Apple says it is changing its macOS privacy settings to stop third-party app developers from misusing them to access message histories.

Friday's announcement comes two weeks after tech columnist Jason Aten said that Meta’s new general-purpose AI agent Muse sent him an unsolicited notification referencing a thread between him and a co-worker over Apple Messages. Aten said he never granted Muse permissions to read his messages and had assumed they were off-limits. Social media last week blew up with masses of people who agreed and said the incident showed that AI assistants given access to calendars, emails, messages, shopping accounts, and other resources are akin to a skill saw or other power tool. While potentially useful, they can do real damage if not used carefully.

He said/she said

Meta CTO David Singleton joined the fray with a rebuttal that appeared solid. For Muse to access Apple Messages, a user must manually give it two privileges. One is full-disk access, a macOS system-level permission. The other is to enable a Messages connector setting in Muse.

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Meta now lets you make your own Muse gadgets that feature the company's new AI agent with code that the company open sourced. The company suggests projects like loading Muse on a color E Ink display to show reminders, adding it to an HDMI stick so you can display Muse on a big screen, or putting Muse on a small touchscreen device to make what looks kind of like a DIY Muse Charm.

"Muse gadgets are open source devices you build yourself," Meta says. "Program an off-the-shelf ESP32 board or set up a Raspberry Pi with our SDKs, then connect Muse to your displays, buttons, sensors, actuators, and whatever else you've got lying on your workbench. …

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At OpenAI's annual DevDay conference, the company pulled out all the stops to compete with its rivals - primarily Meta, whose Muse AI agent platform has seen early runaway success. CEO Sam Altman walked onstage to cheers and announced Dots, a "real-deal AI" agent powered by GPT-6 Astra, "inspired by the cool agents that we all watched in movies growing up." Similar to Muse, Dots aims for disarming cuteness, taking the form of colorful, personalizable blobs with eyes. OpenAI fired shots at Meta by demonstrating Dots' ability to not just act as helpful assistants but build metaverse-esque virtual worlds. But in one key area, Dots strikingly fa …

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While AI has made plenty of inroads on people's phones and computers, it's largely failed in dedicated devices. But over the next year, two major AI companies, Meta and OpenAI, will attempt to change that. And they're apparently betting on a similar path: testing appetites for physical hardware with their cutesy software agents.

"Hardware is hard" is a tech industry mantra. Dedicated AI devices like the Friend and Humane AI Pin have inspired mainly frustration and backlash, which may only worsen as public anger toward AI grows. Meta and OpenAI, however, are both pushing ahead. OpenAI is working with famed ex-Apple designer Jony Ive and pla …

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After hosting a meal with Big Tech leaders on Tuesday, President Donald Trump responded to journalist questions about his artificial intelligence announcements in typical fashion. He said his previous claims regarding fears around AI safety being a "hoax" cooked up by Democrats no longer apply now that he's renamed the technology to "Super Intelligence." He brushed off concerns that the government wasn't enforcing enough AI guardrails because US companies are "dominating China."

And instead of ushering in federal AI regulations, Trump now has "the smartest people in the world watching over each other."

The people in question here are Goog …

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Meta launched a new Muse AI agent it claims can help you with everything from firing off emails to buying stuff online. Muse can be surprisingly effective at delivering on those promises — if you’re willing to trust Meta with your data and hand Muse your credit card. Since the launch, Meta’s also announced plans for a Tamagotchi-like Muse Charm device for its cuddly AI mascot. 

Follow along here for the latest news and updates.

• Meta’s Muse AI sent a YouTuber’s address to a stranger
• Meta expands Muse tools for small businesses.
• Meta Enterprise Platform will bring its Muse AI to businesses.
• Maybe don’t let Muse run your Facebook Marketplace account.
• The Muse Charm won’t have Instagram built in.
• Meta makes the Muse filesystem even more accessible
• Muse will apparently let you download its entire filesystem
• Muse sure looks a lot like OpenClaw
• It’s sinister that Meta’s Muse AI mascot is so cute
• Meta’s Muse AI Charms can interact with each other
• Meta is making a standalone Muse AI gadget
• Muse is coming to Meta smart glasses
• Meta is making Muse more powerful and will let you video chat with it, too
• Meta’s AI agent is a cute little guy who’s great at spending my money
• Meta patches Muse exploit that let attackers control the AI agent
• Can you forget how you feel about Meta?
• Amazon blocks Meta’s Muse AI agent
• Meta’s Muse is creepy, but maybe not for the reasons you think
• Meta’s Muse AI agent now has a Mac app.
• Meta’s Muse AI works and creeps me out
• Mark Zuckerberg tells you to trust Muse.
• Meta bets on AI agent Muse to catch up in AI race

Instagram is the latest social media platform to add built-in AI-powered features that will give users feedback on their posts. The company announced Wednesday that its standalone Edits app will now include an AI "creative assistant" that pulls in data from a user's Instagram account and offers suggestions on what to change.

Using the new assistant, creators can ask open-ended questions about what's trending on Instagram, why one video worked and another didn't, or what piece of content resonated most with their audience. The tool pulls in data and metrics such as likes, views, retention on videos, and shares. Instagram says it can spot pat …

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Tech YouTuber Matt Robb says that Muse gave out his home address to a total stranger this weekend, after authorizing the bot to handle his Facebook Marketplace account. That's despite Meta placing great emphasis on the security features of Muse when it launched the personal AI agent earlier this month as it tries to catch up with competing AI providers like Anthropic and OpenAI.

"Just found out it told people my address and agreed a lowball price and then they showed up without it even telling me until late tonight that it messed up," Robb said on Threads, providing a screenshot of Muse's admission. "[Muse] didn't tell me any of this until …

Read the full story at The Verge.