Meta to Personalise Content and Advertising With AI Chat Interactions

Meta Platforms will begin using users' generative artificial intelligence interactions to personalise content and advertising on platforms like Facebook and Instagram from Dec. 16. This change will affect users who engage with Meta AI.

Credit: META

Users will receive notifications regarding these changes starting Oct. 7. The social media organisation stated that there will be no option for users to opt out of this new data usage.

Interactions with Meta AI features, whether through voice or text, will integrate with existing data such as likes and follows. This combined data will inform recommendations for content and advertisements, including Reels.

Credit: META

For example, a user discussing hiking with Meta AI might subsequently see hiking groups, trail updates from friends, or advertisements for boots.

Meta explicitly stated it will not use discussions on sensitive topics for advertising purposes. These topics include religious views, sexual orientation, political views, health, and racial or ethnic origin.

The rollout is scheduled to commence in most regions on Dec. 16 and will expand over time. This update will not apply to users in the UK, the European Union, or South Korea.

Meta AI currently boasts 1 billion monthly active users across the company's family of applications. Christy Harris, a privacy policy manager at Meta, stated, "People's interactions simply are going to be another piece of the input that will inform the personalisation of feeds and ads. We're still in the process of building the first offerings that will make use of this data."

Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg earlier this year highlighted the company's focus during its annual shareholder meeting. He noted, "focus for this year is deepening the experience and making Meta AI the leading personal AI with an emphasis on personalisation, voice conversations and entertainment."

This move aligns with other technology giants, such as Google and Amazon, which have begun monetising AI tools, often through cloud-based services. However, few have attempted to use AI chat interactions for content and advertising personalisation across multiple platforms at the scale Meta is pursuing.

Last month, Meta launched its first consumer-ready smart glasses with a built-in display at its annual Connect conference.

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• Meta will use AI chat interactions to personalise content and ads from Dec. 16.

• Users will be notified on Oct. 7 and cannot opt out of this change.

• Sensitive topics like health or religious views will not be used for ad targeting.

Source: REUTERS

China Launches World's Largest Hypergravity Centrifuge

China launched the world's largest hypergravity centrifuge by capacity on September 29, 2025, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, east China. Coded CHIEF1300, the machine can generate 300 times Earth's gravity and accommodate loads up to 20 tonnes. It is a core component of the Centrifugal Hypergravity and Interdisciplinary Experiment Facility (CHIEF) currently under construction.

Credit: China Media Group

Developed by Zhejiang University, CHIEF is designed to support frontier research across multiple disciplines. Its applications include deep-ocean and deep-Earth resources extraction, disaster mitigation and prevention, underground waste disposal, and the synthesis of new materials.

Hypergravity is defined as any gravitational force stronger than that at Earth's surface. For comparison, a rollercoaster rider briefly experiences twice the Earth's gravity, and an astronaut during launch peaks at more than five times gravity.

Credit: VCG

CHIEF, by contrast, is engineered to sustain accelerations of up to 1,500G, according to its designers. The full CHIEF facility features three centrifuges and 18 in-flight devices supporting six experimental cabins. Two more centrifuges with even greater capacity are currently under construction.

Chief Scientist Chen Yunmin from Zhejiang University explained that a hypergravity field allows researchers to simulate real-world hydrogeological catastrophes, geological evolution, and extreme environments in bench-top scale models within a reasonable timeframe.

Under such extreme conditions, CHIEF acts like a space-time compressor. At 100G, for example, a 1-metre model simulates events that would occur on a 100-metre scale, condensing a century-long contaminant-plume journey into only 3.65 days in the laboratory.

The CHIEF1300 machine hall, a 230-square-metre circular basement, houses a giant arm with a radius of 6.4 metres. This arm spins at high speed to generate massive gravity via centrifugal forces; the faster it spins, the higher the centrifugal acceleration.

Chief Engineer Ling Daosheng at Zhejiang University stated that CHIEF1300 was placed below ground level. It was also equipped with vacuum and wall-cooling setups to mitigate the adverse influences of air resistance and machine heating.

Pilot tests of the facility have already yielded new findings. Researchers simulated strong earthquakes to verify the seismic performance of a hydropower dam foundation, and quantified how a 4-metre-high wave and 20-metre tsunami affect the seabed.

This quantification provides a reference for site selection for offshore wind farms. Additionally, researchers reproduced 2,000-metre deep-sea water pressure for evaluating methane hydrate extraction and safety.

They also synthesised metal alloys that are low in defects and high in strength and ductility. Chen affirmed that the facility will operate as an open, shared hub for frontier science, and he looks forward to teaming up with the world's top research groups to accelerate discovery and spark innovation.

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• China is set to launch the world's largest hypergravity centrifuge by capacity on September 30, 2025, in Hangzhou.

• The CHIEF1300 machine generates 300 times Earth's gravity and accommodates up to 20 tonnes.

• Part of the CHIEF facility, it supports frontier research in deep-ocean/Earth resources, disaster mitigation, and new materials synthesis.

Source: CGTN

OpenAI Introduces Direct Purchases in ChatGPT, Partnering with Etsy and Shopify

OpenAI has launched a new feature allowing users to make purchases directly within ChatGPT, starting with partnerships with Etsy and Shopify. The Instant Checkout feature, introduced Monday, marks a new source of revenue for the organisation, complementing its existing subscription model.

Credit: OpenAI

Merchants will pay a fee to OpenAI on completed purchases, though this will not affect product prices for consumers. Users will incur no charges for using Instant Checkout. This move leverages ChatGPT's significant user traffic.

Credit: OpenAI

"US ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and free users can now buy directly from US Etsy sellers right in chat, with over a million Shopify merchants, like Glossier, SKIMS, Spanx, and Vuori, coming soon," OpenAI stated in a blog post.

Credit: OpenAI

Initially, Instant Checkout will support single-item purchases. OpenAI plans to add multi-item carts and expand its merchant and regional coverage in the future. Following the announcement, shares of Etsy rose 7.3%, while US-listed shares of Shopify increased 4.5%.

Shopify commented on its website that its merchants would be able to sell directly through ChatGPT conversations, removing the need for links or redirects and providing seamless commerce. Etsy's chief product and technology officer, Rafe Colburn, stated that AI-powered and agentic shopping presents meaningful opportunities for the online marketplace.

Mr. Colburn added that Etsy is working with an unnamed tech partner to integrate product discovery seamlessly into mobile experiences. OpenAI also confirmed it would open-source the agentic commerce protocol, which was developed with payments firm Stripe and powers the checkout process.

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• OpenAI has launched an Instant Checkout feature allowing direct purchases in ChatGPT.

• The initial partners for this new commerce capability are Etsy and Shopify.

• The feature provides a new revenue stream for OpenAI from merchant fees on completed purchases.

Source: SCMP