Product & Design Pulse v75

🎧 Audio Overview [BETA]

Last week…

1. TikTok to Tighten Age Checks in Europe as Regulators Ramp Up Pressure

   TikTok says it will strengthen age-verification measures across Europe as regulators increase scrutiny over child safety and online harms. Planned changes include tougher onboarding checks and expanded use of age-estimation technology. The move comes as EU regulators signal they’re prepared to impose penalties if platforms fail to protect minors.

2. Former USDS Leaders Launch Tech Reform Project to Fix DOGE

   Former leaders of the U.S. Digital Service have launched a new initiative aimed at fixing what DOGE broke. The project focuses on reducing bureaucracy, modernizing procurement, and improving digital services at scale. It asks, “What if government leaders actually used that decisiveness and clout in service of the people instead of following murky agendas.

3. Journalism, Media, and Technology Trends and Predictions 2026

   The Reuters Institute’s annual report predicts continued pressure on journalism as AI, platform shifts, and audience fragmentation reshape the media landscape. News organizations are expected to lean harder into subscriptions, niche audiences, and AI-assisted workflows. At the same time, trust, transparency, and sustainability remain unresolved challenges.

4. What Happened During the Verizon Outage

   A widespread Verizon outage disrupted calls, texts, and data services for millions of customers across the U.S. The company attributed the incident to a network configuration issue rather than a cyberattack. The disruption highlights the fragility of core communications infrastructure and the ripple effects of single-point failures.

5. Community-First AI Infrastructure

   Microsoft outlined a vision for “community-first” AI infrastructure that prioritizes local benefits alongside global scale. The company emphasized investments in clean energy, workforce development, and partnerships with local governments. The approach is framed as a way to balance rapid AI growth with social and environmental responsibility.

6. Apple, You Still Don’t Understand the Vision Pro – Stratechery

   Ben Thompson argues that critics misunderstand Apple’s Vision Pro by judging it as a mass-market device too early. He frames the product as a long-term platform play, similar to early Macs or the first Apple Watch. The essay suggests Vision Pro’s real value lies in setting Apple up for a future spatial-computing ecosystem, not immediate scale.

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