August 2 Tech news roundup: AdGuard blocks Windows Recall, Xbox rolls out age verification in UK, YouTube to use AI to analyze user accounts

Microsoft begins rolling out age verification for Xbox in the U.K.

Xbox is rolling out age verification for users in the U.K. to comply with The Online Safety Act. Microsoft has partnered with Yoti to be its trusted age verification service. Users will need to provide a government-issued ID, or a selfie, or their mobile number, or a credit card check, to verify that they are at least 18 years old. The Redmond company says that the data submitted for verification will be encrypted and deleted after use.

Microsoft explains that age verification does not affect Xbox game libraries. Xbox will also allow unverified users to communicate with their friends using text, voice, party functionality and game invites, and user generated content like Activity Feed. However, users will lose access to some social features if they don’t verify their age by early 2026. You may be locked out of access to Discord, Custom Clubs, Look for Groups, and Twitch broadcasting.

The European Union is working on an age verification system, which has drawn criticism from privacy experts.

YouTube to use AI to identify whether users are underage

Xbox isn’t the only service that is rolling out age restrictions, YouTube is doing it too. But, instead of using an identification service, Google has opted to use AI to analyze user accounts. This age estimation model uses machine learning to check accounts based on their usage and longevity to determine whether a user is under 18.

If an account is identified as underage, YouTube will automatically apply some restrictions including disabling personal advertising, enable digital wellbeing tools, add safeguards to recommendations, limit repetitive views of certain content, etc.

YouTube says that users who have been incorrectly identified as under 18 will need to verify their age using an ID card, selfie, or credit card. Unlike Xbox, which is rolling out its age gating in the U.K., YouTube will start rolling out its age restriction to some users in the U.S. from August 13. The news has raised privacy concerns among users.

AdGuard to block Windows Recall

Signal and Brave Browser are not the only ones who will block Windows Recall. AdGuard has announced that its desktop app will also help users block the controversial feature. Microsoft’s Recall app has been designed to capture the content of the screen once every few seconds, and use the information to create a searchable database, making it easy to find what you were doing. However, this poses serious privacy risks regarding personal identity, financial, and other sensitive data.

Unlike Signal and Brave, AdGuard does not block Windows Recall by default, users will have to enable a setting manually to block Recall. However, unlike the other two apps which only restrict Recall from capturing screenshots of their own apps, AdGuard blocks Recall systemwide. This is much more useful as it will disable the feature completely.

Firefox’s new add-ons store layout is terrible

Mozilla has redesigned the layout of its add-ons store, and it is a travesty. The new design moves various elements from the sidebar to the main part of the page, and since it is longer, it takes a lot of scrolls to reach. So to find when an app was updated, you’ll need to scroll 3 or 4 times, as opposed to a single glance on the sidebar prior to this change. The overall design of Mozilla’s AMO has some sort of weird tablet-like appearance, and a lot of the elements don’t fit a PC-first approach.

This is definitely a step-down in the design quality, Mozilla needs to improve it.

Google Photos and YouTube Shorts now let you create videos from photos with AI

Google is stepping up its AI game by adding new features in Google Photos and YouTube Shorts. You can now create videos from your photos. The apps use Gemini’s Veo 2 model for the photo-to-video feature.

Just select an image in Google Photos and tab on “Subtle Movements” or “I’m feeling lucky”, and the app will create a video clip that is 6 seconds long. The Google Photos app will soon get a new tab called Create, under which users can find tools like Photo to Video, Remix, collages. Remix is a new feature which will allow users to transform any photo into an anime, comic, sketch or 3D animation. Photo-to-video in Google Photos is rolling out to Android and iOS users in the U.S.

The photo-to-video feature in YouTube Shorts have slightly more options, and lets users use generative effects. This feature will be rolling out soon to users in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Brazil’s antitrust authorities open investigation against Microsoft

Brazil’s CADE antitrust authorities have opened an investigation against Microsoft, based on a complaint from Opera Browser. The complaint alleges that Microsoft is abusing its operating system to push Edge aggressively. Windows 11 comes with Edge as the default web browser, and it tries to dissuade users from switching to other browsers when a user runs a search on Bing. Windows 11 also prompts users occasionally by recommending users switch to Edge, and that it’s faster, safer, etc. These are viewed as anticompetitive practices by several browser makers.

Opera says that by forcing Edge on users, other browsers get locked out of important preinstallation opportunities. It also criticized the Redmond company’s design tactics and dark patterns to steer users away from competitive products. Following the complaint from Opera, CADE has opened a preliminary investigation into Microsoft. Microsoft has to respond to the allegations by August 15, 2025.

Google loses antitrust appeal against Epic Games

Google has lost its appeal against in the antitrust lawsuit against Epic Games. The Mountain View company had been found guilty of creating an illegal app store monopoly on Android in 2023. After an appeal in 2024, Judge James Donato ordered Google to allow third party payment methods on the Play Store. He had also told Google to open up the Play Store to allow third party app markets. Google had appealed for a stay against allowing access to rival app stores.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling by the lower court, and denied the stay motion. Google has to allow third-party app marketplaces. The Epic Games Store is coming soon to Google Play soon. Google says the decision could harm the safety of users, limit choice and undermine its innovation. It plans to appeal again.