This week on AI News You Should Know About, we're breaking down two of the biggest AI headlines shaping the industry. We explore why Meta is rolling back an AI feature inside Instagram and what OpenAI's rumored screenless hardware device could mean for the future of generative AI and human-computer interaction.
The biggest AI news moves fast, and we're here to help you separate the signal from the noise.
In this episode of AI News You Should Know About, Ashley Coffey and Daniel Hill unpack two major AI headlines making waves across the technology industry.
First, Meta quietly rolls back an AI feature within Instagram after user feedback raises questions about product adoption, user experience, and the future of AI-powered social media.
Then, we dive into reports that OpenAI's first consumer hardware device may be a screenless, movable AI companion developed with former Apple designer Jony Ive. If true, it could represent one of the most significant AI breakthroughs since the launch of ChatGPT and signal a new direction for how we interact with artificial intelligence beyond smartphones.
Whether you're a business leader, entrepreneur, or simply trying to stay informed, this episode covers the AI breakthroughs, generative AI updates, and tech headlines that matter most.
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Stay curious, stay informed, and stay hydrated! See you next week with more pivotal AI insights.
Ashley Coffey (00:00.312)
Hi, and welcome back to AI News that you should know about for July 17th. I'm your host, Ashley Coffey.
Daniel Hill (00:07.101)
I'm I'm your host, Daniel Hill. There's a lot of AI news out there. We give you the weekly highlights as fast as humanly possible.
Ashley Coffey (00:18.274)
We have some exciting news as we celebrate one year of bringing you AI news that you should know about or making a change that many of you have been asking for. And thank you to your support. moving from publishing once a week to twice a week. So that means more AI news, more insights and more of the stories that actually matter delivered to you throughout the week. So you're always up to speed. This week we'll be talking about Meta turns off the Instagram feature that lets users make AI deep fakes of public accounts.
And OpenAI's first hardware device is reportedly a screenless speaker that can move.
Daniel Hill (00:55.723)
We'll be covering all of that on our show today, but first here's a quick word from our sponsors.
Ashley Coffey (01:03.288)
Welcome back. Let's dive in. All right, so Meta turns off the Instagram feature that lets users make AI deepfakes of public accounts. This is coming from The Verge. We'll link the article in the show notes. That way you can read it. But last week on our podcast, we covered this. And there was a massive public backlash after Meta rolled out this new feature. And how it works is that anyone could go into the Meta AI platform and app.
and type in a prompt like, make a picture of @ashley r coffey89 of me flying through space with a red hat and white text. I would never do that, but it wouldn't ask my consent. And obviously there's problematic associations there of using someone's image for something else that might depict what they're not doing. And what happened is after the public backlash, Meta decided to roll it back.
So now, this is a really good example of one, this is extremely problematic for companies to roll out features without an opt-in. I don't want an auto-opt-in. I was auto-opted in and had to go in and undo that. But also, this is a really good example of the power of public opinion, especially in the day and age of AI companies making decisions on behalf of consumers. But this is a friendly reminder that you have free will, and you can use it. And I want to hear your thoughts, Daniel.
Daniel Hill (02:28.349)
Actually, very glad that Meta rolled this back. Turning something on like this by default is just a poor decision and shows not a lot of thought went into it, or they thought no one would notice. So, credit to the tech community in general, credit to shows like us that point out what a ridiculous idea this is. And I'm hoping to see more public backlash for other things companies do that are not appropriate because I think this is going to happen.
More and more where companies just think everyone wants AI. Let's make this feature happen. And then once it rolls out, we realize, no, that's a terrible idea, especially when it comes to people being able to use your likeness, your content in a way that you do not approve of. That can already happen in a so many different ways. So giving people the ability to do that more easily is not a good thing. Glad to see that meta rolled this back.
Ashley Coffey (03:17.42)
Yes, and one last thing on that is that I'm noticing when I go through threads and Instagram and Facebook, a lot of people have this assumption that you can just sue someone whenever they use your face or your image or your likeness. Friendly reminder that Denmark is the only country that has legal protections for its citizens, so their citizens own their face or name their image and likeness. The US does not have that, so no, you cannot go sue someone.
and in its current form. So it's really tricky and problematic for a lot of reasons, but we will keep you up to speed so you know.
We're going to take a quick break, but when we come back, we'll be talking about OpenAI's first hardware device is reportedly a screenless speaker that can move.
Daniel Hill (04:05.035)
Welcome back. Continuing with our stories, OpenAI's first hardware device is reportedly a screenless speaker that can move. This article is coming from TechCrunch. By way of background, we've known for a while that OpenAI is working on a hardware device of some kind. OpenAI has enlisted help from many former Apple engineers who are instrumental in creating products like the iPhone and the iMac. That team includes Johnny Ive. He led the design of the iMac in 1998, the iPhone, the Apple Watch, and over the past
Few months we've seen a picture of an OpenAI device prototype, but it's been really unclear based on that image and others like it of how a hardware device could fit into a human's daily life better than the tools we already have. We already have a smartphone, smartwatch, wireless earbuds, all of which fit into our normal lives and we interact with in one way or another, using our hands or our voice or not. Here's the news.
OpenAI's first foray into hardware devices is reported to be a mobile smart speaker with integrated AI capabilities that can sync with ChatGPT and provide other home AI services. Bloomberg is reporting that this device, which is still under development, is designed to be screen-free and being pitched internally as a quote, human-like AI companion that lives in the home. End quote.
Now, this device is supposed to be different from traditional smart speakers like we've seen from Amazon and Google. Sources describe this device as having a personality and being able to proactively learn about its owner over time, providing a more personalized service. It would also have access to a user's digital life, drawing off things like emails. Now, here's the part that I think is a little bit different and not really a selling point for me personally. We'll get into it.
The device is also weirdly described as involving, quote, mechanical elements that can move on their own, end quote. And the report includes the detail that the device is designed to quote feel like a companion and become a physical manifestation of OpenAI's Chat GPT, end quote. So this device is going to move in some way, shape, or form, which I think is a little bit concerning. Ashley, what are your thoughts?
Ashley Coffey (06:16.586)
I am also concerned because I'm just envisioning a small computer like looks like an air tag just crawling on my shoulder. Like what? So I think one, I understand this is going to be a really difficult move for any company to make a hardware device that will be worn. And this is what is missing is the context So of course you need to have something on you that's going to be continuously capturing context through speaker, through sensors.
and not everyone has their phone on them at all times. So by having something wearable, you're enabling AI to have more information about you, to give you more contextually accurate responses. But the trade off is the privacy perspective here. I'm very interested to see what this will actually look like and if it will actually take off. But I think the bigger problem here is just the trust. We already have a public trust problem. And trying to put out a new product that's going to be worn by someone 24 seven is problematic. we need to roll it back a little bit and have a bigger.
Daniel Hill (07:16.361)
One thing I like is your mental image of what this could be is completely different from mine. So you described a small device with little legs that can walk around. I was thinking about something more akin to the Amazon, and I think it's called the robot, where it was on the floor on wheels and it had sort of a long pole with camera and it would roll around. That was more in my mind what I envisioned. But I think to a certain extent, smart speakers being in every room is a better solution.
Than a device that can follow you around or is movable. That's my opinion. I just think Johnny Ive is capable of creating incredible products. So what this end product looks like still remains to be seen. Obviously, I have a lot of hope that this will be something exciting and dynamic and creative and completely unique. But I do think smart speakers in every room addresses that mobility to a certain level a lot more easily.
Ashley Coffey (08:09.77)
Agreed, agreed. We'll see what happens with the smart speaker movement. I'm really curious to see how that takes off throughout the rest of 2026.
Daniel Hill (08:18.177)
That is it for our AI news that you should know about this week. If you want to read the sources that we've referenced in today's episode, you can find links to everything we've talked about in the show in the show notes. And please send us direct messages on social media. We'd love to hear what you think of the show. You can find me @ Daniel Hill Media on Instagram, threads, and YouTube.
Ashley Coffey (08:39.148)
And if you want more tech talk, you can find me on Instagram @ AshleyRCoffey89, where you can sign up for the latest AI updates newsletter at the link in my bio.
Daniel Hill (08:49.985)
Thank you for listening and come back next time for more AI news you should know about.