Wait, just how addicted to Facebook and YouTube are Americans today?

While a jury found both Meta and Alphabet have designed addictive apps, usage among US adults has dropped off.

3/26/26 1:04PM

In what some are posing as the possible beginning of a “Big Tobacco” moment for Big Tech, a Los Angeles jury yesterday found social media titans Meta and YouTube liable for designing addictive products.

On Wednesday, jurors in a first-of-its-kind trial ruled that both companies deliberately engineered social media platforms with addictive features — like infinitely scrollable feeds, video autoplay, and algorithmic recommendations — and failed to provide adequate warnings about their potential dangers, thus posing harm to young people using the apps.

Scrollback

The case’s 20-year-old plaintiff was awarded $6 million in damages, with Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, ordered to pay 70% of the total, and YouTube, which is owned by Google, to fork out the rest. The ruling also came just one day after Meta was ordered to pay $375 million in New Mexico for its social media conduct, with Mark Zuckerberg’s company slumping as much as 7% today.

While the penalties are peanuts compared to the companies’ multibillion-dollar revenues, they could mark the start of a wave of litigation that trickles down to tighter regulations — and ultimately dents user engagement, the lifeblood of ad-powered, attention-based social media apps. Data from Pew Research Center, however, suggests a portion of US adults might already be using Facebook and YouTube less frequently.

YouTube and Facebook usage chart — Sherwood News

Looking at Pew’s social media survey results over the last few years, the share of Americans who report using the apps at the heart of the case every day has shrunk, with daily Facebook users down from 71% in 2021 to just 52% in 2025.

Even with roughly half of respondents saying they logged on to both Facebook and YouTube daily, the recent slump perhaps indicates that peak engagement for older Americans may have already passed — though the share of adults that say they ever use each platform remains strong.

Still, as signified by yesterday’s trial, “addictive” social media features are considered to have a greater impact on younger people, with the same survey finding that a whopping 95% of 18- to 29-year-olds reported ever using YouTube.

Jon Keegan6h

OpenAI employees are cashing out their shares, dozens making $30 million each

OpenAI’s planned IPO later this year is expected to be one of the largest of all time. Employees who got equity early on are sure to reap a windfall when the company shares hit the public markets.

Often these pre-IPO shares can’t be cashed in until the company goes public, and many startups have longer lockup periods before employees can sell their shares.

But The Wall Street Journal reports that OpenAI has a relatively short two-year vesting period, and the company allowed employees to sell shares before the IPO via a tender offer, as long as they’ve reached the two-year mark.

According to the report, in October, more than 600 current and former OpenAI employees sold shares through this process, minting a cluster of new multimillionaires. The Journal said about 75 of those walked away with $30 million (the maximum sale amount for this offer).

How a Job at OpenAI Became the Greatest Lottery Ticket of the AI Boom

Rani Molla

Apple’s pie

How much Apple’s biggest contribution to the AI boom matters for its sales

Hint: it’s not Siri and it’s not much.

Rani Molla5/8/26

Intel pops on reported Apple chip deal

Intel soared more than 14% on a Wall Street Journal report saying the company has reached a preliminary agreement with Apple to manufacture chips for the iPhone maker. Intel, already on a tear as of late, jumped earlier this week when Bloomberg first reported the two companies were in talks. It’s still unclear which chips Intel would manufacture for Apple, which has been facing supply constraints for its iPhone as well other products.

In any case, the deal could help Apple ease supply constraints that have hit some of its products and reduce its reliance on longtime partner TSMC, as it aims to bring more chip manufacturing stateside.