Google is going to prohibit ads promoting websites and apps that generate deepfake porn…starting May 30th. Engadget.com reports that Google has already had strong restrictions in place for ads that feature certain types of sexual content, this update leaves no doubt that promoting “synthetic content that has been altered or generated to be sexually explicit or contain nudity” is in violation of its rules. Advertisers who violate the rules will be suspended without warning. Such deepfake ads are already prohibited in Shopping ads. Hopefully, Google will really police this, and in a manner where it doesn’t end up like whack a mole. 

When it comes to the internet and tech companies, people are always scouring every single word and character to try to determine what’s coming…whether a feature or ‘the next big thing.’ Now, according to mashable.com, a post in Y Combinator’s Hacker News community noted a domain name and security certificate for ‘search.chatgpt.com’ has been created. This could mean we are going to see a ChatGPT search engine sooner not later. Google, the 800 pound gorilla of search already is powered by an AI algorithm…but a ChatGPT one from OpenAI could really juice up the competition. It’s conceivable that before long, one could do a Google search, a ChatGPT search, and one with Microsoft Copilot…and I wouldn’t put it past some brilliant hackers out there to come up with a way to synthesize then streamline the results from all three…for a supercharged search like we’ve never experienced!

Threads is giving more control over who can quote their posts. Engadget.com says if you want to limit quoting your posts, you can limit it to only people you follow…or you can set it so no one can quote your posts at all. The update was announced over the weekend, and Threads is doing it to ‘help keep Threads a more positive place.’ Threads has now climbed past 150 million monthly users. Another recent feature lets users archive posts…either manually or automatically after a selected expiration date.

Jack Dorsey Tweeted over the weekend (not saying post on X, since it was Twitter when Jack ran it) that he is no longer on Bluesky’s board. TechCrunch.com notes that in fact, Jack was the platform’s most prominent backer…he first announced it back in 2019 when he was still CEO at Twitter. Dorsey didn’t elaborate, just replying to a question about him being on the board with a curt “No.” 

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.