Meta’s $18 billion settlement could have consequences far beyond Meta.

Equity’s Kirsten Korosec and Sean O’Kane break down how the deal could put pressure on YouTube, TikTok, and other platforms to play by similar rules and whether they’ll actually follow Meta’s lead.

Listen to the latest episode of Equity wherever you get your podcasts.

Earlier this week, Meta agreed to pay $18 billion and make sweeping changes to how minors access its social networks to settle a lawsuit brought by 29 states. But the eye-popping settlement figure wasn’t what caught the attention of the Equity podcast team. Instead, it was what Meta did next. The social media giant sent an open letter to TikTok and YouTube asking the companies to join it in setting industry-wide standards for teens, including daily time limits, blocking access to apps at night, and restricting notifications during school hours.

But will these other companies follow? The Equity team doesn’t think they will.

On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan, Kirsten Korosec, and Sean O’Kane dig into the Meta settlement, rising investor interest in robotics startups, and the reported Nvidia and Hugging Face deal that’s in the works.

Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.

Chapters:
00:00 — Meta’s $18B Teen Safety Settlement
03:39 — Will Meta’s New Rules Actually Protect Teens?
08:55 — The Problem With Age Verification
11:11 — Robots Are Chasing Their ChatGPT Moment
16:22 — The Race to Build Smarter Robot Brains
19:34 — What Happens When Robots Work Alongside Humans?
21:41 — Waymo and Zoox Test Drivers Are Getting Hurt
23:38 — Gatik Raises $200M for Driverless Trucks
26:38 — Could Nvidia Buy Hugging Face for $13B?
29:18 — Why AI Infrastructure Is Becoming an Acquisition Target

Apple has news to “surprise” us on Sept 9, but what do you mean there’s a new Mac Mini with M6 chip suddenly on sale? Don’t count on a typical September from Apple. Bridget Carey explains why Apple couldn’t wait on new Macs, but we keep waiting for the big iPhone event. Tim Cook’s final week as Apple CEO is full of unexpected news: Walmart is finally accepting Apple Pay.

You can find the products mentioned in this video linked below
Apple 2026 Mac mini Desktop Computer with M6 chip
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Read more about it on CNET.com
Win an Apple Watch – Round 3 of CNET’s Guessing Game Is Live Now:

Timecode Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:20 New M6 chip and new M5 Ultra chip
0:26 Apple Polishing Cloth gets a price cut
0:38 Tap to pay comes to Walmart
1:17 September 9 is iPhone announcement date
1:31 New Apple products coming soon include iPhone 18 Pro and possible folding iPhone
1:49 New Mac Mini with M6 and M5 Pro chips
2:21 New Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips
2:56 Mac shortages
4:01 Changing times for Apple
4:13 Apple launches Mac Mini with social-first video announcement
4:27 Walmart now accepts Apple Pay
4:59 Tim Cook’s final bow as Apple CEO
5:09 Win an Apple Watch in CNET’s Big Guessing Game

Video Credits:
Host: Bridget Carey
Scripted by: Bridget Carey
Producer: Carly Marsh
Camera: Carly Marsh, CNET Archival
Video Editor: Carly Marsh
Thumbnail Designer: Tharon Green

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