Amid the second phase of a high-profile child safety trial in New Mexico, Meta is announcing new measures designed to ensure teens on its platforms are subject to age-related protections.

Meta announced in a blog post Tuesday that parents in the U.S. on two of its social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram, will receive a notification with details about how to check and confirm their teens’ ages on the company’s apps.

All users that Meta has identified as a parent, not just adults who supervise a Teen Account, will receive the notification. The notification will include a link to a blog post Meta published a year ago on how to talk to teens about the importance of providing their correct age.

Meta hopes to raise parent awareness of age confirmation on Instagram and Facebook.
Credit: Meta

Meta also announced that age-detection technology will roll out to 27 countries in the European Union and Brazil. Additionally, the technology will apply to U.S. Facebook users for the first time.

In April 2025, Meta began using AI to identify teen users who listed an adult age in their account. The technology re-assigns those users to Meta’s Teen Account product, which the company says has more stringent safety protections.

In the fall, independent experts who tested Teen Accounts published a report alleging that the product doesn’t work as advertised. Among their findings, the researchers documented instances in which the guardrails failed to prevent inappropriate contact with strangers.

On Tuesday, Meta said that its AI technology would begin to analyze user profiles for “contextual clues” of their age, simplify the process for reporting suspected underage accounts, and strengthen its ability to stop underage users from opening new accounts.

Meta noted in its blog post that it believes lawmakers should require app stores to verify user age and provide that information to apps and developers.

Meta back on trial

Meta lost the first phase of the New Mexico trial in March when a jury found the company liable for misleading consumers about the safety of its platforms and endangering children. The suit was filed by the state’s attorney general.

Meta has been ordered to pay the maximum penalties for each violation of New Mexico’s consumer protection laws, amounting to $375 million. The company has said it plans to appeal the decision.

In the bench trial, New Mexico’s Department of Justice is seeking injunctive relief requiring Meta to pay additional damages of $3.75 billion and implement specific changes to protect children.

The proposed policies include effective age verification, blocking children under 13, limits on end-to-end messaging encryption for minors, and permanent bans for adult users who engage in or facilitate child exploitation.

Last week, Meta threatened to shut its platforms down in New Mexico in response to the state’s demands.

“Many of the requests are technologically or practically infeasible and would essentially force Meta to build entirely separate apps for use only in New Mexico,” the company said in its court filing, according to The Guardian. “Therefore, granting onerous relief could compel Meta to entirely withdraw Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp from the state as the only feasible means of compliance.”

In court on Monday, Meta’s counsel Alex Parkinson reiterated that stance, arguing that granting the state’s injunctive relief in full would “genuinely make it untenable to continue offering Meta’s products” in New Mexico.

State Attorney General Raul Torrez said that Meta is putting advertising revenue and profit ahead of the “safety of children.”

“We know Meta has the ability to make these changes,” Torrez said in a statement. “This is not about technological capability.”

Table of Contents

On May 5, Bose announced its new Lifestyle Collection, which consists of the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker ($299), the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar ($1,099), and the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer ($899). The line is designed to work together or separately to deliver exceptional sound throughout the home. All three products are packed with proprietary Bose technology to deliver high-quality sound across different environments. They’re available to preorder now, with a May 15 release date.

I was invited to experience the Lifestyle Collection ahead of its release, and I was thoroughly impressed by what I heard and saw. Music on the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker sounded booming and full without muddying vocals, and a clip from Dune literally shook the floors with audio playing from the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar. The soundbar, speaker, and subwoofer, when paired, created room-filling sound sure to wow anyone who takes their Letterboxd account very seriously. And on top of that, the Lifestyle Collection looks sleek and doesn’t scream “tech product.”

Shop the Bose Lifestyle Collection

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So, let’s dive into each of these new Bose audio devices.

Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker

The Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker is available in white smoke, driftwood sand, and black.
Credit: Miller Kern / Mashable

The Lifestyle Ultra Speaker is decently compact while still packing huge sound. It features three drivers — two front-facing and one up-firing — that allow the audio to truly fill a space, so you get powerful, clear sound no matter where you are in the room. It also features CleanBass technology, supported by a proprietary QuietPort acoustic opening, that delivers bass that doesn’t sound echoey or blown-out.

Two Lifestyle Ultra speakers can be paired for a surround-sound stereo setup. And you can play music to as many Lifestyle speakers as you have directly from your preferred music app — no need to connect via Bluetooth. The Lifestyle Ultra Speaker is compatible with Google Cast, Apple AirPlay, and Spotify Connect, and can be grouped with other compatible smart speakers on your network. Additionally, it features a 3.5mm aux port, which is awesome for connecting a turntable. It’s also the first to market speaker outside of Amazon’s own devices to offer full Alexa+ capabilities.

Price and specs

• Price: $299 or $349 for driftwood sand color

• Available speaker configurations: 1.0, 2.0, 7.0.4, 7.1.4

• Connectivity: WiFi, Bluetooth 5.3, AUX 3.5mm

• Dimensions: 4.8 inches W x 7.3 inches H x 6.6 inches D

• Colors: Black, white smoke, driftwood sand (limited edition)

Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar

The Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar comes in white smoke or black and has a sleek, low profile.
Credit: Miller Kern / Mashable

This marks the first major soundbar redesign from Bose in over a decade. The Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar features a new acoustic architecture with six full-range drivers (four front-facing and two up-firing), a center tweeter, and two Bose proprietary PhaseGuide drivers. It can play Dolby Atmos content and has SpeechClarity technology that ensures dialogue stands out at any volume, with three adjustable dialogue levels. CustomTune uses your phone’s microphone to analyze the acoustics of your room to optimize audio output performance. Like the speaker, the soundbar features CleanBass technology.

While showing off the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar, a Bose rep toggled on and off the SpeechClarity setting, and I was instantly sold. I sometimes struggle to hear dialogue, but I hate using subtitles, and this technology feels like it was made for me specifically. It pushed the dialogue of a noisy scene without distorting any of the background sound.

The Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar also looks incredibly sleek and sports a tactile dial that allows users to control volume levels without picking up their TV remote or phone.

Price and specs

• Price: $1,099

• Available speaker configurations: 5.0.2, 5.1.2, 7.0.4, 7.1.4

• Connectivity: HDMI Arc and eARC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3

• Dimensions: 43.54 inches W x 2.64 inches H x 4.96 inches D

• Weight: 14.8 pounds

• Colors: Black, white smoke

Bose Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer

When paired with the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker and Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar, the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer pushes the collection into full home theater mode by producing deep, controlled bass and reproducing the lowest frequencies for clearer overall audio. It also features the proprietary CleanBass technology, so you’ll get cinematic bass without distortion.

Price and specs

• Price: $899

• Available speaker configurations: 5.1.2, 7.1.4

• Connectivity: WiFi, 3.5mm wired connection

• Dimensions: 11.63 inches W × 12.88 inches H × 11.63 inches D

• Weight: 33.7 pounds

• Colors: Black, white smoke

A24 is bringing Anthony Bourdain back to theaters with the coming-of-age drama, Tony.

It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly eight years since the death of Anthony Bourdain. The outspoken American chef made a massive imprint on the world, not only through his love of food but also his work as an author and documentarian. He shared cuisine, curiosity, and culture from all over the world through his rich and riveting docu-series like No Reservations and Parts Unknown.

Beyond that, his life and writing inspired the 2006 TV series Kitchen Confidential, starring Bradley Cooper; the 2015 drama Bone in the Throat; and the 2021 biographical documentary Roadrunner, which sparked controversy for its use of AI. Now, Tony will explore the early days of Bourdain’s career, featuring The Holdovers‘ Dominic Sessa playing the man himself.

Directed by Matt Johnson (Nirvanna: The Band – The Show – The Movie), Tony begins with a 19-year-old Bourdain, spinning out after his ambition to become a writer hits a speed bump. But a job in a kitchen — working under a beguiling Antonio Banderas — will change everything.

Emilia Jones, Dagmara Dominczyk, Rich Sommers, Stavros Halkias, and Leo Woodall co-star in Tony, which will open in theaters this August. But are audiences ready to see someone else play Bourdain this soon after his death?

We’ll see.