Microsoft Teams tests AI interpreter that sounds like you

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Microsoft's newest artificial intelligence feature, which is coming to Teams, allows you to sound like you are speaking a language you are not. The app offers a new AI interpreter that simulates your voice and provides near-real-time voice interpretation.

The feature is being tested by a limited group of users and is expected to roll out in 2025 for accounts with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. It initially supports nine languages: Chinese (Mandarin), English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil) and Spanish. Microsoft plans to add more languages in the future.

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Instagram will let you manually reset its recommendation algorithm

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Instagram will soon allow you to reset the recommendation algorithm to change what you see in your feeds. The reset affects the Explore, Reels, and Feed tabs. The change is aimed especially at teenagers to guarantee they see more age-appropriate content. In this mode, you can also review your "following" list and unfollow accounts. Your recommendations will start personalizing over time based on the content and accounts you interact with.

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Report: US DOJ seeks sweeping reforms for Google, including Chrome spin-off

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The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly escalating its antitrust case against Google, urging the presiding judge to order the tech giant to divest its Chrome browser, according to a report from Bloomberg. This drastic measure stems from the DOJ's assertion that Google has illegally monopolized the search market.

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HarperCollins seeks AI training rights from authors

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HarperCollins wanted to use its authors' works to train an artificial intelligence language model for an unnamed technology company. The publishing company planned to pay the writers of select nonfiction backlist titles a non-negotiable sum of US$2,500 per title (around CA$3,490) to license the book for three years. The offer was revealed by writer and comedian Daniel Kibblesmith on a Bluesky post on November 16 with a one-word caption: "Abominable."

As BGR pointed out, it is encouraging to see HarperCollins giving the authors a way to opt out of the deal, because it could have strong-armed the writers into taking the deal. However, we wouldn't be surprised if many declined the offer, especially given how much they were paying for the licensing.

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