Technology
TikTok Lite: EU closes addictive design case after TikTok pledges not to reinstate rewards mechanism

The European Commission has closed its investigation into the TikTok Lite rewards feature under the Digital Services Act (DSA), accepting the social media giant’s commitment to permanently withdraw the feature within the EU.
TikTok Lite’s “tasks and rewards” mechanism, launched in France and Spain earlier this 12 months, lets users earn points for completing actions within the app, resembling watching and liking videos. These points might be redeemed for Amazon vouchers. TikTok Lite is an alternate, lower-bandwidth version of the TikTok app that the corporate offers in some markets.
TikTok also agreed not to attempt to circumvent its commitment, for instance by launching the identical feature under a distinct name or implementing a version that serves as an equivalent alternative, according to the Commission. While the settlement covers the TikTok Lite rewards mechanism that the EU was investigating, it’s not a blanket ban on TikTok launching any rewards features in the longer term.
When the EU launched an investigation into the rewards feature in April, the Commission raised concerns that the design of the mechanism could negatively impact the mental health of young users since it “stimulates addictive behaviour”.
TikTok temporarily suspended its rewards mechanism within the EU shortly after the Commission opened an investigation. The EU threatened to use temporary powers to disable the feature while it investigated concerns that it encouraged people to spend excessive amounts of time on the app.
Briefing journalists on the situation, a senior Commission official said the enforcement body was pleased with the final result because it had managed to quickly deliver the intended results, ensuring that EU residents, including minors, were protected.
The settlement means the EC has not formally found that TikTok has breached the DSA, so there isn’t a penalty. However, if TikTok fails to honour its commitments, the Commission has stressed that the corporate might be immediately penalised under the DSA, which allows for penalties of up to 6% of world annual turnover without the necessity for a brand new investigation. So TikTok has a reasonably large incentive to comply here.
The Commission said it might monitor TikTok’s compliance with its obligations using existing procedures and powers under the DSA, including through Member State authorities that oversee compliance with the overall principles of the Regulation.
Commenting in an announcement, Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner for Internal Market, said: “The available brain time of young Europeans is not the currency of social media – and never will be. We have achieved the permanent withdrawal of the TikTok Lite Rewards programme, which could have had highly addictive consequences. The DSA is in full swing.”
TikTok spokesperson Elliott Burton sent TechCrunch an announcement concerning the settlement: “We always strive to work constructively with the European Commission and other regulators. TikTok is pleased to have reached an amicable resolution and to have withdrawn the TikTok Lite rewards program, which was launched in France and Spain in April and which we had already voluntarily suspended.”
While the TikTok DSA case has now been closed, one other, broader investigation that was announced in February remains to be ongoing.
The case involves TikTok’s core algorithm, amongst other things. The commission said it was concerned that the design of the tracking-based suggestion engine could lead on to “rabbit hole effects,” where users who watch one video on a subject might be advisable more extreme videos, potentially amplifying harmful content, resembling videos promoting eating disorders.
The EU can be concerned that TikTok does not apply sufficiently robust age-based measures to protect children from accessing inappropriate content. TikTok’s compliance with the DSA’s transparency requirements can be under scrutiny.
For more information on how the DSA and its related regulation, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), will impact Big Tech platforms, see our previous reports.
Technology
This is the shipping of products from China to the USA

The Chinese retailer has modified the strategy in the face of American tariffs.
Thanks to the executive ordinance, President Donald Trump ended the so -called de minimis principle, which allowed goods value 800 USD or less entering the country without tariffs. It also increases tariffs to Chinese goods by over 100%, forcing each Chinese firms and Shein, in addition to American giants, similar to Amazon to adapt plans and price increases.
CNBC reports that this was also affected, and American buyers see “import fees” from 130% to 150% added to their accounts. Now, nevertheless, the company is not sending the goods directly from China to the United States. Instead, it only displays the offers of products available in American warehouses, while goods sent from China are listed as outside the warehouse.
“He actively recruits American sellers to join the platform,” said the spokesman ago. “The transfer is to help local sellers reach more customers and develop their companies.”
(tagstotransate) tariffs
Technology
One of the last AI Google models is worse in terms of safety

The recently released Google AI model is worse in some security tests than its predecessor, in line with the company’s internal comparative test.
IN Technical report Google, published this week, reveals that his Flash Gemini 2.5 model is more likely that he generates a text that violates its security guidelines than Gemini 2.0 Flash. In two indicators “text security for text” and “image security to the text”, Flash Gemini 2.5 will withdraw 4.1% and 9.6% respectively.
Text safety for the text measures how often the model violates Google guidelines, making an allowance for the prompt, while image security to the text assesses how close the model adheres to those boundaries after displaying the monitors using the image. Both tests are automated, not supervised by man.
In an e-mail, Google spokesman confirmed that Gemini 2.5 Flash “performs worse in terms of text safety for text and image.”
These surprising comparative results appear when AI is passing in order that their models are more acceptable – in other words, less often refuse to answer controversial or sensitive. In the case of the latest Llam Meta models, he said that he fought models in order to not support “some views on others” and answers to more “debated” political hints. Opeli said at the starting of this yr that he would improve future models, in order to not adopt an editorial attitude and offers many prospects on controversial topics.
Sometimes these efforts were refundable. TechCrunch announced on Monday that the default CHATGPT OPENAI power supply model allowed juvenile to generate erotic conversations. Opeli blamed his behavior for a “mistake”.
According to Google Technical Report, Gemini 2.5 Flash, which is still in view, follows instructions more faithfully than Gemini 2.0 Flash, including instructions exceeding problematic lines. The company claims that regression might be partially attributed to false positives, but in addition admits that Gemini 2.5 Flash sometimes generates “content of violation” when it is clearly asked.
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“Of course, there is a tension between (after instructions) on sensitive topics and violations of security policy, which is reflected in our assessment,” we read in the report.
The results from Meepmap, reference, which can examine how models react to sensitive and controversial hints, also suggest that Flash Gemini 2.5 is much less willing to refuse to reply controversial questions than Flash Gemini 2.0. Testing the TechCrunch model through the AI OpenRoutter platform has shown that he unsuccessfully writes essays to support human artificial intelligence judges, weakening the protection of due protection in the US and the implementation of universal government supervisory programs.
Thomas Woodside, co -founder of the Secure AI Project, said that the limited details given by Google in their technical report show the need for greater transparency in testing models.
“There is a compromise between the instruction support and the observation of politics, because some users may ask for content that would violate the rules,” said Woodside Techcrunch. “In this case, the latest Flash model Google warns the instructions more, while breaking more. Google does not present many details about specific cases in which the rules have been violated, although they claim that they are not serious. Not knowing more, independent analysts are difficult to know if there is a problem.”
Google was already under fire for his models of security reporting practices.
The company took weeks to publish a technical report for the most talented model, Gemini 2.5 Pro. When the report was finally published, it initially omitted the key details of the security tests.
On Monday, Google published a more detailed report with additional security information.
(Tagstotransate) Gemini
Technology
Aurora launches a commercial self -propelled truck service in Texas

The autonomous startup of the Aurora Innovation vehicle technology claims that it has successfully launched a self -propelled truck service in Texas, which makes it the primary company that she implemented without drivers, heavy trucks for commercial use on public roads in the USA
The premiere appears when Aurora gets the term: In October, the corporate delayed the planned debut 2024 to April 2025. The debut also appears five months after the rival Kodiak Robotics provided its first autonomous trucks to clients commercial for operations without a driver in field environments.
Aurora claims that this week she began to freight between Dallas and Houston with Hirschbach Motor Lines and Uber Freight starters, and that she has finished 1200 miles without a driver to this point. The company plans to expand to El Paso and Phoenix until the top of 2025.
TechCrunch contacted for more detailed information concerning the premiere, for instance, the variety of vehicles implemented Aurora and whether the system needed to implement the Pullover maneuver or the required distant human assistance.
The commercial premiere of Aurora takes place in a difficult time. Self -propelled trucks have long been related to the necessity for his or her technology attributable to labor deficiencies in the chairman’s transport and the expected increase in freigh shipping. Trump’s tariffs modified this attitude, not less than in a short period. According to the April analytical company report from the commercial vehicle industry ACT researchThe freight is predicted to fall this yr in the USA with a decrease in volume and consumer expenditure.
Aurora will report its results in the primary quarter next week, i.e. when he shares how he expects the present trade war will affect his future activity. TechCrunch contacted to learn more about how tariffs affect Auror’s activities.
For now, Aurora will probably concentrate on further proving his safety case without a driver and cooperation with state and federal legislators to just accept favorable politicians to assist her develop.
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At the start of 2025, Aurora filed a lawsuit against federal regulatory bodies after the court refused to release the appliance for release from the protection requirement, which consists in placing warning triangles on the road, when the truck must stop on the highway – something that’s difficult to do when there isn’t a driver in the vehicle. To maintain compliance with this principle and proceed to totally implement without service drivers, Aurora probably has a man -driven automotive trail after they are working.
(Tagstranslate) Aurora Innovation
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