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The leaders of several major tech companies will offer the White House their opinions on tech and science policy as part of an advisory council. Mark Zuckerberg, Jensen Huang, Michael Dell and Larry Ellison — the CEOs of Meta, NVIDIA, Dell and Oracle, respectively — are joining the panel alongside Google co-founder Sergey Brin and AMD CEO Lisa Su. Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, who has donated to super PACs that support President Donald Trump, will serve on the panel too.
The latest iteration of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) has 13 members, though that could expand to 24. White House AI and cryptocurrency czar David Sacks co-chairs PCAST alongside Trump's science advisor, Michael Kratsios.
"Under President Trump, PCAST will focus on topics related to the opportunities and challenges that emerging technologies present to the American workforce, and ensuring all Americans thrive in the Golden Age of Innovation," the White House told
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Apple has introduced more than just new features, like an AI playlist generator, with iOS 26.4 in the UK. The company now requires users in the region to verify their ages and to prove they're 18 years old or above before they can access "certain services or features, or take certain actions on their account." Users can verify their ages in Settings by linking a credit card to their account or scanning an ID. For people who've had an Apple account for a while, the company will check if they already have a payment method on file that can prove they're of age.
The company says it will automatically switch on its Web Content Filter and Communication Safety features for everyone under 18 and for those who haven't verified their ages. These tools are integrated into Apple's operating systems and can restrict users from accessing specific websites on Safari and third-party browsers, as well as warn users when they're receiving or sending images and videos containing nudity.
Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, praised Apple for the decision, especially since it's not required to implement age verification for the iOS or its App Store under the region's Online Safety Act. "Apple's decision that the UK will be one of the first countries in the world to receive new child safety protections on devices is a real win for children and families," the regulator said. "Our rules are flexible and designed to encourage innovation, particularly in age assurance. We've worked clos
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Google just introduced Lyria 3 Pro, an updated version of its AI model that generates songs based on prompts. The biggest improvement here is the ability to make full three-minute songs, up from 30 seconds when the product launched last month.
The tool also brings a lot more customization into the mix. Users can now prompt the model to create specific elements within a song, like intros, verses, choruses and bridges. Google says "Lyria 3 Pro better understands musical composition" when compared to the previous model and that it's "great for experimenting with different styles or generating songs with complex transitions."
It's already available for paid Gemini users and for enterprise customers on Vertex AI. Additionally, developers have access to the tool via the Gemini API and Google AI Studio. The company is also integrating it into Google Vids, an AI-based video-generation platform.
Google says that "responsibility was foundational" when designing and training this model, so it only uses materials that the company has actual rights to. Additionally, all Lyria 3 Pro outputs are embedded with SynthID, which is a
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