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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleged Instacart misled consumers with false advertising, causing them to pay higher fees and denying refunds. The company will pay $60 million in refunds as part of the settlement. Additionally, Instacart hid refund options from customers, making it seem like they could only receive credits toward future orders.
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In today's ContentBuffer update:
ChatGPT App Store Launched
Robotics Firm Taps Finance Pro
AI Powerhouse
Verifying Identity on LinkedIn
5 new AI tools & 5 new AI jobs
More tech news
Latest Development
Online Delivery Services
Summary: Instacart agrees to settle FTC allegations of deceptive advertising and unfair business practices; pays $60 million in refunds; customers will no longer be misled by false promises of 'free delivery' and '100% satisfaction guarantee'; company acknowledges settlement, denies any wrongdoing
Key Points:
Instacart's 'free delivery' claims are misleading because customers still pay mandatory service fees.
The delivery platform hid refund options from customers, making them believe they could only receive credits toward future orders.
Instacart failed to clearly disclose terms relating to the Instacart+ membership enrollment process.
Why it matters: This settlement highlights the importance of transparency and fairness in online business practices, ensuring that consumers are not misled or taken advantage of.
Artificial Intelligence
Summary: OpenAI launches app store in ChatGPT, enabling developers to create new experiences and bringing new context to conversations. A number of approved apps will start launching within Chat in the coming year.
Key Points:
The OpenAI App SDK provides a toolkit for developers to create new experiences for ChatGPT users.
Developers can submit their apps to the OpenAI Developer platform for review and approval.
Approved apps will start launching within Chat in the coming year.
Why it matters: This move marks a significant step towards expanding the app ecosystem within Chat and giving users more reasons to use the app and stay on it.
Business Technology
Summary: Pickle Robot appoints new CFO, following news of a significant partnership with UPS. The company's first CFO will oversee the finance department as Pickle continues to expand its operations and grow its customer base.
Key Points:
Jeff Evanson has been consulting for Pickle since September and recently joined full-time as the company's first CFO.
Evanson previously served as vice president of global investor relations and strategy at Tesla from 2011 to 2017.
Pickle Robot has reportedly expanded its partnership with UPS, with the logistics giant investing $120 million to purchase 400 robots.
Why it matters: The appointment of a new CFO is significant as it marks a milestone in Pickle's growth and development. The company's partnership with UPS also underscores its commitment to innovation and expansion.
Artificial Intelligence Technology
Summary: ChatGPT has reached a new milestone of $3 billion in worldwide consumer spending on mobile, representing a sharp rise in consumer adoption. The app took 31 months to reach this milestone, outpacing other popular apps like TikTok and Disney+.
Key Points:
The bulk of the spending took place this year, with consumers spending an estimated $2.48 billion in the ChatGPT mobile app.
ChatGPT's customer base is growing rapidly, with a 408% year-over-year increase from 2024.
The app has also launched its own app store, which will be monetized in the future.
Why it matters: This milestone demonstrates the rapid growth and adoption of ChatGPT, solidifying its position as a leading AI-powered chatbot.
Digital Identity
Summary: LinkedIn's profile verification feature has seen rapid growth, with India being the fastest-growing market for this feature. The feature provides clearer signals of authenticity on the platform, helping to support trust and engagement.
Why it matters: LinkedIn's profile verification feature matters because it provides a powerful signal of authenticity on the platform, helping to support trust and engagement. Verified members are more likely to represent real people, and jobs with verifications have significantly higher integrity and safety standards.
New Tools & Job
AuraWrite AI - Humanize AI text from ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and more with AuraWrite's AI Humanizer. Make your content more natural, engaging, & human in seconds. Try now!
Genaraera - Create professional infographics with AI in seconds. Infographics AI offers the best infographics generator for digital marketing, data visualization, and content creation. Try our AI-powered infographics tool free today.
Nano Banana Pro Studio - Create professional 4K images in 3-10 seconds with Gemini 3 Pro Image. Advanced multimodal AI delivers studio-grade visuals and precise text control.
UX Magic - Create stunning AI-generated mockups and figma ready wireframes in seconds with UXMagic. Simplify UX design workflows and boost creativity—no design skills needed.
Rizzy Agent - Rizzy is your 24/7 AI Lead Generator on X (Twitter). It finds people talking about what you sell and sends them straight to you.
Manager Messaging, Collaboration & Desktop Technologies - We're looking for a Manager, Messaging, Collaboration & Desktop Technologies to shape the future of WorkSafeBC's client-facing infrastructure services. You'll lead the strategy, planning, and delivery of messaging, voice, collaboration, and desktop technologies.
Occupational Therapist - Clinical Advisor - Occupational Therapist role at WorkSafeBC, providing clinical support to injured workers and developing return-to-work plans.
Sales Operations Manager - Analyzing and evaluating existing sales processes to identify inefficiencies and opportunities for improvement. Implementing streamlined and automated workflows on Share point, Confluence, Pipedrive to enhance productivity, accelerate the sales cycle, and strengthen lead generation.
Senior Development Manager - We are seeking a Senior Software Development Manager to join our Engineering team. This role is available to candidates across Canada and the US.
Policy Research and Compliance Product Intern - Winter 2026 - Conduct in-depth regulatory research, leverage AI tools for efficiency, create a proactive alert system, analyze and synthesize information, generate actionable insights, collaborate cross-functionally, monitor the landscape, support product strategy, and embrace stretch opportunities.
QUICK HITS
Ethereal Exploration Guild, an Indian spacetech startup better known as EtherealX, is close to securing about $21 million in a new funding round co-led by TDK Ventures, with Accel among the participants. The funding comes more than a year after the startup raised a $5 million seed round in August 2024.
dxs international, a uk-based company providing healthcare tech for england's national health service (nhs), disclosed a cyberattack in a statement on thursday. the company said it experienced a 'security incident affecting its office servers,' discovered on december 14. dxs said it immediately contained the breach working together with the nhs and hired a cybersecurity firm to investigate the nature and extent of the incident.
Peripheral Labs, a startup founded by two former University of Toronto autonomous driving team members, is developing technology for 3D sports reconstruction. The company aims to make sports more engaging for fans with its volumetric video generation platform, which allows users to view plays from various angles.
StrictlyVC's events series has become a constant in an industry that reinvents itself before most people finish their breakfast scone. These evenings offer a chance to step back from the blur of headlines and hype cycles, to sit with the people actually driving change, and to understand what's really happening behind the scenes.
Rivian has released an update for its R1 EVs, introducing a new 'Universal Hands-Free' driving feature that allows drivers to take their hands off the wheel on more than 3.5 million miles of roads in the US and Canada.
Apple announced that it will allow alternative app stores in Japan and permit developers to process payments for digital goods and services outside of its own in-app purchase system. This change is a result of the country's Mobile Software Competition Act, which aims to promote competition in the market.
Luma AI has released a new video modification model called Ray3 Modify that allows users to modify existing footage by providing character reference images and start/end frames. This model follows the input footage better, allowing studios to use human actors for creative or brand footage.
Swedish vibe coding startup Lovable has raised $330 million in a Series B funding round, tripling its valuation to $6.6 billion just five months after a previous funding round. The company uses AI to let people write code and build complete apps using text prompts.
Amazon has added a new feature to Alexa+ called Greetings, which uses Ring's video descriptions to determine who the main subject in front of the camera is. This feature can manage deliveries, politely turn down sales pitches, and even greet family or friends when they visit.
Kuxiu has released two new solid-state power banks, the S2 and S3, featuring double the battery capacity of their previous models. Both devices offer more powerful charging capabilities, with the S3 also including a display showing percent remaining and a sturdy kickstand.
THAT'S A WRAP
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