Jury selection has officially begun in a high-profile lawsuit against the world’s biggest social media companies. While TikTok and Snap have recently settled, Meta and Google’s YouTube are heading to court to defend their product designs against claims that they knowingly fuel a youth mental health crisis.

The two major tech companies will face a jury trial for the first time over allegations that their social platforms have contributed to youth mental health issues.

In today’s Digest, we cover Meta testing premium subscriptions across Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp as well as Google agreeing to a USD$68m settlement over voice assistant privacy claims, while it receives guidance from the EU about how to help search rivals. We also cover YouTubers suing Snap over AI-related copyright infringement.

Two senior Democratic lawmakers, including Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), have pressed Meta and Google to end their digital advertising partnerships with the US Department of Homeland Security, alleging that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has used the companies’ platforms to run recruitment and “self-deportation” advertisements drawing on white nationalist imagery and rhetoric.

Meta's stock pop following the company's latest earnings beat is a sign that investors are OK with hefty AI spending as long as the core business stays strong.

Wall Street wants an answer now on the only question that has reliably moved the AI complex: Is the buildout still expanding — and at what price?