Limit to one hour per app and expanding Night Mode hours to 10:00 PM–7:00 AM (up from midnight–6:00 AM).

Additional Research and Oversight

The agreement will also establish an independent social media research foundation. Meta will share consented user data with the foundation to advance independent research into teen well-being and grow our collective understanding of how to best support teens online.

Finally, an independent auditor will test and report to the states on Meta’s compliance with the agreement, reviewing Meta’s compliance with its terms annually for five years.

On the agreement, C.J. Mahoney, Chief Legal Officer at Meta, said:
“I’m pleased to announce that Meta has reached an agreement with a bipartisan group of state attorneys general from around the country on a new set of rules governing teens’ use of social media. The framework we’ve negotiated will empower parents to easily manage how their children access our platforms. Our new Time Limit commitments, Night Mode features and usage limits during school hours set the right path forward for our whole industry, but this framework will only work if all our peers join us. Because teens move fluidly across dozens of apps, we need an industry-wide solution. We therefore call on our industry peers, TikTok and YouTube, to implement this new framework, right away. As a parent, I’m proud of both the work Meta has done to protect kids historically, and of this new groundbreaking agreement. But its success depends on all other social media platforms following Meta’s lead.”

https://about.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/META_CHIEF_LEGAL_OFFICER_ON_HISTORIC_SETTLEMENT_Baked_CC.mp4

We’re pleased to launch these new protections, and we’ll continue to work with parents, policymakers, and regulators around the world to further our shared goal of supporting teens and empowering parents online.

A bipartisan group of 52 attorneys general across US states, territories, and the District of Columbia have joined this multistate agreement:

Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia,Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, N. Mariana Islands, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. 

This post contains forward-looking statements, including about Meta’s business outlook. You should not rely on these statements as predictions of future events. Additional information regarding potential risks and uncertainties about our business and financial results can be found in our most recent Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Meta undertakes no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information or future events.

The post Our Agreement With Bipartisan Attorneys General: Calling on TikTok and YouTube to Join Us in Supporting Teens appeared first on Meta Newsroom.

Several Apple, Google and Samsung smartwatches face software-support cutoffs in 2026. Here’s what ends, what may continue and when to upgrade.

The post Apple, Google and Samsung Watches Are Reaching Software Support Cutoffs appeared first on TechRepublic.

Enterprise-grade security, 32GB RAM, and an 11th Gen Core i7 make this a capable everyday workhorse laptop.

The post Get an HP EliteBook G8 for Just $390 While Stock Lasts appeared first on TechRepublic.

Kobo, BOOX, and NOOK give Kindle buyers more choices for library borrowing, EPUB support, color screens, note-taking, and multiple ebook stores.

The post 5 Best Kindle Alternatives in 2026 After Amazon’s Price Hike appeared first on TechRepublic.