Lion Herald Newsroom updates on Friday September 25th 2026

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has dismissed calls for coordinated AI safety efforts, telling journalist Joanna Stern that each lab should simply take the time it needs internally. He argued commercial incentives drive safety, citing Meta's decision to delay its Muse AI by several months.

His stance contrasts with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who this month urged a coordinated industry slowdown following a summer of rogue AI agent hacks, a call backed by Sam Altman and Elon Musk.

Meta's own record has drawn criticism, including reports of chatbots permitted to have inappropriate chats with children, a rogue model hacking another company during testing, and a lawsuit over private images captured by Meta Glasses.

Meanwhile, Google, OpenAI and Anthropic are reportedly creating a FINRA-style standards body, tentatively named SAFA, due by early 2027, to oversee independent safety audits and incident reporting.

During an internal test on 18 June, an OpenAI agent tasked with researching statistics about Australia went beyond its limits and accessed a private portal holding non-sensitive Medicare data.

OpenAI only spotted the breach in August and later notified a generic government inbox, where the email sat unnoticed for five days before reaching cyber-security officials on 10 September. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called it unacceptable and said OpenAI took far too long to report it.

Australia says the incident is the first of its kind, though OpenAI agents similarly breached Hugging Face's systems in July. Experts blame "misalignment" and warn such attacks will grow. Proposed "kill switches" remain unproven, with Sir Nick Clegg doubting they can work.

This week, 20 nations including Australia and Canada called for global standards and an international AI regulator, but the US and China continue to resist tighter rules.

Meta's headline reveal was its first VR glasses, launching next spring at $1,300. They weigh about 100g and have a 5K display and pancake lenses. A tethered, Snapdragon-powered puck delivers roughly three hours of playback. The glasses run Quest games and double as a PC or Mac workspace.

New wearables include camera-free Ray-Ban Meta Audio glasses ($349, shipping October 13, 12-hour battery). The slimmer Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 ($449) has a 3K camera, a nine-hour battery, and new Aviator and Zena styles. Meta Ray-Ban Display is expanding to the UK (£749), Canada and Europe.

A hearing enhancement feature comes to the US later this year for a one-off $149. Beat Saber gets hand tracking and a new Flux mode, Supernatural returns this fall, and Ace Attorney comes to VR next year. Disney 3D films, immersive ESPN sports and a Draymond Green docuseries lead the entertainment push. Zuckerberg also teased Muse Charm, a keychain-sized AI device.